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About Electricity
17. Circuit
18. Conductor
19. Insulator
20. Semiconductor
Like flowing water through a pipe, current is flowing through the circuit
too. Electric circuits accomplish the transfer of current by connecting to
a power supply, switch, and other functional components with wires. It can
be mainly defined by series and parallel circuits.
A circuit composed solely of components
connected in series is known as a series circuit;
likewise, one connected completely in parallel is
known as a parallel circuit. If two lamps
are connected in the series circuit and
one of them burns out, the other one
cannot work. However, it will still work in
the parallel circuit. All home circuits are
parallel circuits to avoid interferences.
A conductor is an object or type of material that allows the flow
of electrical current in one or more directions. The conductivity
varies for different materials. For example, metal, lead, acid, or
alkali salt are good conductors. Humans are conductors too, so
be careful around electricity.
A semiconductor material has an electrical conductivity value
falling between that of a conductor and an insulator, such as a
diode or triode. The conductivity of semiconductor material can
be easily affected by increasing temperature and flashing lights.
A substance that resists electricity is called an insulator.
Examples of insulators are glass, rubber, ceramics, and plastics.
The plastic covers outside wires are commonly used insulators.
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