Introduction

The diagram below shows a simple electrical circuit (cct.) made up of a battery, some connecting wires, a switch and a bulb. Thinking about how this simple circuit works will make a good start to a study of electricity. In fact we can learn a great deal about electricity from this circuit alone.

After completing this section you should be able to:

• define what electrical current is
• define what the terms charge and charged particle mean
• calculate values for current, quantity of charge or time using the equation I=Q/t
• describe how electrical current is affected by voltage and resistance.
• calculate values for current, voltage or resistance using Ohm's law

In the later sections you will learn more about voltage and resistance