Electrical Circuits and Symbols Aim: To build series and parallel electrical circuits Keywords: Electrons, current, voltage, resistance, circuit Series circuit - stays the same Parallel circuit – splits equally and then re-joins going back to the battery What happens to current in a series circuit and a parallel circuit? A series circuit is a single loop in which the electrons must flow through all the components in the circuit to return to the battery. This means that if there are two light bulbs in a series circuit, then the electrons have to flow through both, increasing the resistance and meaning that the second bulb will be dimmer than the first. This also means that if one of the lights breaks, then the electrons will be unable to complete a full circuit and the other bulb will also not work. A parallel circuit includes a series circuit with another loop or circuit branching off and then connecting back, as seen below. In order for a voltmeter to operate properly, it needs to be parallel to the component, such as a light bulb. Due to the two separate loops, unlike a series circuit, if one component is destroyed or damaged, then the other is still able to operate. In this lesson we attempted to replicate electrical diagrams with real components, and to examine how they operated. We used and electrical transformer, some wires, an ammeter, a voltmeter and two light bulbs. We created simple series and parallel circuits and examined the effect that the added resistance had on the electrical components. In a series circuit, as more globes were added, the next consecutive light would become dimmer. This is because the first light was receiving the most energy, while all consecutive lights were receiving added resistance, reducing the energy that they received. However, in a parallel circuit, as more lights were added, no effect was visible. This is because the two separate loops allow energy to flow to each light independently, without the resistance of the previous light. Lesson Summary:
Constructed series and parallel circuits Examined the effect of resistance on electrical components Constructed a working ammeter and voltmeter, that allowed us to measure volts and amps.
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