Current Electricity Unlike static electricity, in current electricity there is a continuous flow of electrons along a path. This passage of electric current through a material is referred to as conduction or simply electricity.

For current electricity to exist there must be: 1) A source of electrical charges. 2) A conducting path. 3) A device to use the electrical charges referred to as the “load”.

In what types of situations would a current detector be useful? A person can use a simple device called a current detector to determine whether or not current electricity is running through a device. The shortcoming of such a device is that it is not able to measure the amount of current present. In what types of situations would a current detector be useful?

Measuring Current Current in a circuit is measured using an ammeter. The unit of electric current is the ampere (A). An ampere is a measure of the amount of charge moving past a point in the circuit every second. Current flow = amps

What is Voltage? Voltage is the difference in electrical energy between two points in a circuit. Voltage is always measured between two locations in a circuit. A voltmeter is used to measure voltage Voltage is sometimes refered to as the “pressure” or force. Voltage is also sometimes referred to as potential difference.

Design Challenge #1 - Create a Circuit