Electricity

Electricity

What is electricity?

It is the movement of electrons.

What is a circuit?

It is a path which an electric current passes through.

What is a simple circuit made of?

It is made of a cell/ battery, wire, bulbs and switches.

What does a cell do?

It provides the circuit with power. It is the source of energy.

What does the wire do?

It connects different parts of the circuit together.

What does the switch do?

It opens the circuit, so the electricity stops or closes the circuit, so the electricity flows.

How do we draw a circuit?

We use symbols to show different parts of the circuit.

 

 

Where are the terminals of a battery?

They are at the top and bottom of the battery.

How do the terminals of a battery behave?

The opposite terminals of the  battery connect to make a circuit work.

What would happen if you connect more than one cell to the circuit?

If we put so many cells then the circuit might overload and explode, otherwise it will have more energy and the bulb will shine brighter.

 

How do we measure the size of an electric current?

What does the energy source do?

The energy source, like a battery, causes the particles in a complete circuit to flow around. 

What does the electric current do?

The electric current carries the energy to the components of the circuit.

What is the measure of the electric current?

The number of particles passing any point of a circuit each second is the measure of the electric current.

What do we use to measure the electric current?

We use an ammetr or a multimeter to measure the electric current.

What is the unit of electric current?

The unit of electric current is ampere (A).

How does the electric current flow around a simple circuit?

It flows in one direction.

Can a wire make a compass?

Yes, if an electric current pass through it a magnetic field is created. If a needle is added then a compass is made.

 

 

 

How do the length and thickness of a wire affect the brightness of a bulb? 

 

How does the length or the thickness of a wire affect the electric current passing through it?

The shorter and the thicker the wire is, the more electric current passes through it.

What would happen to a bulb if more electric current passes through it?

It will shine more brightly.

How do dimmer switches work?

They have a long resistance wire inside.

 

 

4.4 How do we connect bulbs in a circuit?

Can we connect bulbs into a circuit? In how many ways?

Yes, we can connect more bulbs to a circuit. We can do this in two ways.

What ways we can connect a bulb to a circuit?

We can connect bulbs making a series circuit or a parallel circuit.

What is a series circuit?

It is a circuit when we connect bulbs one after another, so the electric current has only one path to pass through.

What is a parallel circuit?

It is a circuit when bulbs are connected that some of  the electric current reaches to one of them and some reaches the others.

What would happen if a bulb stops shinning ina series circuit?

All the bulbs stop shinning.

What happens if a bulb stops shinning in a parallel circuit?

The bulbs would still shine.

What happens if you add more bulbs to a series circuit?

The bulbs will shine less brightly.

What happens if you add more bulbs to a parallel circuit?

That will not affect the brightness of the bulbs.

What is the difference in connecting bulbs in series or parallel circuit?

Connecting the bulbs in parallel causes them to shine more brightly than connecting them in series.

How are applainces connected?

Thay are connected in parallel.

 

4.5 What happens when we add more cells in a ciurcuit?

Do circuits need one cell to make their components work?

Most circuits need more than one battery to do so.

What is the voltage of a battery?

It is a measure of electrical energy the battery can provide the circuit with.

What is the unit of voltage?

The unit is volts (v).

How does the voltage change if we add more cells?

We sum up the voltage of the cells.

How do we know the voltage needed to make a component work?

It is written.

 How can we make a powerful battery?

We can do so by connecting the opposite ends of the cells together.

 

4.6 Do all materials allow an electric current to pass through them?

What does an electric current need to pass?

It needs a complete path made of materials to pass through.

What is tap water made of?

Tap water is a solution of water and salts.

What are conductors?

Those are materials that allow an electric current to pass through them.

What are insulators?

Those are materials that do not allow an electric current to pass through them.

What is the difference between tap water and distilled water in terms of materials?

Distilled water is an insulator, while tap water is a conductor.

 

 

4.7 Are some materials better electrical conductors than others?

What was the first bulb made of?

The first bulb had a copper filament . Later platinum was used, because it shone for a longer time, but it was too expensive.

 

Edison made a bulb with a filament made of tungsten, because it has the highest melting point, but couldn't make it thin enough till1910.

 

Silver is a better electrical conductor than copper.

 

Metals are electrical conductors.

Some metals are better electrical conductors than others.

 

 

4.8 How do we use electricity safely?

Describe mains electricity!

Mains electricity comes from power stations. It has high voltage and can be very dangerous.

Is it safe to have a lot of aplliances plugged into a wall socket? Why?

It is not safe, because it can overload the circuit.

What is a fuse?

It is a device with a thin metal wire inside that prevents  short circuits.

When does a short circuit happen?

When an electric current does not travel through the correct path and finds a shorter one to travel.