How do we get electricity at home?
You must have seen these electric cables,
they are made from copper and aluminium and
they conduct electricity to our homes. What
happens when a person gets an electric shock?
In this, electricity flows through the human
body and because of this the person experiences
an electric shock. You must have heard people
asking you to use wooden blocks while touching
the switch boards. Why is that so? This is
because wood does not allow the passage of
electricity so the substance in that allow
the passage of electricity or allow electricity
to flow through them are known as conductors.
Example-: Human body, all methods like copper,
aluminium gets. They allow the passage of
electricity and therefore they are all conductors.
And the substances that do not allow the passage
of electricity through them are known as insulators.
Example-: Non-metals, air, wood, rubber. These
substances do not allow the passage of electricity
and so these substances are known as insulators.
Is copper metal a conductor? We know all metals
are conductors so yes copper metal is a very
good conductor. How do the conductors conduct
electricity? We know that electricity is the
flow of electrons. In the conductors, there
are free electrons. These free electrons are
free to move from one atom to another and
this allows the passage of electricity to
the conductors. Since, it involves only the
movement of the free electrons so no chemical
change is taking place, so when conductors
allow the passage of electricity through them
it is because of the presence of these free
electrons and no chemical change is taking
place but in Chemistry, certain chemical compounds,
they allow the passage of electricity through
them but this is always accompanied by a chemical
change. And this process is known as Electrolysis,
so Electrolysis in the conduction of electricity
through chemical compounds which is always
accompanied by a chemical change.
