In your home electricity runs the lights, television, toaster, and more. It’s hard to even imagine what your life would be like without it.

It’s easy to see what electricity does for us, but what IS electricity? Electricity is a form of energy. Energy is power…the power to do and move things, and to make things work.

Electricity begins with atoms. Atoms are tiny particles that are too small to see. Atoms make up everything around us.

The center of the atom has at least one proton and one neutron. At least one electron travels around the center of the atom at very great speed. An outside force, called voltage, can push electrons from atom to atom. This movement of electrons produces electricity. We have found many ways to harness electricity’s power and use it.

When you want to use electricity, you plug an electrical appliance, toy, or tool into the tiny holes in an outlet. Does electricity come from the tiny holes? Well, yes and no.

Electricity travels in a circuit that begins at a power plant. A thick coil of wire spins inside giant magnets at the plant, moving the electrons in the wire and making electricity flow.

The power plant sends electricity through a grid of power lines. First, big transmission wires on tall towers carry electricity to places called substations in different neighborhoods. These substations contain equipment that reduces electricity’s voltage so it can travel on smaller power lines that branch out down streets, either on overhead power lines or lines that are buried underground.

Overhead and underground power lines carry electricity to transformers on poles or on the ground, where the voltage of electricity is reduced again so people can use it safely. (Transformers and substations contain equipment that is very dangerous to touch; that’s why they have warning signs on them).

From transformers, electricity travels into buildings through wires called service drops. These connect to a meter box, which measures how much electricity is being used, and to all the wires that run inside walls to outlets and switches.

When you plug something in and turn it on you complete electricity’s circuit. Electricity flows from the wires in the wall, through the plug’s metal prongs, and through the appliance cord to the motor of the appliance. Then it flows back through the appliance cord to the outlet and out to the wires and into the grid again.

So, while electricity doesn’t actually come from the little holes in outlets, it is waiting inside the outlet to be used — much like water waits in pipes for you to turn on the faucet and let it flow.

Electricity does not travel easily through certain materials like special rubber, plastic, and glass. These materials are known as insulators and they are used to keep electricity from leaving the wires it travels on.

Electrical plug and section of cord showing insulation of inner wires. Insulators keep electricity from leaving power lines. Glass, plastic, or ceramic insulators high up on power poles keep electricity from traveling down the pole to the ground. If an insulator breaks, or a power line becomes disconnected from the insulators that hold it up, the line can fall to the ground and energize the area around it with a lot of electricity. If you touch a downed line — or even the ground near the line — you could be hurt or killed. If a power line falls on a car and you touch the car and the ground at the same time, you would also get a shock.

Insulating materials also keep electricity inside appliance cords. Rubber or plastic insulation around the cords keeps the electricity in the wires and prevents you from getting a shock. If this insulation is broken or wears off, the electricity can come through and shock you. Also, if you overload an outlet by plugging in too many things, cord insulation can overheat and melt, causing a shock and fire hazard.

Electricity is always trying to get to the ground. Like all good travelers, electricity takes shortcuts whenever it can. If something that conducts electricity gives electricity an easy path to the ground, electricity will take it!

Water and metal are some of the best conductors for electricity. Because your body is mostly water, you are a great conductor, too! So if you touch an electric circuit and the ground at the same time, you will become electricity’s easiest path. Electricity will flow through you, and you could be seriously hurt or killed.

You don’t have to be touching the ground directly to conduct electricity. You could also be touching something that is in contact with the ground, like a tree or a ladder.

Electricity, You and Water

Water is an excellent conductor. You can become electricity’s path to the ground if you are touching water that touches electricity. Electricity would travel through the water and through you to the ground.

This is why it’s so important to keep all electrical appliances away from water, and to make sure your hands are dry and you are not standing in water when you touch anything electrical. It’s also the reason no one should ever use water on an electrical fire, but should use a multipurpose fire extinguisher instead.

Appliances have protective insulated cords and coverings to keep you from contacting the electricity inside. It’s important to use appliances and cords the way they were designed to be used so you don’t damage the insulation or contact live electrical parts. If a live wire inside an appliance, toy, or power tool touches the inside of the device and you touch the device, it would be like touching a bare live wire. You cannot tell from the outside if there is a problem inside, so you should always act as if there were danger of shock.

You can never tell when contact with electricity will be fatal, but you can be sure it will always hurt.

Electric shock can cause muscle spasms, weakness, shallow breathing, rapid pulse, severe burns, unconsciousness, or death.

In a shock incident, the path that electric current takes through the body gets very hot. Burns occur all along that path, including the places on the skin where the current enters and leaves the body.

It’s not only giant power lines that can kill or injure you if you contact them. You can also be killed by a shock from an appliance or power cord in your home.

Have you ever wondered why the birds that sit on power lines don’t get electric shocks? It’s because the electricity is always looking for a way to get to the ground, but the birds are not touching the ground or anything in contact with the ground.

If you touched a power line while you were in contact with the ground (or standing on a ladder or roof) electricity would travel through you. And if your kite or balloon got tangled in a power line and you touched the string, electricity could travel down the string and into you on its way to the ground. Both situations would mean a serious shock!

Have you ever wondered why people who work up on power lines don’t get shocked? Utility workers are trained to work with electricity. They wear special insulated boots, hardhats, and gloves, and use special insulated tools that help prevent shock. It would be a bad idea to climb a power pole and imitate them — and possibly fatal!

Electrical fires are different than other fires. Because water conducts electricity, throwing water on an electrical fire can cause the fire to get larger. Here is what to do:

1. NEVER use water on an electrical fire.

2. Tell an adult to turn off the main power to the house.

3. If the fire can be put out safely, tell an adult to use a proper chemical fire extinguisher. If the fire cannot be put out safely, leave the house and take everyone with you.

4. Call 101 or any emergency number and tell them it is an electrical fire.

Downed power lines can hurt or kill you, even if they do not spark or hum.

If you see a downed power line, stay very far away. Do not even get close to anything that is touching the line, like a tree, fence, vehicle, etc.

Tell an adult to call 101 and the local electric utility to report the line.

Trees near power lines are dangerous! When a tree grows close to a power line, it can create shock hazards, power outages, and fires.

If you climb a tree near a power line and touch the power line, electricity will go through you and you can be hurt or killed

If a tree branch falls on a power line, it can cause a power outage. Electricity will go off in any homes or businesses served by the power line until the electric utility can remove the branch and fix the line.

Circuits do not always turn off when a power line falls into a tree or onto the ground. Even if they are not sparking or humming, fallen lines can kill you if you touch them or the ground nearby. Stay away and tell an adult immediately.

If a tree branch touches a high-voltage power line, electricity from the line can make the branch so hot it catches fire. From there, the fire can spread to nearby trees, plants, or buildings.