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Sierra Pacific Power Company
What is Electricity?
In your home, electricity runs the ____________, television, toaster, and more. It’s hard to even ____________what your life would be like without it.
It’s easy to see what electricity does for us, but what IS electricity? Electricity is a form of ____________. Energy is ____________…the power to do and move things, and to make things ____________.
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Electricity begins with atoms . Atoms are tiny ____________that are too small to see. Atoms make up ____________around us.
The center of the ____________has at least one proton . At least one electron travels around the center of the atom at very great ____________. An outside force, called voltage , can push ____________from atom to atom. This ____________of electrons produces electricity. We have found many ways to ____________electricity’s power and use it.
Where Does Electricity Come From?
Electricity travels in a ____________that begins at a power plant. A thick coil of wire ____________inside giant magnets at the plant, moving the electrons in the wire and making electricity ____________.
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circuit everything lights harness energy atom work particles electrons imagine spins flow movement power speed |
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The power plant sends electricity through a grid of power ____________. First, big transmission wires on tall towers carry electricity to places called substations in different neighborhoods. These substations contain equipment that reduces electricity’s ____________so it can travel on smaller power lines that branch out down streets, either on overhead ____________lines or lines that are buried underground.
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Overhead and underground power lines carry electricity to transformers on poles or on the ground, where the voltage of electricity is ____________again so people can use it safely. (Transformers and substations contain equipment that is very ____________to touch; that’s why they have warning signs on them.)
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From transformers, electricity travels into buildings through wires called service drops. These connect to a meter box, which ____________how much electricity is being used, and to all the wires that run inside walls to outlets and switches.
When you plug something in and turn it on you ____________electricity’s circuit. Electricity flows from the wires in the wall, through the plug’s metal prongs, and through the appliance cord to the motor of the appliance. Then it flows back through the appliance cord to the outlet and out to the wires and into the ____________again.
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reduced complete grid lines measures dangerous power voltage |
So, while ____________doesn’t actually come from the little holes in outlets, it is waiting inside the outlet to be used — much like water waits in pipes for you to turn on the faucet and let it flow.
Electricity Travels Through Conductors
A conductor is a material that electricity can flow through ____________.
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Metals (such as ____________and aluminum) are good ____________. That’s why electrical wires are made of metal. All the wires that lead from power plants, to substations and ____________, and finally into buildings have metal inside them for electricity to travel on.
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____________is another great conductor. Because your body is mostly water, electricity can also travel easily through you. (Warning: if electricity travels through you it’s likely you will be seriously hurt or even ____________.)
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Electricity travels at the speed of ____________. At 186,000 miles per second, it gives you no time to ____________! You can’t move faster than electricity, so you just have to stay out of its ____________.
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conductors transformers copper Water killed light react electricity way easily |
Insulators Keep Electricity
Where it Belongs
Electricity does not travel easily through certain materials like special rubber, ____________, and glass. These materials are known as insulators and they are used to keep electricity from ____________the wires it travels on.
Insulators keep electricity from leaving power lines. Glass, plastic, or ceramic insulators high up on power poles keep electricity from travelling down the pole to the ground. If an insulator breaks, or a power line becomes ____________from the insulators that hold it up, the line can fall to the ground and ____________the area around it with a lot of electricity. If you touch a downed line — or even the ____________near the line — you could be hurt or killed. If a power line falls on a car and you touch the car and the ground at the same time, you would also get a ____________.
____________materials also keep
electricity inside appliance cords. Rubber or plastic insulation around the
cords keeps the electricity in the wires and prevents you from getting a shock.
If this insulation is broken or wears off, the electricity can come through and
shock you. Also, if you ____________an outlet by plugging in too many
things, cord insulation can overheat and ____________, causing a shock and
fire ____________.
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leaving shock disconnected ground Insulating overload energize plastic hazard melt |