Electricity And Conduction Of Electricity

Electricity and the conduction of electricity are essential for the operation of electrical circuits and devices.

• Electricity is a collection of physical phenomena related to the presence and motion of matter having an electric charge.
• Electricity can be divided into two categories: Static electricity and Current electricity.
• Conduction of electricity is the process by which charged particles move through a material.
• All substances composed of atoms are made up of charged particles known as electrons and protons. 
• These charged particles each carry a single negative and a single positive charge. 
• On the fundamental particles, electricity in all forms is a result of this charge.
• Conductors are materials that allow charged particles to move through them easily. Insulators, on the other hand, do not allow charged particles to move through them easily.
• The resistance of a conductor is a measure of how difficult it is for charged particles to flow through it.

Key Terms: Electricity, Resistance, Electrolytes, Conductor, Conduction of electricity, Atoms, Ions, Static electricity

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Electricity

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Electricity is a collection of physical phenomena related to the presence and motion of matter having an electric charge. 

• Both electricity and magnetism are connected to the phenomena of electromagnetism as defined by Maxwell's equations. 
• Lightning, static electricity, electric heating, electric discharges, and other common occurrences are all related to electricity.
• An electric field is created when either a positive or negative electric charge is present. 
• The movement of electric charges results in an electric current and a magnetic field. 
• In most applications, a force of magnitude determined by Coulomb's law acts on a charge.
• Electricity must travel in a closed circuit, which means it must move in an uninterrupted path from one point to another. 
• When you switch on a light in your house, you are closing a circuit and allowing electricity to flow to a specific device. 
• You may reopen the circuit and restrict the flow of electricity by turning off the same power switch.

There are two types of electricity

• Static Electricity: Static electricity is the discharge of an electrical pulse caused by an imbalance of positive and negative charges within an object.
• Current Electricity: The movement of electrons from one part of the circuit to another is referred to as current electricity.

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Conduction of Electricity

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The systematic movement of charged particles through a substance, resulting in a net charge movement, is characterized as electrical conduction. 

• When charged particles move in an organized manner, an electric current comes into existence.
• An atom is the smallest basic unit of matter that comprises charged particles such as electrons and protons. 
• Protons are positively charged particles that reside within the nucleus of the atom, surrounded by negatively charged electrons in their orbits or shells.
• Electric current is the process of moving or transferring electric charge per unit of time through the cross-section of the wire. 
• As a result, when a substance has free electrons or ions to move, it is considered to be a good conductor of electricity because it allows the flow of electric current or movement of electric charge under the influence of an electric field. 
• Simply described, electrical conductivity is the capacity of the substance to conduct electricity.

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Conduction of Electricity in Liquids

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Electrons that are in motion help metals to conduct electricity. The electrons present in the outermost orbit of an atom are loosely bonded with the nucleus. These loosely bonded electrons at room temperature become free to move within the substance and hence are known as free electrons.

In the case of liquid, the conduction of electricity occurs in different ways.

• Unlike in metals, chemical bonding in liquids prevents electrons from freely moving. 
• This means that we must add charges to the water before it can conduct. 
• When some compounds (ionic Compounds) dissolve in water, their bonds dissociate or break apart. 
• When the bond is broken, the components of the molecule separate, resulting in many constituent atoms with a charge.
• An atom that loses an electron(s) has more protons than electrons, and vice versa for an atom that gets electrons. 
• This causes a charge imbalance, resulting in either a positive or negative charge on the atom. 
• An Ion is an atom that becomes charged by losing or acquiring one or more electrons.

Conduction of Electricity in Liquid

Conduction of Electricity in Water

Water is considered to be a good conductor of electricity, however, this is just half of the truth. 

• After exploring deeper into physics and chemistry topics, it is clear that pure water can not conduct electricity. 
• There must be a charge traveling through a liquid for electricity to flow through it. 
• Water that has been totally deionized or is completely 'clean' contains no ions. As a result, because no charge goes through pure water, it doesn't carry electricity.
• Distilled water contains no impurities and hence no ions are present. 
• There are only neutral molecules, and these neutral molecules have no charge. As a result, distilled water cannot carry electricity.
• Tap water, rainfall, and the ocean all include impurities such as Na⁺, Ca²⁺, and Mg²⁺ ions. 
• They become charged when they come into contact with water, allowing electricity to flow through the liquid. 
• Ionic chemicals, such as NaCl, KCl, KOH, CH₃COOCl, and others, dissociate in water and create positive and negative charges.

Ionic Compound

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Conduction of Electricity in Substances

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Other than water, many substances in all states of matter conduct electricity. 

• Metals conduct electricity due to metallic bonding. 
• In a metallic connection, a constantly moving sea of electrons surrounds the metal atoms. 
• Because of this flowing sea of electrons, the metal conducts electricity. 
• All metals, to some extent, conduct electricity. Some metals conduct electricity more efficiently than others. 
• Copper, silver, aluminum, gold, steel, and brass are all electrical conductors. 
• Some of the most conductive metals include silver, copper, and gold. 
• Most metals have impurities that prevent electron transfer. The elements used as alloying agents are commonly referred to as 'impurities'. 
• Alloys, as a result, have lesser electrical conductivity than pure metal. 
• Gases are usually considered as 'non-conductors' of electricity. 
• When gases are ionized at low pressure and high voltage conditions, they behave as a conductor.
• Some everyday use products, such as oil, vinegar, alcohol, and sugar solutions, can conduct electricity when combined with a small amount of salt.

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Ionic and Covalent Compounds

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The formation of ions in a solution is mostly determined by the chemical bonding between the atoms of the compound. 

• Covalent compounds are often composed of nonmetal elements bonded by electron-sharing bonds. 
• Electrons cannot split into charged ions in a solution because they are shared in covalent bonds. 
• Ionic compounds are those that are made up of charged particles (ions). Metals that have lost one or more electrons create positive ions. 
• Nonmetals that receive one or more additional electrons produce negative ions. 
• Positive and negative ions attract each other and combine to form ionic compounds. 
• Ions with opposing charges prefer to attract and hold to each other. This results in the production of compounds known as ionic compounds.
• For example, a sodium atom may lose an electron, which a chlorine atom gains. 
• As a result of this reaction, a positively charged sodium ion (Na⁺) and a negatively charged chloride ion (CI^-) are created. These elements combine to generate the ionic compound NaCl.

Ionic and Covalent Compounds

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Importance of Electrodes in the Conduction of Electricity

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An electrode is an electrical conductor that makes contact with the nonmetallic components of a circuit (for example, a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum, or air). 

• Electrodes are essential components of batteries and can be created from a variety of materials depending on the type of battery. 
• The electrophore, which was an early version of an electrode used to study static electricity, was invented by Johan Wilcke. 
• Electrodes are essential components of electrochemical cells, which are used to power electrical energy batteries. 
• They carry electrons from one half-cell to the next, creating an electrical charge along the way. 
• In an electrochemical cell, there are two types of electrodes: cathode and anode. 
• The cathode is the negative side that attracts positive ions, while the anode is the positive side that moves negative ions to complete the electric circuit. 

Other major uses of electrodes for the conduction of electricity include:

• Electrodes are used in many types of batteries, electroplating and electrolysis, welding, cathodic protection, membrane electrode assembly, chemical analysis, and the Taser electroshock weapon. 
• Electrodes are also used in the medical business in ECG, ECT, EEG, and defibrillators. 
• Electrodes are also used in electrophysiological methods in biomedical research.

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Things to Remember

• Electricity is the phenomenon associated with stationary or moving electric charges.
• Electric charge is the inherent property of the elementary particles due to which it can apply force on another charged or uncharged particle.
• Static electricity is a charge imbalance within or on the surface of a substance.
• The flow of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, traveling through an electrical conductor or space is referred to as an electric current.
• In a metallic conductor, the conduction of electricity is due to the motion of the free electrons.
• In a conducting liquid called an electrolyte ions (positive and negative) are the current carriers.
• Current carriers in gases are free electrons and positive ions.

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