In Europe, the standard voltage output for a household outlet is 230V.

Pierre Chtel-Innocenti, CC0, via Unsplash Welcome to your guide to the basics of electricity.

The four most basic physical quanities in electricity are: Voltage (V).

A system of water pipes is often used as an analogy to help people understand how these units of electricity work together.

In this analogy, voltage is equivalent to water pressure, current is equivalent to flow rate and resistance is equivalent to pipe size.

In electrical engineering, there is a basic equation that explains how voltage, current and resistance relate.

Ohms Law V I x R Ohms law states that voltage is equal to the current flowing in a circuit times the resistance of the circuit.

One way of understanding Ohms law is to apply it to the imaginary plumbing system weve employed as a representation of an electrical system.

If we increase the pressure in the tank, more water will come out of the hose.

Thus, if we increase the voltage in an electrical system, we will also increase the current.

If we make the diameter of the hose smaller, resistance will increase, causing less water to come out of the hose.

With this brief introduction of the workings of an electrical system, lets jump into each of the units of electricity separately and learn about them in more detail.

The image above depicts a simple electrical circuit with a bulb, some wire, and a battery.

What Are Volts Volts are the base unit used to measure Voltage.

One volt is defined as the difference in electric potential between two points of a conducting wire when an electric current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power between those points.

The volt is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.

In our battery diagram above, the battery provides what is known as a potential difference in an electric circuit, or voltage.

If we go back to our water analogy, the battery is like a water pump that propels water through a pipe.

The pump increases the pressure in the pipe, causing the water to flow.

In electrical engineering, we call this electrical pressure voltage and measure it in volts.

But in order for the current to flow, the electrical conductor or wire must loop back to the battery.

If we break the circuit, with a switch for example, then no current will flow.

There are standard voltage outputs for everyday objects like batteries and household outlets.

In the United States, the standard voltage output for a household outlet is 120V.

Volt To Watt