Guide Note:

Electricity is an energy form produced by activity between atoms and the flow of electrons.

Fast Facts

1. Famous figures in the field of electricity include Nikola Tesla, Benjamin Franklin, and Michael Faraday
2. Electrons have a mass of 9.109 3826(16) x 10-31 kg

History

People have known about electricity for thousands of years. The ancient Greek word elektron means amber. In ancient Greece it was observed that amber will attract feathers when it had been rubbed. The reason the feathers stick to the amber was because of static electricity and although the ancient Greeks were aware of it they did not know what it was or how to use it.

In 600 BC, Thales of Miletos theorized that rubbing the amber causes it to become magnetic and thus the feathers are attracted to it.

In 1660 Otto von Guericke of Germany made the first electrostatic generator out of some cloth and sulfur.

In 1746 the Leyden Jar was invented by Pieter van Musschenbroek of Leyden, Holland. The Leyden Jar was a jar filled with water and covered with a metal foil, capable of storing static electricity.

In 1752, Benjamin Franklin wanted to see if lightning and static electricity were the same thing. So he flew his kite in a cloudy sky to see if a key he had attached to the kite string would light up when the kite was struck with lightening. He concluded that they are the same.