Electricity Physics Flashcards
What is Current
Flow of electrical charge
What is Potential Difference
Force that pushes current around
What is Resistance
Slows the flow of charge
Neutral Wire
Carries away current, blue
Earth Wire
For safety, green and yellow
Live Wire
Provides alternating potential difference from mains, brown
conduction
transfer of electrons when one object touches another
conductor
a material in which charges can move easily. Most metals are fit this description because some of the electrons in metals are free to move about (they are delocalised).
insulator
a material in which charges cannot easily move
parallel circuit
a circuit in which different loads are located on separate branches. The charges travel through more than one path.
simple or series circuit
a circuit in which all parts are connected in a single loop
voltage
The amount of energy given to each coulomb of charge. Measured in volts.
Resistance
A measure of the opposition to the flow of current. Measured in Ohms
Current
The number of coulombs of charge to flow past a point per second. Measured in amps.
Diode
A device used in circuits which only allows current to pass in one direction.
Resistor
A component that is used to control current in many circuits.
Thermistor
A temperature dependent resistor. This can be used as a sensor in a circuit. Normally with these devices the resistance decreases as the temperature increases.
Variable Resistor
Often used as volume controls or dimmer switches the resistance of this component can be adjusted.
Ammeter
A device used in series to measure electrical current.
Voltmeter
A device used in parallel to measure the voltage across a component or section of a circuit.
plug wiring
Remember the second letter from each wire. bLue - Left, bRown - Right and sTripes - Top
