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Use this simulator to design and redesign basic circuits. Fix it, break it, and fix it again.

What is the same about all the circuits that light the bulb?

Exploring Challenge: Upload a picture of a circuit working with 3 lightbulbs.

(You can take and save a screenshot on Macs by holding down . On Windows computers use PrintScreen & Windows button at the same time. On a phone? Push home and power.)

Upload your screenshot file here and we will send you 100 brainpowers!

Master Challenge: Create a poster or write a paragraph that describes what all working circuits share in common. 200 brainpowers!

Make sure you have these words memorized so you can ace your next test. Take the 6-question Electric Vocab quiz.

We started this book learning about simple electrical devices, such as lightning rods and light bulbs. By the end of the book, your learned about technology changing the world today! From learning about A.C. insulation motors that give incredible speed to Tesla cars to the various, complex parts of a smartphone. To say the least, you now know the important ideas about electricity.

And, don’t forget about the important scientists that furthered the fields of electricity. Ben Franklin’s experiment helped us better understand electricity in nature. This observation helped Ben Franklin invent a device that we still use to save lives today. Later, Joseph Swan’s first light bulb and Thomas Edison later perfected it, which allows us to have endless light in our homes. And, then Nikola Tesla and his discovery of Alternating Current that allows the fast and cheap electricity throughout the world. Today, companies like Tesla, Inc., are designing electric cars to create a new type of car that is just as fast as other cars without all the pollution.  So, the next time you power on a cell phone or turn on your electric oven to bake cookies, think about how far we have come from discovering electricity. Many people in the 1800’s would have never imagined that the world you live in would be so full of light and energy! You have learned the same things and performed many of the experiments that other people used to help us design this electrified world. You can continue this work, and may even event Chapter 20 in this book! You now have the knowledge and problem-solving skills to continue this research!

Time: 15-20 Minutes

Materials:

1. Small iron nail
2. Insulating wire- ends must have exposed metal (have a grownup help you!)
3. Double A Battery
4. Paper clips or other metal objects

Instructions Step by Step: 

1. Wrap the wire around the nail in one direction, make sure the wire is tightly coiled. 
   1. If you coil the wire in different directions, the electromagnetic force will cancel out, and there will be little to none force of the magnet. 
2. Attach one end of the insulated wire to the positive terminal of the battery and the other to the negative terminal of the battery. 
3. Check your circuit: One end of the insulating wire is on the positive terminal. The insulating wire is wrapped around the nail tightly with some of the exposed metal touching each end of the nail. The other is on the negative terminal. with the excess attached to the battery.
4. Spread paper clips on the table.
5. Touch your nail to the paper clips. While electricity flows through your nail, it will act like a magnet. The battery will attract the paper clips to the nail. 
6. When the electricity stops flowing through the nail, then the nail will stop acting as a magnet.

When electricity is passed through the coiled wire, a magnetic field is present, and you are able to pick up other magnetic objects, such as paper clips! Some important things to keep in mind: the more coils your wire has, the better your magnet will work! Because more current is being generated, the more electricity is being passed, and a stronger force will be present! Be careful holding the battery, as it might get hot, as well as the insulating wire.

Here is a video we shot while doing this experiment.

Time: 30 Minutes

Materials:

• 9V Battery
• LED lights
• Play Dough and/or Alligator Clips
• Objects to test: nickel, wire, chalk, wood, coin, copper, cotton, rubber duck, umbrella, anything you want!

Experiment

1. Setup the circuit from the last experiment. Connect your 9V battery to wires so that an LED bulb lights up.
2. Open the circuit so there is a gap.
   • If you only want to use play dough and copper wire add a third playdough piece. Connect the wire from the battery to this new piece. Now you will have a gap between the wire connecting the battery and the two playdough pieces connecting the LED light.
   • If you use alligator clips instead, one wire will connect a battery terminal to one LED terminal. Another wire will connect to the other battery terminal and nothing else. The third wire will connect to the other LED terminal and nothing else. You will clip these last two wires to the new objects.
3. Test each object by placing it in the gap you created in Step 2.
4. If the light bulb lights up, then your circuit is full of conductors.
5. If the lightbulb does not light up, then something in your circuit is stopping the flow of electrons. These materials are called insulators because they protect us from electricity.
6. Record what you see as “Observations”. Use your observation to decide whether the object is a “Conductor” or “Insulator”.
7. Repeat Step 3 with all your materials while taking good notes of what you observe. 

Step by Step Demonstration With Explained Vocabulary: Start with an LED light. When you touch the plastic part of the LED light to the playdough nothing will happen. But, if you touch the legs of the LED light to the playdough, the rest of the LED lights will shine. Why? The legs of the LED lights are made out of metal. Metal is a good CONDUCTOR of electricity. Conductors are materials that allow the flow of electrons freely. A good conductor transfers electrons well. The reason why the plastic part of the LED light did not cause the others lights to shine, because plastic is an INSULATOR. Insulators are materials that electrons do not flow freely, but instead, are fixed in one place. A good insulator does not transfer electrons well. 

Video for Reference: https://youtu.be/i4-9U2wkwD4 

Time: 30 Minutes

Materials:

• 2 copper wires
• LED lights
• 9V Battery
• Store bought Play Dough

Equipment

Assemble circuit:

1. You will connect the battery to your copper wire. First, make a small loop around one terminal of your battery with the copper wire.
2. Put a piece of play dough on the other end of the copper wire.
3. Wrap the other copper wire around the other terminal.
4. Put another piece of play dough at the end of the second copper wire. 
5. Create any play dough shapes you want, but make sure there is a gap between the pieces.

Complete the circuit with LED lights:

6. Put one end of the LED light into one piece of play dough, and put the other LED wire into the other piece of play dough.
   • The electricity will have to flow through the LED light in order to complete the connection.
7. Play dough acts as your resistor so you may have to push your LED light further into the play dough so the right amount of electricity passes through your light. (You may also have to pull the LED wires further out of the play dough if it only lights dimly.)
   • You can control the amount of electricity going into the light by moving the LED around in the play dough.
8. If your circuit still does not light, check the connection between the battery and the copper wire. Your LED lights will be bright if you give electricity a path to travel.

Shocking Fact: Why is play dough a good conductor of electricity? The amount of salt in the dough allows electrons to move freely within the dough! Salt is an ion that allows the flow of electrical charge. 

Important note about resistance: The LED lights and playdough provide resistance in our circuit, therefore we do not need to buy a resistor separately. A resistor job is to limit the flow of electrons in a circuit, so the light bulb won’t become overpowered or burn out quickly. Also, the L.E.D. lights have a certain voltage of 3.2 volts, the battery is 9 volts, therefore, they have a pretty good amount of voltage difference. A resistor makes sure that the voltage difference has a very small impact on the current. Both LEDs and playdough have a built in resistance that allows the current to flow, despite the voltage difference. 

After you conduct the experiment, watch my experiment to learn important vocabulary. After you watch my video, you can answer these questions: