Electricity As A Science Topic & Why Your Child Must Master it

Electricity is a fundamental topic in primary school science that all children should look to have a strong understanding in. This helps them beyond just scoring in exams and to both daily application and for applying in more advance disciplines.

In this article, we will cover what electricity is, how it works and its use in circuits. During which, we aim to demonstrate the usefulness of this topic and how it is a fundamental concept for higher disciplines.

What is Electricity?

Electricity is a form of energy that powers many of our modern day appliances. Simply put, it is the flow of charge from one destination to another. This is caused by the attraction of positive or negative charges. This is why your battery has a positive and negative terminal, that causes electricity to flow.

Speaking of batteries, they provide passive energy that can be converted to electricity once it is connected to a conductor. Most commonly this is in the form of wires that help to transmit electrical charges from the battery towards any appliance.

Electricity in a Circuit

For electricity to flow to any appliance, a full circuit must be formed. If your battery only connects to the appliance one way, then one of the battery’s terminal will not be connected. In which case, the circuit won’t be close, and no electricity will flow since opposite charges won’t exist to draw the energy out.

Introducing the Switch

A switch is basically a part of the circuit that can be removed at any time. When you turn on the switch, what is essentially happening is that the circuit becomes complete with the component being inserted. Thereafter, electricity is free to flow through the circuit. Conversely, when you turn off a switch, the component is removed, breaking the circuit and stopping the flow of electricity.

Introducing Voltage

Voltage is practically the amount of charge or power that is being supplied to the circuit or what the appliance needs in order to operate. In order for your appliance to work, the voltage supplied to it has to be of the right level. If an overly high voltage is supplied, the appliance might explode while a low voltage will result in the appliance not being able to function.

Introducing Current

Current is the rate at which electricity passes through a circuit. When the current in a circuit exceeds the safety levels, the wire becomes excessively hot with large amounts of heat being generated. At which point, the insulation might melt away while the circuit might be at risk of generating an electrical fire.

Helping Your Child to Learn Electricity

If your child is struggling to learn electricity? Then consider sending him or her to primary 6 science tuition classes to help them master  the basics of electricity.

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