Glossary
A
- acid
- - a chemical that is sour in nature and reacts with certain metals to form salts
- amp or ampere
- - the amount of electrons flowing past a given point in a second
- atom
- - the building block of matter
C
- circuit
- - a circular route for electricity to follow
- closed circuit
- - a circuit that allows electricity to flow
- conductor
- - a material that gives up its electrons easily
- connection
- - something that is connected
E
- electron
- - the negative charged particles of an atom
F
- factories
- - a place where products are made
G
- generator
- - a machine that creates electricity
I
- insulators
- - a material that does not give up electrons easily
L
- load
- - the object attached to electricity that is intended to use the electricity to run - a toy, a vacuum, etc
M
- mineral
- - a naturally occurring material that is not animal or plant - found in rocks
- moisture
- - water or other liquid in the form of vapor; wetness
N
- nerves
- - the part of the body that carries messages to and from the brain
- neutron
- - the neutral charged particles of an atom
O
- ohms
- - drag or friction in a circuit
- open circuit
- - a circuit with a break in the connection - electricity does not flow
P
- parallel circuit
- - a circuit that is wired to allow electricity to flow even in the event of an open circuit
- processes
- - actions
- proton
- - the positive charged particles of an atom
R
- resources
- - natural materials that exist in a given area
S
- self-contained
- - complete in itself
- series circuit
- - a type of circuit in which the loads are all lined up and require each load to work in order for electricity to flow on to the next one
- static electricity
- - a temporary type of electricity that is created when surfaces rub together and transfer electrons
T
- turbines
- - a machine which uses blades that are turned by a form of energy to spin or power a load
V
- volt
- - the amount of push behind the electricity
W
- watts
- - voltage times amps
- wind farms
- - a special farm using windmills to generate electricity
