Electricity and magnetism
People have known about electrical phenomena since ancient times, when they observed that after rubbing on particular materials a piece of amber attracted particles of dust and fluff. Indeed, electricity got its name from the Greek word for amber: electron. The Ancients knew about magnetism too, for they had seen that (even without rubbing) particular stones would attract materials containing iron.
Electricity and magnetism are closely connected. Electrical currents – moving electrical charges – produce magnetic fields. Today countless technical devices and processes make practical use of the many manifestations of electromagnetism.
Lightning is a brief and very strong discharge of electricity. © André Karwath
Electricity everywhere
Without electricity our lives would be very different. No electric light for our homes. No electrical washing machine to wash our clothes. The TV screen would be blank. And you would never have been able to call up and view this website. Electricity is found in all fields of technology. And in the natural world it is everywhere too, for example when lightning flashes in the sky.
We live on a big magnet
Magnetism, too, is found everywhere in nature and technology. For example our planet earth is itself a huge magnet. Birds use the earth’s magnetic field to navigate safely across continents and oceans. And people find their way around in difficult terrain and at sea with the help of a compass. That is only possible because the compass needle lines up with the earth’s magnetic field.