Electricity and Magnetism Day 3

Electrical Circuits Day 3

​Today we will focus on building parallel circuits and understanding the benefits of having parallel circuits in a house!

​Gather these materials from your electricity and magnetism kit.

​Yesterday we built a series circuit with two loads. Here is an image of what we did yesterday.

​To start off today. Create this circuit.

​What do you notice about the brightness of the lights?

Keep this circuit as we will reference it later in class!

​Parallel Circuits

In a previous lesson, you learned about series circuits, which carry electric current in a single path. A parallel circuit carries electric current along two or more paths.

​In a parallel circuit, each path receives the full amount of electrical current the power source can produce. Move on to the next slide to convert a series circuit to a parallel circuit with two loads.

​Parallel Circuit with Two Loads

Now you will convert the series circuit you built at the beginning of the lesson to a parallel circuit. You will create a circuit with two paths. One light will be on each path. Follow the instructions in the video below to convert your circuit to a parallel circuit.

Let's check out this video!

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements best describes how the bulb brightness differs between a series circuit and a parallel circuit, each with two lights?

• 
  Both bulbs in the parallel circuit are dimmer than the bulbs in the series circuit.

• 
  Both bulbs in the parallel circuit are brighter than the bulbs in the series circuit.

​The bulbs in the parallel circuit remained brighter because each path of the circuit receives the full voltage of the battery. In a series circuit, the bulbs have to share the voltage, producing two dimmer bulbs.

​On the next slide, we will be using the symbols in the bottom right of this slide to complete a circuit diagram of the parallel circuit that we created.

Draw

Draw a circuit diagram of the above parallel circuit using the key below.

​Parallel Circuit with Two Loads and a Switch

​Now, you will create a parallel circuit that includes a switch that will control which path the electric current flows through. Modify the parallel circuit you built on the previous page to match the circuit shown here.

​Note that the location of the switch allows you to choose one path or the other for electric current to flow around. In this configuration, both lights cannot turn on at the same time. You could change this feature by moving the switch to a different location in the circuit. Continue on to build a parallel circuit that offers different options.

Multiple Choice

Which of the circuit diagrams best represents the circuit you just built?

​Parallel Circuit with One Load and Two Switches

​Now, build a parallel circuit that contains one light and two switches. Arrange the components so that each switch is on a separate path. Use the circuit diagram shown here as a model.

I will have a picture of the completed circuit on the next slide.

​Your circuit should have looked like this!

​Experiment with moving the switches into different combinations of toggle positions. Which arrangements turn the light on? Which arrangements turn the light off? Record your observations in the table in Electrical Circuits Day 3 Notes.

​Electric Circuits Day 3 Gimkit