What is electricity | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Duration: 1'49''

Synopsis

An electric current is essentially the flow of electrons (which are electrically charged) from one atom to another.

Further Information

More clips from Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

01: Spark | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

01: Spark | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 59'21''

Jim Al-Khalili tells how the first 'natural philosophers' began to unlock electricity's mysteries, studying its curious l...

Insulators and Conductors | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

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BBC Four | 2011 | 4'22''

Stephen Gray, a silk dyer, was used to seeing sparks leap from the silk so he began experiments conductin...

Leyden Jar | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Leyden Jar | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 4'44''

A Leyden jar is a device for storing static electricity, discovered accidentally in Leiden, Netherlands.

Positive and negative charges | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Positive and negative charges | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 3'18''

Benjamin Franklin discovered that electricity could be like money in a bank, it could be in credit (p...

Voltaic Pile | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Voltaic Pile | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 5'06''

Invented by Italian chemist Alessandro Volta in 1799, the voltaic pile was the first electrical battery that could con...

More resources about Current, potential difference and resistance

Alternating current | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

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BBC Four | 2011 | 5'14''

Nikola Tesla invented alternating current (AC) which allowed no electrical power to be lost when passing throug...

Positive and negative charges | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Positive and negative charges | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 3'18''

Benjamin Franklin discovered that electricity could be like money in a bank, it could be in credit (p...

Resistance | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

Resistance | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

BBC Four | 2011 | 4'44''

Jim Al-Khalili explains how, as we made microchips smaller, the electrical feature of resistance was becoming more probl...

Alternating and direct current | GCSE Bitesize Revision

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BBC Two | 2010 | 35'''

Spec references J249: P8.2h J250: P6.2g. Alternating and direct current. Description and animation.

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BBC Two | 2010 | 2'07''

. Ohm's law V = IR with worked example narrated slides.

S04E01: South West | Local Heroes

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This week he reveals the heroes of Bath, Stroud, Dorset and the New Forest, from the inventor of concrete to a pioneer of static electricit...

Voltaic Pile | Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity

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BBC Four | 2011 | 5'06''

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Spec references J248: C3.4b J250: C3.4b. Professor Jim Al-Khalili recreates the electrolysis experiment that lead to...