How does the analogy of moving water explain a switch, current and potential difference?
Moving water… is good analogy to electricty. First the switch… equivalent in water is a dam. If you open the dam gates, then the water flows. This is the same as turning a swich on. Current – in electricty is the amount of electric charge that flows down a wire every second. In moving water, it is the amount of water that flows down a river every second… so very similar. Potential difference or Voltage – in electricity, it is how much energy an electric charge has.. in water, imagine water that is stored up in a dam in the mountains… it has a lot of stored energy. If you let it run down hill, it could run down very fast and you could use this to do a lot of ‘work’. When it runs to sea, then it has no energy left.
