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Keeping
safe around electricity
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Static
electricity
Static electricity may give you a bit of
a fright, but it won't damage you or hurt you badly. Read
about static
electricity and what causes it,
and how you can make it happen.
If you get a "zap" when you get out of
the car, try holding the car handle as you put your feet on
the ground. This will ground you, and let the electricity
safely get away without giving you a zap.
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Electricity from
batteries
When you do your electricity experiments
in the classroom, you will be using small dry cells like
those on your right. The reason we use those for electricity
experiments is that the amount of current going through them
is very small. It is enough to light up a bulb, but not
enough to give you an electric shock.
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But electricity from the mains can
kill you!
Electricity follows a path, like a toy train
track. This path is called a circuit. The circuit, like the train
track, has to be completed or connected for the electricity to flow.
Electricity will not leave the circuit unless it can find an easier
path to the ground.
A conductor is a material that electricity can
flow through easily. Because water is a very good conductor of
electricity and your body is made mostly of water, you are a good
conductor of electricity. If you touch a circuit, like a power line
or appliance, you could become the easiest path to the ground. The
ground is the earth or something touching the earth, like the steps
of a ladder, a tree, or even a roof by way of the walls of a house.
You could also become part of the path to the
ground if you are touching water that touches electricity.
Electricity would travel through the water and through you to the
ground. You would probably be killed in the process. The electricity
burns you, and stops your heart beating.
Would you like to take
a quiz, or do
a puzzle about electricity and
safety?
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