What is electricity?

Electricity is everywhere; it runs across Northern Ireland on a network of pylons, substations, poles, overhead lines and underground cables straight into our homes.

We use electricity everyday to light and heat our homes; it runs our televisions, DVD players and computers. We use it to cook our food, wash our dishes and even run our cars.

Before we can understand electricity we need to know about atoms.

Atoms - Everything around us is made up of atoms; every star, every tree, and every animal. Atoms are the building blocks of the universe. Atoms are incredibly tiny, and can only be seen using very special microscopes.
Protons, Neutrons and Electrons - An atom has a centre called a nucleus, which is made up of positively charged particles called protons and uncharged particles called neutrons and is surrounded by negatively charged particles called electrons.
Electricity is moving Electrons - The negative charge of an electron is equal to the positive charge of a proton and the number of electrons in an atom is usually equal to the number of protons. When the balancing force between protons and electrons is upset by an outside force, an atom may gain or lose an electron. When electrons are ‘lost’ from an atom, the free movement of these electrons creates an electric current. Therefore moving electrons are called electricity.