There are so many fun facts about who, what, where, when, and why about Electricity! Electricity is everywhere and part of our daily lives, we simply could not comprehend a life without it. We have listed 30 Fun facts to spark your curiosity and learn more about electricity.
Electricity is created using wind, the sun, water, and animal waste, yes that is correct poop.
Electricity is a type of energy that builds up in one place or flows from one place to another.
The world’s largest light bulb is located in Edison, New Jersey. It is 4m tall, weighing eight tons, and is positioned on top of the Thomas Edison Memorial Tower.
Electricity travels at the speed of light, about 300,000 kilometres per second.
Lightning Is the Discharge of electricity in the atmosphere.
A bolt of lightning can measure up to three million (3,000,000) volts (and lasts less than one second).
The average taser emits 50,000 volts.
A spark of static electricity can measure up to 3,000 volts.
Before electricity became part of our lives, ancient Egyptians used to refer to electric fish as the “Thunderers of the Nile” as lightening and shocks from these fish were so powerful.
LED lightbulbs use 80% less electricity.
When lightning strikes, it flows from the cloud to the ground, but the part we see is the charge going from the ground back up into the cloud.
Static electricity happens when the electrons from one object jump to another object.
Coal is the world’s greatest source of energy for producing electricity.
An American inventor, William Morrison built the first successful electrical car in 1891.
Our brains’ neurons are filled with electric charges that carry signals to our bodies.
Birds can get electrocuted on power lines.
Electric current is measured in amperes, called amps for short.
Electric potential energy is measured in volts.
Direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). DC electrons move in a single direction, while AC electrons change from moving backwards to forward all the time.
The electricity we use in our homes is AC, while DC comes from things like batteries.
Thomas Edison owned the first power plant which was opened in New York City in 1882.
Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod amongst many other discoveries.
A popular way to create electricity is through hydropower. Hydropower is a process where electricity is made by water which spins turbines attached to generators.
A fuse is a strip of wire that melts and breaks an electric circuit if it goes over a safe level. Fuses are known to be used as a safety device.
The Statue of Liberty was the first Lighthouse to use electricity in 1886.
Alfred Porter Southwick (1826–1898) was a steam-boat engineer, dentist and inventor from Buffalo, New York. He is credited with inventing the electric chair as a method of legal execution.
Thomas Alva Edison, (1847-1931) was one of the most well-known inventors of all time with 1093 patents. During the whole of his life, Edison received only three months of formal schooling, and was dismissed from school as being retarded, though in fact a childhood attack of scarlet fever had left him partially deaf.
The first four common domestic items to be powered by electricity were the toaster, kettle, sewing machine, and fan.
A typical microwave oven consumes more electricity powering its digital clock than it does heating food.
In 1879, the first street in the world to be lit by electric light bulbs was Mosley Street, Newcastle upon Tyne.
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