MORE ABOUT ELECTRIC POWER: A Big Circuit

Just like the current flowing from the battery, the electrical current that is delivered from the power plant to your home must have a complete circuit to move in.

Look at the power cord for your television, lamp, or computer. It is actually two wires in one, ending at a two- or three-pronged plug. The current travels from the power plant, through the transmission lines, into your home and through an outlet into the power cord.

It travels up one side of the cord to the television or lamp where it delivers electrical energy. Then the current comes back down the other side of the cord, back through the outlet, and out of your house to the transmission lines. It travels all the way back to the power plant where a giant generator keeps pushing it along through its circuit.

NEXT: Wiggling Current