Have you ever wondered how a bright light turns on when you press a little switch on the wall?

It is because of electricity. The TV at home, fans, light bulbs and computers use electricity. Electricity gives us light to do our activities at night.
So we thought that it’s important to know more about electricity.
Here are 6 more facts about how electricity works.
The power in a torch, camera, and radio comes from an electric cell.
This cell has different sizes and is used in different devices.
Electric cells have chemicals stored inside them that provide electricity to devices connected to these cells.
We replace the cell when its chemicals are over.

An electric cell has a positive and a negative terminal. The positive terminal is where the metal cap is located and the negative terminal is where the metallic disc is.
This goes for all electric cells even if their shapes and sizes are different.
Inside a bulb, there are two thick wires. They are connected by a thin wire called a filament. These wires attach to the two cell terminals. When electricity goes into the bulb, it passes through the filament and makes the bulb glow.

Connecting the two terminals to a bulb creates current flow. This flow goes out of the cell and lights the bulb. It is an example of electrical circuit.
The current in a circuit flows in the positive terminal direction towards the negative terminal via the bulb.

When the filament of the bulb breaks, it does not light up because the path of the current is broken.
This bulb would be called fused and cannot be used as a light source anymore.

3. At home, we press a button to start the electric flow and switch on the light. The button is called electric switch. There is a small gap in the electric circuit that stops excess current flow that can damage the tube light.

To turn on the light:
We turn the switch, which closes the open gap, allows the current to flow and turns the light on.
Similarly, when we want to turn off the light, we just press the switch again and the circuit breaks and the light goes off.
You must have seen the wires that connect different components of an electrical circuit. It is through these wires that the current flows.
Have you ever wondered what wires are made of?

4. Materials such as iron, copper, silver, gold, graphite, and water allow the flow of current through them. These are conductors of electricity.
   Humans are also conductors of electricity so we have to be very careful when operating electrical instruments.
5. Similarly, there are other materials that stop the flow of electricity. They are called electrical insulators.
   They are used on the outside of conductors as a coating to prevent electricity flow.
   Rubber, glass, leather, dry wood, plastic and ceramic are electrical insulators.
   They protect us from electricity shocks so it is advised to wear plastic or rubber gloves and leather or rubber shoes when opening an electrical circuit.

Now you know how electricity works and have even finished online revisions of the chapter- Electricity and Circuits from your Class 6 NCERT Science textbook. Did you find it interesting? At SeekoG, you can have fun stuff to do and learn concepts easily using the online mind maps. You can even check your mastery over the concepts through SeekoG Diagnostic reports.