Sample Experimenting with Electricity Worksheet
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Experimenting with Electricity
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     What do humans have in common with the electric eel and the lightning bug? Maybe not so much. While it seems that the electric eel can produce a shock and the lightning bug can produce light whenever they want, this is not true for people. People have to rely on power plants to generate most of their electricity. So far, power plants have mainly burned fossil fuels to produce our electricity, but fossil fuels will not last forever. Sooner or later, they will run out. That is one reason why electricity is such an interesting topic for scientists to investigate. As we learn more about electricity, maybe we will find new and better ways to produce all of the electricity that we want or need.
 
2     Experimenting always starts with a little research, and a little research into the subject of electricity leads us right to electrons. Electrons are one of the three microscopic particles that make up an atom -- protons, neutrons, and electrons. Electrons are the negatively charged ones that orbit around the center of the atom. Usually an atom is balanced because it has the same amount of electrons, which have a negative charge, and protons, which have a positive charge. However, sometimes an atom can gain or lose some electrons. Then the whole atom becomes unbalanced, or charged (as in electric charge).
 
3     Static electricity is caused by charged atoms. When you touch a doorknob and get a shock, or run a comb through your hair and make it stand up on end -- that is static electricity.

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