Burnt Out

As I was trying to figure out what to write about for my physics blog, I happened to look up and stare at the chandelier. I noticed that the light bulb was burnt out and when I thought about the light bulb, I thought about why the light bulb was no longer bright like its companions.
Inside a light bulb is a filament that glows from heat energy from excited electrons that gets converted into light energy as those electrons are travelling through the filament. The filament has a high boiling point so that it can take more electrons before the electrons are converted into light energy. The filament is very twisted to create a higher resistance so that the electrons have a harder time travelling through it. Resistance relies on the wire's length, cross-sectional area and the resistivity of the material. The filament is actually very long because it was curled tightly. At some point the filament is no longer usable, making the lightbulb die.

All of the other lightbulbs are very bright. They have a current running through them. Current depends on the voltage difference and the resistance. Current can also be calculated by the charge in coulombs divided by the amount of time.

In the picture, I didn't draw all of the light bulbs.

Scary Physics

When I plug something in, sometimes I see a small bolt of lightning coming from the electrical outlet or I hear a pop kind of sound. It was kind of scary to see the electricity fly like that, but I know for sure that I am safe as long as I don't touch the metal. The metal conducts the electricity, but the electrons don't travel all around the plug part because the part I hold onto is made out of plastic. Plastic is an insulator, meaning the charge does not move to other regions of the object. If it is a colder day, then I'll see the bolt, but if it's less cold then I'll hear the pop. When it is colder and the humidity is low, objects can retain their charge imbalances longer, so the need to become neutral is greater. The outlet gives the excess electrons happily to my plug.
If I were to touch the metal part of the plug as I put it into the wall, I would get electrocuted as my fingers received the electrons. Depending on the voltage, I would receive a certain amount of joules per one coulomb of electrons, which is 6.25e18 electrons. So if the voltage was 200 volts, then I would receive 200 joules of energy per one coulomb of electrons.
It's kind of hard to see my bolt of electricity in the picture, but it's there.