Electricity & Its Properties: Exploring Valence Electrons & Lightning

[LogicalAcid]

I am researching electric and magnetic fields, and so far from my understanding each electron produces its own electric field, negatively charged, and thus the atom has its own electric field, am I right so far? Some atoms have better current than others, this is related to the number of valence electrons in each atom. More valence electrons means that the electric field can move from one atom to the other, making the actual substance conductive. Insulators usually have very little valence electrons in their outermost shell. Am I right so far? If you pass an electric current through...

This is where I get confused, just what is electricity, such as lightning? Whats it made of, and how is one large enough to be seen formed?

 

[Dickfore]

Please enroll in an Elementary Physics Course at your local High School.

 

[sophiecentaur]

Exactly.
The terms you are using and the way you are using them shows you are more than a bit confused. Start 'from the bottom' and work upwards and you can get somewhere.

 

[LogicalAcid]

Exactly.
The terms you are using and the way you are using them shows you are more than a bit confused. Start 'from the bottom' and work upwards and you can get somewhere.

Sir, I am in 8th grade, feel free to point me to the right direction

 

[Born2bwire]

Wikipedia is probably the most easily accessible reference. The problem is that almost everything that you stated is incorrect in one manner or another.

Atoms are generally, on the whole, neutral. The nucleii are made up of neutral neutrons and positively charged protons. The protons have equal and opposite charge as electrons and thus most atoms are neutral since they will attract as many electrons as they have protons (with a few caveats). The ability for the atoms to lose electrons so that they may easily conduct has less to do with the number of valence electrons but the configuration of these valence electrons. This requires a quantum explanation more suitable for at least high school chemistry. Suffice to say though is that there are specific levels and orbitals (configurations) that the electrons can be in. Atoms generally are happiest when they have a fully filled orbital. How their outer orbitals are filled dictate how easily they may ionize and how. So an atom with a sparsely filled outer shell may be a good conductor because it will easily give up its valence electrons. Another atom with an almost full outer shell could also be a good insulator or at least a poor conductor because it does not want to give up electrons but rather hold on to them. But even more important is the overall bulk material as demonstrated by the fact that we can manipulate these characteristics of semiconductors by adjusting their material constituents.