The “Looooong” Bar – A Science 9 Electrical House Project
An Introduction to our “House“
To start things off, it’s not a house. And before you say anything like, “Wait a minute, but I thought this was an electrical house project?!” What’s wrong with going off the rails a bit and getting creative? I’m pretty sure some people have made castles, or boats, so me and my partner Vlad designed a bar. A quirky bar, a big bar for people of all sizes, and the whole gimmick of it are that it’s extremely long. Like the first floor is just the bar. Our intended design was to go with an old-time colorless 1950s bar or something like that, thus explaining the black and white color theme. However, the brown cardboard at the back doesn’t really help.
Anyways, I’ve established one of the rooms. The bar. But what about the second floor? 3 rooms, with 3 different purposes. We got a bathroom, to the left. Apparently, a rumor was established there that just some pants still lay on the toilet to this day, nobody’s really sure how it got there. And then in the middle room, we got our storage room, filled with shelves and tables, and then our staff lounge to the right. That room’s got a TV, 2 big comfy chairs and a little cabinet sitting alone in the corner.
We lighted the bar with a series circuit, really only because we had a set of lights that were already connected to each other in a series way, which was perfect for the lights we wanted in the bar. The bathroom then had a parallel circuit, so just in case one of the lights went out, you wouldn’t be alone trapped in the bathroom, in the dark. The storage room and the staff room were involved with the compact circuit, and for our choice circuit, we thought of making an “emergency” series lights. Why? Well… it’s because we were running out of ideas.
Solution Influence Questions
Define: When we were looking at our circuit, we kind of realized… where were we going to put the battery, without it falling off? To be honest, we couldn’t just glue it to the back of the house, we wanted it to be held without us touching it and just stay in place no matter how you placed it. Which was when Vlad, my partner, came up with a genius idea, or ideas? Let’s dream a little.
Dream: We did have a few ideas.
- We could have just printed out platforms for the battery to rest on, but I feel like that was a lame idea and totally would not work.
- We could have just left the battery inside the circuit, and just 3D printed a wire organizer going through the wall and somehow connected to it, but that seemed like too much effort, and placing the battery in a place where all wires could have been connected seemed like a pain.
- But then we thought of just making a battery holder, now we didn’t get the chance to make multiple battery holders, so we would just have to hold it around while it’s in the holder, but the idea is still there.
Deliver: So that’s exactly what we did. Now, we can place the battery holder anywhere, just glue it to the circuit and not have to worry about it slipping out. I didn’t really feel comfortable with just straight up hot gluing the battery to the house, and I have to admit, there could have been some better options, but that critiquing is for another section in the blog. Vlad whipped something up that would make the holder just a bit smaller than the actual battery, that way, when we break it in a little, it would squeeze in on the battery, making it difficult for the battery to just slip out.
Debrief: The battery holder did turn out great, we did only get the chance to print one, but the idea is there as intended. And I think the battery holder is super cool because no matter how you hold it, the battery would never slip out. You technically could have done this without the battery holder. Holding it regularly would mean you wouldn’t have to worry about it slipping out, because… you’re holding it. But this was super cool nonetheless and made me appreciate 3D printing more.
However, I do wish we could have printed something better, or multiple battery holders all connected to each other. I do feel like this idea could have been optimized to be better, and it might have been more helpful if it could hold multiple batteries at once. But I still think this was a success nonetheless and shows us that it can be improved, and the start is the most important part.
Project Questions
1.) You have three light bulbs. All have the same intensity when lit. Explain how you can prove to a classmate that they are connected in series by unscrewing one light bulb. Support your answer.
If all the lights go out by unscrewing one light bulb, that means the loop was broken because that voltage was traveling through that lightbulb, like everything else! In conclusion, that is a series circuit.
2.) You have three light bulbs. All have the same intensity when lit. Explain how you can prove to a classmate that they are connected in parallel by unscrewing one light bulb.
If all the lights are still on after unscrewing one light bulb, this means that electrons aren’t just traveling through one specific path, but multiple. Meaning that this would be a parallel circuit.
3.) You have three light bulbs. Two are connected in parallel. This parallel combination is connected in series with the third light bulb. Describe the relative intensity of each bulb. Support your answer.
The series bulb is the brightest because it is one of the only paths electrons could travel to before reaching the parallel circuit where they depart. With a 9V battery hooked up, the series has 6V and the parallel lights have 3V.
4.) In question number three, describe the relative intensities of the two remaining light bulbs, if one of the bulbs in parallel was unscrewed. Support your answer.
As I said, I think the two lights would be even. If you think about it, in a parallel with 2 lights, it makes sense, because there are two paths to travel through, but if you were to unscrew one of them, there is only one loop back to the battery. Meaning it is a series circuit, and the remaining light is also a series circuit. And in series circuits, voltage is evenly distributed amongst the lights, so my conclusion is that the lights are around the same light level.