Forget the Cord!

This phone is being charged wirelessly.

Have you ever seen a Tesla electric car? The car company was named after scientist Nikola Tesla. He figured out how to use electricity without wires.

 Every day you use lights, appliances and other gadgets that use electricity. These must be plugged into an outlet to work. But Tesla found a way to use electricity without a plug over 130 years ago!

We call this wireless energy. Scientists and engineers work every day to make it better. We use wireless energy to charge batteries in small things like electric toothbrushes, cell phones, and earbuds. Soon we may have wireless energy in our cars, parts of our homes, and areas of our towns and cities. How cool would it be to not have to plug into an outlet anymore? Or imagine being able to ride in an electric vehicle that is powered wirelessly as you go from one place to another. Wireless energy could make using electricity safer. It would also reduce wasted resources and be better for the environment!

Electric vehicles use wireless energy.

What Do You Think? How would wireless energy help you?

Reading Response Click on this link to respond to your reading. Print out the response page or upload it to your classroom site. 

What Happened? Why? 

Photo Credit: (t)Akkraraj kangrang/Shutterstock, (b)Chesky/Shutterstock