Electric Current

Electric current is energy on the move—tiny charged particles doing a conga line through copper. It’s fast, feisty, and doesn’t take breaks. Flip a switch and voilà—science at work!

What was the War of Currents? The fight that decided how the world would be electrified

Vintage boxing-poster scene of Tesla and Edison facing off in a ring to symbolize the war of the currents between AC and DC power.

In the 1880s, electricity had a problem: nobody had agreed what an electricity system should actually look like. Thomas Edison backed direct current. George Westinghouse built around alternating current. Nikola Tesla helped make AC dramatically more useful. The resulting War of Currents involved transformers, patents, business rivalry, public electrocutions, safety fears, and some fairly ugly propaganda. AC eventually became the backbone of the grid—but DC never actually disappeared.

What is electric charge? From balloons to batteries

Children at a birthday party, their hair standing up from static electricity due to electric charge.

Electric charge is one of the fundamental forces shaping our world, influencing everything from the way atoms bond to the power that keeps your devices running. Whether it's the static electricity that makes your hair stand up or the complex movement of electrons fueling technology, electric charge plays a vital role in our everyday lives.