I watched a ted-ed (https://youtu.be/8EUy_82IChY#t=369), and the guy said “nobody knows what it is” so is it true? Do we not know what electricity is?
In: Physics
We don’t know what electricity is only in the most general sense, in which we don’t really know what anything really is. But in any more practical sense, Electricity is one of the better understood phenomena out there. Electricity is a flow of electrons from one atom to the next, each one trying to replace the absence of the previous electron to keep the charge balance of the atom. Since Maxwell, we developed strong knowledge about how electricity flows, the rules that make it work, how to manipulate it, store its energy, all the practical stuff. But, more importantly, our standard model of physics explains even what the electron is in a more fundamental level, and quantum mechanics can explain even more of its behavior. A lot of our more modern technology, especially computers, is derived from that knowledge of electricity.
We know quite well what electricity is; it’s the transmission of power via the motion of electric charge. It’s apparent from the context and overall tone of the presentation that the presenter means “Most laypeople have misconceptions about how electricity works.”
It is the movement of electrons along the outer shell of atoms from a high concentration to a low concentration. So, if you have a lot of electrons in one area with more being created, they’re going to want to push their way along the atoms in a wire to areas where there are less electrons. Like water flowing downstream or through pipes from a high pressure to a low pressure area.
We definitely know what it is although it his highly debated whether or not electrons flow from a negative to positive or positive to negative. They flow from a live line (a cable with voltage) to a 0 volt or ground line for the reason mentioned above. We even know and can measure with cheap tools how many electrons flow through a single point in a line and how it is affected by a load of ohms or the electrical pressure of voltage. It’s highly controllable, measurable, and not terribly complicated.
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