MAX POWER

From the second you wake up in the morning, your way of life is made possible thanks to the amazing power of electricity.

It keeps the lights on, charges your phone, powers your favourite console games, cooks your food and is now helping to create the next generation of high-tech robots. Come on a supercharged journey to get to know electricity's secrets and discover some of the surprising electrical wonders to be found in nature.

What is electricity?

Electricity is what happens when electrons (tiny, negatively charged particles found in all atoms) move about. The simplest way to experience this is to rub a balloon on your hair. When you pull it slowly away from your head, your hair "magically" sticks to the balloon.

This, of course, isn't magic but a type of electricity called static electricity. Rubbing the balloon moves electrons from your hair onto the outside of the balloon. This action gives the balloon a negative charge and your hair a positive charge, causing them to be attracted to each other. The electrons can also "jump" to another surface, creating an electric spark. The electricity that powers your home is called dynamic electricity because it is a continuous flow of electrons, also called a current. Metals like copper, which electrical wires are made out of, have lots of electrons that can freely move between the copper atoms. When you plug your TV into the wall, the electrons get pushed around the wire, creating the current that powers your TV.

Naturally sparky

You can find electricity right in the core of the planet. As Earth rotates, the liquid metal in its core moves, creating flows of electricity. This generates a giant magnetic forcefield around the planet, protecting us from dangerous solar energy from the Sun. You can sometimes see this solar energy being deflected as the amazingly colourful aurora borealis (the northern lights).