For this project, me and my partner Heidryl had to build a house with at least 4 rooms, a working circuit for each room that included a couple of lights, which were both in series and parallel. We had a lot of fun building the house as well as the circuits!
Define
Our problem was that we needed something that could hold our battery and the wire at the same time, because it could be more efficient than having one person hold the battery while have another person trying to fit in the wires and still having to hold some switches down, it would just end up getting confusing. This would be a clean, simple fix, where one person holds the battery and the wire with a little device, another fixes up the switches and holds them in place.
Dream
Our dream was to create some sort of clips that could hold the wire still as well as the battery, or maybe have some small rings that the wire could go into, to make it stable. While we were brainstorming, we thought of so many different crazy ways we could fix this problem! Like creating a machine that can connect the wire to the battery by itself with little mechanic arms or maybe create something with motors and wheels, that could move along the house, connecting the wires to the battery. However, we knew that was a bit farfetched, but having those ideas helped us create the design we made.
Deliver
In the end, we decided to make a simple battery holder, that could hold both the wire and the battery but not be too complicated. This design is much better than our last because we took more accurate measurements, we built it in a way it the printers wouldn’t have trouble making, and the two small slots were much more effective than having two rings sticking out. Trying out our first design was a but risky, but we had to give it a try.
Here is what the final design looks like:
Debrief
We did struggle a bit with tinker cad, because neither Heidryl or me have ever used it before. So, we watched some videos, gave it a try, and we messed up a couple times but in the end we created a design we were both happy with. This time, the printers didn’t have any problems and it works a lot better than our last design would’ve, even if it had printed.
Questions
- You have three lights 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.
It would prove they are in series because if you turn one bulb off, the rest would too, because there is only one pathway for electrons to flow because they are wired in series, and if its broken, the whole circuit loses voltage. And when you turn off a bulb, your breaking the current.
- 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.
In a parallel circuit, when you turn off one bulb off the rest should remain on, because they each have a pathway for electrons to flow. The loads are not dependent on one another, and it also won’t affect the brightness of the bulb, it’ll will continue to shine with the same brightness.
- 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.
I noticed that the bulb in series was a lot brighter then the bulbs that were in parallel. And, both bulbs in parallel were the same brightness, because of how they’re wired. The reason why series were brighter than the parallel is because the current flows through the series first, which means that the bulbs in parallel get what’s left of the voltage, which is about half. Than that half is evenly divided between both bulbs.
- In Question 3, describe the relative intensities of the two remaining lit bulbs if one of the bulbs in parallel was unscrewed. Support your answer.
When removing one bulb from the parallel, the circuit changes from parallel to series. We saw that the voltage in the bulbs as well as the current didn’t change. This is because the voltage is now being shared between the remaining bulbs, now that they’re both depending on the other.
- Outline a step-by-step method that could be used to determine the resistance of the light bulbs in one of your circuits. Feel free to include a circuit diagram of your set-up.
First, you connect the Ammeter to your circuit to determine the current.
Second, you add the voltmeter and connect it to both sides of your bulb, which determines the voltage.
Third, calculate to find the resistance by using Ohms Law (V = IR)
- Using your method outlined in Question 5, determine the resistance of the bulb in one of your circuits.
After using Ohms Law, we calculated that the bulbs have a resistance of about 7.6Ω