Beam Me Up

Current electricity is what people use in battery powered devices, like radios and Gameboys. Current electricity is what our TVs and computers use. When we plug the cord into the wall, we are accessing current electricity.

Current Electricity is a flow of energy. Compare the flow of electricity to a flow of water in a river. Water moves along the streambed the way that current electricity moves along a pathway. A pathway is an electrical flow that makes a complete circuit.

You can make a simple circuit with a battery, flashlight bulb and a wire. There are four critical contact points that must be engaged in order to make the bulb glow. If any of the critical contact points are missed, the flow will be interrupted and the circuit will be incomplete. The electricity must have a path that flows through all the contact points to make a complete circuit. A complete circuit makes a circuit or a loop. An incomplete circuit is a circuit with a gap through which electricity cannot flow.