How Electricity Works

It’s not a stretch to say electricity is one of the most impactful discoveries of human existence. But how does it work?

We take electricity for granted these days. But think of everything we do with electricity. We cook our food, light our homes, keep our families warm with it. It powers our vehicles. And it keeps many of our waking hours filled with entertainment. But do you know how electricity works?

Electricity is one of most of the impactful technologies to human existence.

close-up of an Edison bulb with others in the background as we ponder how electricity works
Electricity is useful, helpful, even beautiful. But how does it work?

How does electricity work?

Is the electric shock we receive from staticky socks the same as power coming into our television and computer? If they aren’t, how do they relate to each other? And what about batteries? Also, how does the power stored there relate to those other kinds of power?

In simplest terms, the power in your socks, in batteries, and coming into your home are all the same. Each one has electric current moving particles from areas of a different charge. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about annoying static, a charge hidden in batteries, or high voltage lines. In each case, there is a discharge occurring as the system tries to find a balance between positively and negatively charged electrons. Read more below.

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