What is electricity?

Lights shine because electricity moves in wires. It can make fans spin. It can make bells ring. It stays hidden inside cords.

Electricity is tiny bits of energy moving from place to place. When it moves through a wire, it can make a lamp glow, a toy buzz, or a fan spin. It is a bit like water in a hose: when the flow can get through, things happen. When the flow is stopped, they stop.

Electricity is energy carried by tiny particles called electrons. Electrons are too small to see. In metal wires, they can move along. A battery or wall plug pushes them, and that moving energy can turn into light, heat, sound, or motion. That is why a bulb shines and a motor spins. Fun fact: lightning is electricity too, jumping through the air in a giant spark.