Voltage is the force that pushes current around a circuit. Imagine a battery being like a pump, pushing the current around the circuit. A more complicated way of defining it is that voltage is the difference in electrical energy between two points on a circuit.
You can buy batteries with different voltages or use multiple batteries to increase the voltage in a circuit. The bigger the voltage the more current flows around a circuit.
How is voltage measured?
Voltage is measured in volts.
The voltage of a standard AA battery is 1.5V.
The voltage of household wiring varies around the world but is 230V in the UK and 120V in the US.
When we made a potato battery we used a voltmeter to check the voltage.
![2 potatoes and a voltmeter showing the current passing through the potato battery circuit](https://www.science-sparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Potato-Battery-and-voltmeter-1024x684.jpeg)
What is current?
Current is the flow of charge ( negative electrons ) around a complete circuit. If the circuit breaks the current stops flowing. Current is measured in Amperes!
You can learn more about electricity and circuits with one of my easy electricity projects.
![What is voltage? Learn about voltage and current with these simple electricity demonstrations](https://www.science-sparks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/What-is-voltage_-683x1024.jpg)
Last Updated on July 18, 2022 by Emma Vanstone
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