Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of electric charge. Although initially considered a phenomenon separate from magnetism, since the development of Maxwell’s equations, both are recognized as part of a single phenomenon: electromagnetism. Various common phenomena are related to electricity, including lightning, static electricity, electric heating, electric discharges, and many others.
In ordinary matter, electrons are bound by an atom’s nucleus to form electrically neutral atoms. These materials (insulators) allow electrons to flow freely through them without conducting electricity; however, in other materials (conductors), such as metals or electrolytes, the nuclei share their electrons so that they can move quickly throughout the material and carry electrical current. Electrical currents (AC|DC) commonly involve the flow of electrons from negative to positive charges; however, conventional current does not take this into account and instead assumes movement from positive to negative charges (or vice versa). This is mainly because early researchers believed that only positively charged particles could flow through wires. This assumption was later disproven by experiments conducted by Benjamin Franklin, among others.