Disclosure: Some links on ScienceBases are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you buy through them. That never changes what we recommend or how we score it — see “How we assessed this” below for the method behind every rating. Electricity is the hardest topic to teach from a book, because … Read more
The best electricity experiments for kids all teach the same foundational idea: current only flows when there is a complete loop. Everything else — switches, conductivity tests, series and parallel — is a variation on that. Below are eight builds, ordered from simplest to genuinely instructive, using a AA battery, some wire, and a small … Read more
What is static electricity? It is electric charge that has piled up on a surface and is staying there, instead of flowing as a current. “Static” is the operative word — the charge is parked. The zap you feel from a doorknob is that parked charge suddenly finding a way out. Where the Charge Comes … Read more
How do batteries work? Strip one down and there is no stored electricity sitting inside waiting to be released. A battery is a chemical reaction held apart from itself, arranged so the only way it can complete is by pushing electrons through your device. Run out of chemicals and the battery is dead — the … Read more