Top 5 Facts: Electricity

1. High voltage
Static electricity commonly causes your body to build up voltages of 10,000-plus volts. Fortunately the current discharged is too weak to do any serious damage.

2. Triboluminescence
Crunching sugary sweets can separate positive and negative charges as sugar crystals crack. When they recombine the surrounding air is excited, producing a flash of blue light.

3. Concentrated power
A nuclear fission reactor can generate the same amount of electric energy from a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of natural uranium as a power station extracts from 14 tons of coal.

4. Electric UFOs
Static electrical charges on high-voltage transmission lines can cause glowing corona discharges, which may account for UFO sightings in the vicinity of power plants.

5. Very pr-icy
Our fridge-freezers are typically the most energy-greedy of all the household appliances, guzzling approximately £60 ($100) of electricity a year.