How To: Be aware of electricity and matter

In the first video, you'll see how contact between different materials can result in attraction or repulsion. Experimental results are discussed that led to Ben Franklin's one fluid theory of electricity. It explains how clues were found from rubbing different materials together.

The second presentation illustrates the one fluid theory of charge first described by Benjamin Franklin. It also explains conventional versus electron current flow.

The third presentation illustrates the parts of an atom. It shows how the atom is made of electric charges in the form of protons and electrons. Other related topics include atoms, atomic structure, Coulombs Law of Charges, the force between charges, the unit charge (coulomb), forces between sub-atomic particles, ionization, ions, ionic bonding, the strong nuclear force, the nucleus, protons, and neutrons.

The fourth presentation shows how the elements are the building blocks of all matter. It describes the atoms, bonds between atoms, molecules, atomic number, atomic mass (weight), isotopes, atomic excitation and ionization.

The last presentation describes the properties that make some elements and materials conductors or electricity, while other materials are insulators. Topics include electron orbitals and shells, free electrons, and valence electrons. It introduces the analogy of a wire as being like a pipe carrying water, and it describes conductivity and resistance.