In this topic you will learn how electricity is made and sent to your home.

Electricity can be made if a magnet is moved inside a loop or coil of wire. Another way to make electricity is to keep the magnet steady and move the coil of wire through the magnetic field. A third way to make electricity is to change chemical energy, from a cell, into electrical energy.

There are two types of current. Direct current flows in one direction through a circuit. Cells and batteries make direct current. The current in your home is called alternating current. Alternating current flows in a circuit first in one direction, then in the opposite direction. This change of flow happens many times each second. It happens so quick that lights don't flicker.

A device that creates alternating current is called a generator. A generator works by spinning a coil of wire between two poles of a magnet. An outside force spins the coil. As the coil spins, current flows in one direction and then the other. The current changes direction many times every second.

A wet cell contains two different metal bars placed in a liquid. This liquid contains chemicals and is an acid. The negative and positive terminals of a wet cell are called electrodes. The positive electrode is a bar made of the element copper. The acid strips away negative charges from the copper wire, leaving it positive. The negative electrode is made of the metal zinc. When a wire is attached between the electrodes, current from a wet cell flows one way only. It is a direct current.

A volt is a unit for measuring the force that makes negative charges flow. A flashlight battery puts out 1.5 volts. However, a wall socket typically puts out 110 volts. This is enough to kill a person. Never touch any part of a circuit that is plugged into the wall. Power stations near your home have powerful electric generators. A typical power plant puts out 25,000 or more volts of electrical force. This is far too much to use in your house. The voltage is lowered by means of a transformer made up of two wire coils. A transformer is a device in which alternating current in one coil produces a different amount of current in the second coil.

We depend on electricity daily to help us perform many tasks, so knowing how to make and use electricity safely is important.