what is electricity

 Electricity is the flow of moving electrons. When the electrons flow it is called an electrical current.

                To understand why electrons flow you need to understand that atoms can lose electrons by rubbing against another material. Think about when you rub your head against a balloon. Believe it or not, your hair is actually getting some electrons from the balloon. Because your hair has more electrons then protons, we say it is negatively charged.

 But what about the balloon? Well the balloon has more protons than electrons so it is positively charged.

 Now that we know objects can have positive or negitive charges let's talk about how objects that are charged will behave. There are 3 main rules about electrical charges:

Like charges repel           

so if both you and your friend rubbed balloons on your head and then tried to stick the balloons together they would repel or push away from each other because they would both have the same charge.

unlike charged objects attract

Since your hair has a positive charge and the balloon has a negative charge, they are attracted to each other. Kind of like to magnets trying to stick together. 

a charged object will attract an uncharged object So the balloon is charged and the wall has no charge. This means the wall is attracted to the balloon.

This is how the electrons flow. The negative charges (electrons) move because they are repelled by other electrons and because they are attracted to the positive charges (protons). 

 The flowing electrons make electricity, but how can we use it?

 You need three things to let you use this electrical current: a circuit or a path for the electrons to move through, a power source, or something that is going to make the electrons move, like a battery or a generator, and something to use the electricity, like a light bulb or a t.v..         

 The power source causes the electrical current that goes through a circuit or a closed path, and the appliance is connected to the circuit so the electrons can move through it and make the appliance work.