lectricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of electric

charge. Although initially considered a phenomenon separate from magnetism, since the
development of Maxwell's equations, both are recognized as part of a single
phenomenon: electromagnetism. Various common phenomena are related to electricity,
including lightning, static electricity, electric heating, electric discharges and many others.
The presence of an electric charge, which can be either positive or negative, produces an electric
field. The movement of electric charges is an electric current and produces a magnetic field.
When a charge is placed in a location with a non-zero electric field, a force will act on it. The
magnitude of this force is given by Coulomb's law. Thus, if that charge were to move, the electric
field would be doing work on the electric charge. Thus we can speak of electric potentialat a certain
point in space, which is equal to the work done by an external agent in carrying a unit of positive
charge from an arbitrarily chosen reference point to that point without any acceleration and is
typically measured in volts.
Electricity is at the heart of many modern technologies, being used for:

 electric power where electric current is used to energise equipment;

 electronics which deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such
as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodesand integrated circuits, and associated passive
interconnection technologies.
Electrical phenomena have been studied since antiquity, though progress in theoretical
understanding remained slow until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Even then, practical
applications for electricity were few, and it would not be until the late nineteenth century
that electrical engineers were able to put it to industrial and residential use. The rapid expansion in
electrical technology at this time transformed industry and society, becoming a driving force for
the Second Industrial Revolution. Electricity's extraordinary versatility means it can be put to an
almost limitless set of applications which include transport, heating, lighting, communications,
and computation. Electrical power is now the backbone of modern industrial society.[1]

Contents
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 1History
 2Concepts
o 2.1Electric charge
o 2.2Electric current
o 2.3Electric field
o 2.4Electric potential
o 2.5Electromagnets
o 2.6Electrochemistry
o 2.7Electric circuits
o 2.8Electric power
o 2.9Electronics
o 2.10Electromagnetic wave
 3Production and uses
o 3.1Generation and transmission
o 3.2Applications
 4Electricity and the natural world
o 4.1Physiological effects
o 4.2Electrical phenomena in nature
 5Cultural perception
 6See also
 7Notes
 8References
 9External links

History