What is current electricity.
regardless of the number of electrons flowing. The path may be a conductor such as copper, silver and aluminium. Free electrons can be forced to move from one region of the conductor to the other.
Current
Current is the rate at which an electric charge flows in a conductor. It is the number of electrons passing a given point in a second. This means that if more electrons pass by a given point, the current is greater.
The symbol for current is the letter “I”. Electrical current is measured in Amperes or "amps".
Voltage
Voltage measures the difference in electrical energy between two points of a circuit. Voltage is measured in Volts and represented by the letter 'V'
Current and voltage can be very confusing.
Here is an illustration to help you. Think of electrical charge, current and voltage as a huge water tank connected to a pipe.
Water = Charge
Pressure = Voltage
Flow = Current
The water in the tank represents electric charge. The more water in there, the more the charge. Voltage is like pressure. The more the water, the higher the pressure (voltage) at the end of the pipe.
In the diagram above, there is voltage at point A, but no current, because the tap is closed and the water is NOT flowing. This means there can be voltage without current, but no current without voltage.
At point B, the tap is opened and water flows. At this point, there is both voltage and current because there is a flow.
If we open the tap to drain some water out, the pressure will reduce (lower voltage).
Just as a pump can be used to force water through a pipe, we can use an external source of power (electromotive force) such as a battery to push free electrons in conductors to flow from place to place along a path. Current moving in one direction is called Direct Current. Electrons in the atom do not move in a straight direction. There undergo repeated collisions with other electrons in nearby atoms. During these collisions, free electrons are knocked off towards the positive end of the conductor.