Zero crossing

Okay kiddo, so you know how electricity flows through wires to power things like lights and appliances right? Well, sometimes the electricity changes direction and goes back and forth really fast.

Now, a zero crossing is when the electricity changes direction and passes through zero or no power in the middle of going back and forth. It's like when you jump up and down on a trampoline, at the top of your jump you aren't jumping up or down - you're just kind of hanging in the air for a second before you start falling back down.

Why is this important? Well, a lot of electronic devices use zero crossing to help control the flow of electricity. For example, dimmer switches on lights turn the electricity on and off quickly in a pattern with zero crossings to make the light brighter or dimmer.

So, zero crossing is basically when the electricity pauses for a tiny moment before changing direction, and it's important for making things work properly.