What is Electricity? (inspired by another thread)

[corvus_corax]

This was inspired by another thread that quickly fell to bickering, pseudo-science and Bible verses.

So, scientifically speaking, I would like to know what it IS.
Bible verses need not apply (since this is the Physical and Life Sciences sub-forum), unless said verses (and any other 'holy texts') actually explain what electricity IS.


So, physicists, what it is it?


Thanks in advance, because I have yet to find a single solid answer (yes, I even Googled and wiki'd it, and all i got were vague pseudo-definitions).

 

[Michael]

This was inspired by another thread that quickly fell to bickering, pseudo-science and Bible verses.

So, scientifically speaking, I would like to know what it IS.
Bible verses need not apply (since this is the Physical and Life Sciences sub-forum), unless said verses (and any other 'holy texts') actually explain what electricity IS.


So, physicists, what it is it?


Thanks in advance, because I have yet to find a single solid answer (yes, I even Googled and wiki'd it, and all i got were vague pseudo-definitions).

Well, it's typically thought of as the flow of charge particles (usually electrons) through some type of conductor. It gets a "little" trickier in "plasma" because the atoms themselves are ionized and their movement also is a type of "current flow'. The term "electricity" is actually a little "vague", but it typically relates to the flow of charged particles (aka current), typically electrons.

 

[corvus_corax]

Well, it's typically thought of as the flow of charge particles (usually electrons) through some type of conductor. It gets a "little" trickier in "plasma" because the atoms themselves are ionized and their movement also is a type of "current flow'. The term "electricity" is actually a little "vague", but it typically relates to the flow of charged particles (aka current), typically electrons.

I understand that, and thanks
However, that typical explanation is really describing "current", and not electricity itself, correct?
Rather like describing "water" by talking about how it flows in streams and rivers, and nothing more.

 

[Gracchus]

I understand that, and thanks
However, that typical explanation is really describing "current", and not electricity itself, correct?
Rather like describing "water" by talking about how it flows in streams and rivers, and nothing more.

Well, of course there can be a charge that doesn't flow. Such is known as a "static charge". It is also electrical in nature.

 

[KCfromNC]

I understand that, and thanks
However, that typical explanation is really describing "current", and not electricity itself, correct?

Nope, courses I've had on it include descriptions electrical potential, EM fields, electrical circuits and so on. Electricity is a catch-all umbrella term for an entire field of study, so it's not surprising you can't point to any one individual fact and claim you now know everything about electricity.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

This was inspired by another thread that quickly fell to bickering, pseudo-science and Bible verses.

So, scientifically speaking, I would like to know what it IS.
Bible verses need not apply (since this is the Physical and Life Sciences sub-forum), unless said verses (and any other 'holy texts') actually explain what electricity IS.


So, physicists, what it is it?


Thanks in advance, because I have yet to find a single solid answer (yes, I even Googled and wiki'd it, and all i got were vague pseudo-definitions).

Electricity is the flow of electrical potential.

 

[Michael]

I understand that, and thanks
However, that typical explanation is really describing "current", and not electricity itself, correct?

The term 'electricity' is actually rather a vague term. The terms "current" and "charge" have very specific scientific meanings that are relatively agreed upon, but the term electricity is sort of a catch-all as others have noted. Wiccan Child is correct that the term electricity is typically associated with (current) "flow", not so much with 'charge'.

Rather like describing "water" by talking about how it flows in streams and rivers, and nothing more.

Kind of, yes. The term "electricity" can infer (to some folks) more than simple current flow, but they are usually talking about the effects of the flow of current, not so much the charge.

 

[Maxwell511]

Electricity is the flow of electrical potential.

Seriously?

You know that sentence makes no sense, right?

 

[corvus_corax]

Electricity is the flow of electrical potential.

Thanks
More explanation needed
Talk to the layman, please

 

[corvus_corax]

Well, of course there can be a charge that doesn't flow. Such is known as a "static charge". It is also electrical in nature.

Thank you as well
But as a layman I will need further explanation
From what tiny bit I understand, static electricity is simply the separation of positive and negative charges (I'm probably incorrect in this, but of course this is just my layman's understanding).

"Current" electricity describes other things altogether.
Therefore, "electricity" does not actually have an actual definition or description, but seems to descriptions of various charged behaviors.
Am I even close?

 

[metherion]

From my understanding, electricity is just a flow of electrons, and electric means something relates to that.

Electric current -> current generated from flow of electrons.

Electric field -> field generated from flow of electrons

Electromagnetic field -> magnetic field generated from flow of electrons

Et cetera.

So, colloquially, electricity might specifically refer to electron flow harnessed for human consumption, but overall, it would be the name of the field that contains the studies of electric phenomena, which all come from varying effects of electron flow.

*shrug* But I'm more chemistry than physics. I deal with how electrons form bonds more than anything else.

Metherion

 

[Maxwell511]

"Current" electricity describes other things altogether.
Therefore, "electricity" does not actually have an actual definition or description, but seems to descriptions of various charged behaviors.
Am I even close?

Yes. You are not close, you are exactly right.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

Thanks
More explanation needed
Talk to the layman, please

Electrical potential is the term given to a net electrical charge. For example, if in a wire there are physically more electrons in one end of the wire than the other, there is a net electrical charge - one end is negative, one end is positive. This is an electrical potential. Because of the greater negative charge among the electrons, they are disinclined to stay huddled together, so they bump their neighbours until the whole wire is evenly distributed with electrons.

So, this electrical potential moves along the wire. It's not the electrons themselves that move, but their potential energy that's redistributed along the wire - energy flows by closely packed electrons bumping into their neighbours.

I'm not an engineer, and there are more complex phenomena like skin depth (only electrons on the 'skin' of a wire actually carry a current), etc, so the precise mechanism may not be completely correct. But the general principle is sound: electrical potential is a build up of potential energy in the form of electromagnetic repulsion, that is 'jostled' down a wire due to the electrons aforementioned repulsion. This potential - but not the electrons themselves - is what flows. An actual moving electron is just an oddity.

 

[Wiccan_Child]

*shrug* But I'm more chemistry than physics. I deal with how electrons form bonds more than anything else.

Pfft, chemistry is just the calculus of electrons

 

[metherion]

Pfft, chemistry is just the calculus of electrons

Yep. Triple integrals in polar coordinates. Also, matrix algebra (for microstate term symbols). But I find it FUN!

Metherion

 

[Chesterton]

Thread is pure win. I wish I'd made it.

 

[corvus_corax]

But the general principle is sound: electrical potential is a build up of potential energy in the form of electromagnetic repulsion, that is 'jostled' down a wire due to the electrons aforementioned repulsion. This potential - but not the electrons themselves - is what flows. An actual moving electron is just an oddity.

This is exactly what I was debating with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago. He asserted that "electricity" was the flow of electrons, whereas I was pointing out to him that electrons don't "flow" in a wire, but rather "bump" into each other (to use a nonscientific term), thereby "transmitting" their energy TO each other down a wire.

So was I on the right track (despite my *obvious* layman terms )?

Also, isn't it ions (as opposed to electrons by themselves) that are transmitting their potential in an electrolyte? If this is true (my memory is rather weak on this point), then it isn't only electrons that create electric potential, correct?

 

[Wiccan_Child]

This is exactly what I was debating with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago. He asserted that "electricity" was the flow of electrons, whereas I was pointing out to him that electrons don't "flow" in a wire, but rather "bump" into each other (to use a nonscientific term), thereby "transmitting" their energy TO each other down a wire.

So was I on the right track (despite my *obvious* layman terms )?

Yep. Electrons do move, but they don't physically flow. But it's a convenient simplification; actual electrodynamics is a bugger to get your head around, hence why I steered clear of it

Also, isn't it ions (as opposed to electrons by themselves) that are transmitting their potential in an electrolyte? If this is true (my memory is rather weak on this point), then it isn't only electrons that create electric potential, correct?

Aye, anything with a charge can in theory create an electric potential - it's 'electric' because it involves the electromagnetic force, not because it involves electrons. This is how semiconductors make diodes - one side is 'lacking' electrons, and this 'absence' of electrons effectively makes a potential itself.

 

[corvus_corax]

So, this electrical potential moves along the wire. It's not the electrons themselves that move, but their potential energy that's redistributed along the wire - energy flows by closely packed electrons bumping into their neighbours.

So, if I may use an analogy (although probably a very loose one)?

If I'm reading this correctly, "electricity" is less like water (where actual particles flow with the current), and more like a domino chain reaction, where each domino merely bumps into the next one, imparting energy to it, but no dominoes actually flow down the chain reaction.
One particle transmitting energy (in this case 'electrical potential') to another.
Am I on the right track at all?

 

[corvus_corax]

Thread is pure win. I wish I'd made it.

It's a question that's been bugging me for a while Hope you like the thread