What would be the best analogy to describe how electricity works, so even a dummy like me could understand it?

Question

Someone asked me to imagine a closed system of pipes of different diameters filled with pingpong balls. There would be a vacuum cleaner installed at some point of the pipeline, and it would both suck and blow the balls, so the balls move in the system.The balls would represent electrons and the amount of balls flowing through pipes would be the current and the difference in pressure would represent the voltage.
I almost got it, but not quite. Santa Clause gave my son an electronic experimenting kit, and now he is asking all kinds of questions which I cannot answer, yet. But maybe with your help I could. Thanks.

Answer 1

I believe that analogies often do not describe a concept very clearly.however I shall try to help you understand The concept easily.

In a metal there are a big no of electrons which keep on moving here and there.Just like the moving dust particles in air which are often seen in the sunlight.they almost free to move anywhere inside the wire.

Electric field has the property that it exerts a force on any charged particle inside the field.
now take a wire , it has a large no. of randomly moving free electrons.when we apply a field across a wire it starts exerting a force on the electrons.as a result electrons 'drifts' slowly in the direction of force and opposite to the direction of the electric field.

We also say that by applying the electric field we have created a 'difference of potential energy' along the wire.And electrons are moved by virtue of this potential created.We name this potential described as the 'potential difference' across the wire.
It is obvious that higher the potential difference, more easily and faster electrons will drift towards that potential applied.just like we say that more the electric field applied,more easily and faster electrons will drift towards that electric field.

so actually 'potential difference(which you call the 'voltage' of Ur home) is another way of measuring the same property which we measure through electric field.Difference is only that electric field has a direction attached to it and 'potential difference' comes without direction.and their magnitudes are different too.

so in ur house the wires are nothing but the source of a potential difference ( or the electric field,whichever way you like to say it).When u put any wire in the plug u apply a potential difference along that appliance.And appliance start to work by that applied potential.or voltage as U often call it.or (again) electric field as u can call it.

and this potential difference is "manufactured in factories".The electric power stations.And it is carried all the way through that station to ur home.That is why appliances have 2 wires.one is at higher potential than other so that connecting them is easy.

and one last thing,never think that when an electron reach from power station in our homes only then electricity reaches us.it may take many days (or even months) to reach an electron to our home if it literally start his journey from the power station.It is the flow of potential which reaches us.just like as soon as water start flowing in a pipe water current is established inside whole pipe although water at one end may take some time in reaching the other end !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

The water analogy is very popular and helps some people. It is similar to your ping-pong ball analogy but does not try to include "electrons" in the metaphor.

Picture yourself on an island. You have a pump that sits on the island and pulls water from the ocean and pumps it down some pipes. At each "user" of the "water" the water comes out a nozzle, turns a little wheel or something, and then spills on the ground and runs back into the ocean.

The pump is much like an electrical generator. The water flow much like electricity flow. The water pressure would be analogous to voltage, and the flowrate (gallons per minute) much like the current.

Answer 3

Just thik of the seven dwarves, going to work in their mine. They are the electrons. Now imagine that there is a whole heap of them, all running out of their house(the battery) with heaps of energy and into the mine. they use up there energy in the mine to keep it working and mining the gold, so they are quite exhausted when they come out of the other side. (the mine is the light bulb or noise maker or whatever you have in your circuit). they go back into the other side of the house. They always go the same way, because they come out of the house with +energy and go into the house with -energy.

Sometimes there will be obstacles such as fallen trees or rocks that will slow the dwarves down (resistors). the speed of the dwarves running and basically the number that go past a certain point in say a minute is the current (for electricity it's electrons per second, but we all know that dwarves aren't that fast)

The voltage would be the difference in how much energy they have when the leave the house to when they come back to the house. (9 volts for a nine volt battery, and this energy is ALWAYS used up by the time it gets back to the battery, which is why a piece of metal will get really really hot and the battery will die quickly if you put the metal across the terminals.

I think that covers everything, hope I've helped.

Answer 4

nicely to be user-friendly electrical energy is presented in from the pole to the meter, from the meter to the fuse field or breaker field, and then to each little thing electric powered on your position. If some the position there's a smash interior the line your electric powered received't run nicely and also you may pay extra for it. you may tell this if a mild or equipment does not artwork in a particular position. I t would nicely be for a smash interior the cord. electrical energy then returns and makes a cycle. very such as a rubber band.

Answer 5

These "solution" analolgies are more complicated than the problem. Go directly to the heart. The battery, or other voltage source, "pushes" electrons through wires and other electrical components, such as resistances. The rates of electron flows through different parts of a circuit are too numerous and involved to give here.

Answer 6

the fundamental principle of electricity is sorcery. It is beyond human understanding, electrical appliances are moved by the devil. All we can learn is how to turn on and off things.