Lesson: Circuits Date: Monday-Wednesday, April 14-23, 2008 Level: Physics High school

Created by: Marcie Fairchild

Purpose/Objectives: This lesson provides the students with hands-on experience with circuits. Additionally, students learn to analyze circuits on paper and in practice. Combining schematic diagrams, Ohms Law, and the use of multimeters, students develop basic circuitry skills that help them understand real world applications of circuits. Standards: PH.1 The student will plan and conduct investigations in which a) the components of a system are defined; c) information is recorded and presented in an organized format; d) metric units are used in all measurements and calculations; h) appropriate technology including computers, graphing calculators, and probeware, is used for gathering and analyzing data and communicating results. PH.2 The student will investigate and understand how to analyze and interpret data. Key concepts include a) a description of a physical problem is translated into a mathematical statement in order to find a solution; PH.4 The student will investigate and understand how applications of physics affect the world. Key concepts include a) examples from the real world PH.13 The student will investigate and understand how to diagram and construct basic electrical circuits and explain the function of various circuit components. Key concepts include a) Ohms law; b) series, parallel, and combined circuits; and c) circuit components including resistors, batteries, generators, fuses, switches, and capacitors. National Science Teachers Association Core Physics Competencies: 9. Electricity and magnetism Materials and Resources: Bulbs Wires Batteries Multimeters PowerPoint Notes Minds of Our Own video Lab Sheets Practice Problems Conceptual Development books Lamp Christmas lights

Minds of Our Own video

Conceptual Development Book Hewitt, Paul G. (2001). Conceptual Physics Concept-Development Practice Book. Pearson Prentice Hall: Lebanon, IN. Class Management and Safety: Using 1.5V batteries poses no safety risks. Bulbs are glass and can break is dropped. Additionally, the bulbs will burn out if the potential drop across them exceeds 3V. Circuits involve many components. Having the components already divided into pie tins ready to pass out to each makes the class flow more easily and reduces the probability of overloading the circuit and blowing a light bulb. Procedures: Engage (2 minutes) Examining a lamp, students reason why the lamp is not on. There is discussion on how turning the switch completes the circuit and what that means. Explore (5 minutes) Students explore making a closed circuit by visiting another Plausible/Impossible question You can light a light bulb with just the bulb, one battery, and one wire. Each table is given a bulb, battery, and one wire. Explain (10 minutes) The anatomy of a light bulb is revealed to the students along with the four successful ways to complete the task. A clip from Minds of Our Own showing MIT graduates un able to complete the task. Expand (280 minutes) Students expand their knowledge over the next four classes calculating voltage, current, and resistance for series, parallel, and compound circuits, wiring these circuits, and analyzing them with a multimeter. - Notes: Series circuits (Christmas lights used as example) - Practice: Conceptual questions on series circuits (Conceptual Development Book) - Lab: Circuit Labs - Series Circuits - Practice: Drawing and analyzing series circuits - Practice: Conceptual questions on current (Conceptual Development Book) - Notes: Parallel circuits - Demo: Parallel circuit board - Notes: Parallel overloading, fuses - Practice: Drawing and analyzing parallel circuits - Lab: Circuit Labs - Parallel Circuits - Notes: Combination circuits - Practice: Analyzing combination circuits - Review: Students are instructed to determine which type of circuit they are least sure about, list what they know about the circuit and list what they are confused about. Students grouped according to their strengths and weaknesses to work through the review sheet provided.

Evaluate (50 minutes) Students are evaluated on their knowledge of circuits with a written test and lab practical. The test can be found on the following pages. The lab practical consists of lighting a bulb and testing the voltage of the battery with a multimeter. Activity Sheets See the following pages for: 1. Circuit Labs Sheet (2 pages) 2. Circuit Analysis Sheet (1 page) 3. Review Sheet (2 pages) 4. Test (4 pages)

Circuit Labs Things to rememberwhen using the multimeter to calculate voltage, turn the knob to Volts. The meter goes across the device. When using the multimeter to calculate current, turn the knob to Amperes. The meter goes in the circuit. Series Circuits Circuit One 1. Wire a series circuit with one battery and one bulb. Draw a schematic diagram of your circuit. 2. Use the multimeter to find the potential difference of the battery and the potential drop across the bulb. Record these values. 3. Use the multimeter to find the current in the circuit. Record this value. 4. Using Ohms Law, calculate the resistance of the bulb. 5. Calculate the total resistance of the circuit. Circuit Two 1. Wire a series circuit with one battery and two bulbs. Draw a schematic diagram of your circuit. 2. Use the multimeter to find the potential difference of the battery and the potential drop across each bulb. Record these values. 3. Use the multimeter to find the current in the circuit. Record this value. 4. Using Ohms Law, calculate the resistance of each bulb. 5. Calculate the total resistance of the circuit. Voltage of Battery Current of Circuit Total Resistance Voltage Bulb 1 Bulb 2 Voltage of Battery Current of Circuit Total Resistance Voltage Bulb

Resistance

Resistance

Questions: 1. Increasing the number of bulbs increased or decreased the total resistance of the circuit? 2. Increasing the number of bulbs increased or decreased the current of the circuit? 3. Increasing the number of bulbs made each bulb burn brighter, dimmer, no change? 4. How does the current in the circuit correspond to the current through each individual bulb? Parallel Circuits Circuit One 1. Wire a parallel circuit with one battery and two Voltage of Battery bulbs. Draw a schematic diagram of your Total Current circuit. Total Resistance 2. Use the multimeter to find the potential Voltage Current difference of the battery and the potential drop Bulb 1 across each bulb. Record these values. Bulb 2 3. Use the multimeter to find the current in the each branch. Record these values. Calculate the total current of the circuit. 4. Using Ohms Law, calculate the resistance of each bulb. 5. Calculate total resistance of the circuit.

Resistance

Circuit Two 1. Wire a parallel circuit with one battery and Voltage of Battery three bulbs. Draw a schematic diagram of your Total Current circuit. Total Resistance 2. Use the multimeter to find the potential Voltage difference of the battery and the potential drop Bulb 1 across each bulb. Record these values. Bulb 2 3. Use the multimeter to find the current in the Bulb 3 each branch. Record these values. Calculate the total current of the circuit. 4. Using Ohms Law, calculate the resistance of each bulb. 5. Calculate total resistance of the circuit.

Current

Resistance

Questions: 1. Increasing the number of bulbs increased or decreased the total resistance of the circuit? 2. Increasing the number of bulbs increased or decreased the total current of the circuit? 3. Increasing the number of bulbs made each bulb burn brighter, dimmer, no change? 4. How does the current in the circuit correspond to the current through each individual bulb? Combination Circuits Wire the following circuit:

1. Use the multimeter to find the potential difference of the battery and the potential drop across each bulb. Record these values. 2. Use the multimeter to find the current in the each branch. Record these values. Calculate the total current of the circuit. 3. Using Ohms Law, calculate the resistance of each bulb. 4. Calculate total resistance of the circuit.

Voltage of Battery Total Current Total Resistance Voltage Bulb 1 Bulb 2 Bulb 3

Current

Resistance

Circuits For each problem, draw the circuit diagram and solve for each quantity asked for. Remember to show your work 1. A 10 , a 15 , and a 5 resistor are connected in series across a 90 V battery. Find the total resistance of the circuit. What is the current through each resistor? 2. A 20 and a 30 resistor are connected in series across a 110 V potential difference. What is the total resistance of the circuit? What is the current through each resistor? What is the voltage drop across each resistor? 3. Three 15 resistors are connected in parallel across a 3 V battery. Find the total resistance of the circuit. What is the total current? What is the current through each resistor? 4. A 120 . a 60 , and a 40 resistor are connected in parallel and placed across a 120 V potential difference. What is the total resistance of the circuit? What is the total current? What is the current through each resistor?

Circuits Review Chapter 35 Objectives 1. Requirements for current to flow in a circuit. 2. Define current, resistance, and voltage. Give units of each. 3. Draw and interpret schematic diagrams 4. Distinguish between series and parallel circuits and describe the characteristics of each. 5. Determine the equivalent resistance of circuits having two or more resistors. Find the current in different parts of the circuit (for series, parallel, and combination circuits) 6. Explain the cause and prevention of overloading household circuits. *Light a light bulb with a battery, wires, and bulb and measure the voltage of the battery with the multimeter* Practice Circuits 1

Total resistance = ______ Current in the circuit = _______ Voltage drop across R1= _______ Voltage drop across R2= _______ Voltage drop across R3= _______

Total resistance = ______ 2 V=48V R1=5 R2=10 R3=15 R4=20 Total current in the circuit = _______ Current through R1= _______ Current through R2= _______ Current through R3= _______ Current through R4= _______ V=48V B D C R2=16 R1=8 R3=16 F R4=2 R5=14 G E Total resistance = ______ Total current in the circuit = _______ List points A, B, C, D, E, F, and G in order from greatest to least current.

Circuit 1 This is a series circuit. Total Resistance : R = R 1 + R 2 + R 3 = 4 + 12 + 8 = 24

Total Current : I = V 12 V = = 0.5A R 24 The current through each resistor is also 0.5A since this is a series circuit. Voltage drop across R 1 : V = IR = (0.5A )( 4 ) = 2 V Voltage drop across R 2 : V = IR = (0.5A )(12) = 6 V Voltage drop across R 3 : V = IR = (0.5A )(8) = 4 V

Circuit 2 This is a parallel circuit.

Total Resistance : 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 = + + + = + + + R = 2.4 R R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 5 10 15 20 V 48 V = = 20 A R 2.4

Total Current : I =

V 48 V = = 9.6 A R 5 V 48 V Current through R 2 : I = = = 4.8 A R 10 V 48 V Current through R 3 : I = = = 3.2 A R 15 V 48 V Current through R 4 : I = = = 2.4 A R 20 Current through R 1 : I =

Circuit 3 This is a combination circuit.

Total Resistance : Since it is a combination circuit we will do this in a few steps... 1 1 1 1 1 Equivalent resistance for R 2 & R 3 : = + = + R 2 & 3 = 8 R R 2 R 3 16 16 Equivalent resistance for R 1 & R 2 &3 : R 1,2& 3 = 8 + 8 = 16 Equivalent resistance for R 4 & R 5 : R 4 &5 = 2 + 14 = 16 Total Resistance : 1 1 1 1 1 = + = + R = 8 R R 1,2& 3 R 4 &5 16 16 V 48 V = = 6A R 8

Total Current : I =

Ranking currents (high to low) 1. A & B (equal to total current) 2. C & E, F & G (C & E and F & G are each in the same branch so they have the same current going through them. Since the branches have the same resistance, the current divides equally between them making the current equal in through all for points. 3. D (the current through C splits between the R2 and R3 branches)

Circuits Test Chapter 35 Name____________________________ Date___________________ Per______ Multiple Choice. (2 pt each) _____1. In order for current to exist in a circuit, you must have a. two light bulbs in series b. two light bulbs in parallel c. a switch that is open d. a complete path for the current As more lamps are put into a parallel circuit, the overall current in the circuit a. increases b. decreases c. stays the same d. reverses direction As more lamps are put into a series circuit, the overall current in the circuit a. increases b. decreases c. stays the same d. reverses direction When one light bulb in a series circuit containing several light bulbs burns out, the other bulbs a. burn slightly brighter b. do not change c. burn slightly dimmer d. go out A safety fuse is connected to the circuit in a. series b. parallel On some early automobiles, both headlights went out when one bulb burned out. The headlights must have been connected in a. series b. parallel c. perpendicular d. separate circuits When two bulbs are connected to a battery in parallel, the total resistance of the circuit is a. less than the resistance of either bulb b. more than the resistance of either bulb c. equal to the average of the resistance of the bulbs

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Miss Fairchild is trying to put up Christmas lights to celebrate the joy of electricity. She has a battery-powered strand of ten bulbs. If one of the bulbs is removed, the other four bulbs on that half go out. Which schematic diagram best depicts her physics lights?

a.

b.

c.

d.

Use the following statement to answer questions 9-13. Electricity moves through a simple circuit to light a 3 light bulb using a 3V battery (as pictured below). _____9. What particles are physically moving through the wire? a. electrons b. protons c. neutrons d. Amperes

(Questions 10 & 11) If you replace the 3 light bulb with one having a resistance of 6 _____10. The current in the circuit will be a. twice as big b. half as big c. the same _____11. The bulb will be a. brighter b. dimmer c. no change (Questions 12 & 13) If you replace the 3V battery with one having a voltage of 6V _____12. The current in the circuit will be a. twice as big b. half as big c. the same _____13. The bulb will be a. brighter b. dimmer c. no change

Find the requested values for each of the following circuits. Remember to show your work and give units 14. Total resistance = ______ Current in the circuit = _______ Voltage drop across R1= _______ Voltage drop across R2= _______ Voltage drop across R3= _______

15. Total resistance = ______ V=10V R1=4 R2=16 R3=8 R4=16 Total current in the circuit = _______ Current through R1= _______ Current through R2= _______ Current through R3= _______

16. V=60V A B R1=10 E R4=12 R3=24 R5=12 R2=20 D C Choose from points A, B, C, D, or E: Where is the current the largest? _____ Where is the current the smallest? _____ Give two points where the current is the same. ______ & ______

Total resistance = ______ Total current in the circuit = _______

Extra Credit 1. Find the total resistance of the circuit below. Encouragement : Show your work (I want to give you partial credit!). Think about what is going on in the circuithow the current is flowing, what makes current flow, and how the voltage compares at points A, B, C, and D.

2. What part of the unit on electricity did you like the best or learn the best from? Explain why.