Electrical Energy 101

Spend time mastering and practicing the BASICS before moving on to more advanced stuff

Electrical Energy 101 Chemical reactions inside the battery cause a build up of electrons at the Anode. Because electrons repel each other, they will move to a place with fewer electrons – in this case, the Cathode! This movement of electrons is current, measured in amps. Batteries and circuits!

Electrical Energy 101 Possible activity with your students to help them understand batteries – make a battery out of a lemon ! om/watch?v=DXir_OR HOGA&safe=active

Electrical Energy 101 A circuit is a closed path or loop around which an electric current flows. Voltage: a kind of electrical force that moves current through a conductor. The bigger the voltage, the more current will flow. Current: a steady flow of electrons (measured in amperes, or amps) Resistor: a component that limits or regulates the flow of electrical current in a circuit (measured in ohms)

Electrical Energy 101 A circuit is a closed path or loop around which an electric current flows. Battery Conductor Resistor Simple Circuit Diagram LED Bulb

Electrical Energy 101 Voltage = current (amps) x resistance (ohms) V = I x R I love underwater ROBOTS… V = A x Ω

Electrical Energy 101 Multimeters! Voltmeter, ohmmeter, and ammeter combined! Black lead ALWAYS goes here Red lead local will change depending on what you’re trying to measure

Electrical Energy 101 Volts! Red lead goes here! Select option depending on how many volts you’re measuring

Electrical Energy 101 In general, leads are placed in parallel with the item being measured – red to positive, black to negative Warning! If you measure voltage while set to amps, you can blow a fuse and ruin your meter!

Electrical Energy 101 Amps Red lead goes here! (unless you’re measuring milliamps, but most of the time you won’t be) Select option depending on how many amps you’re measuring

Electrical Energy 101 Amps

Electrical Energy 101 Ohms! Red lead goes here ! Select option depending on how many ohms you’re measuring Ω

Electrical Energy 101 GnOHMs! Measurements are made without power. If you need to measure and individual component, you may need to remove it from the circuit.

Wiring the Control Box Included in your kit! Snap circuits Conductive dough Virtual Circuits! Random stuff!

Electrical Energy 101 Let’s explore! Break into groups of 3 1.Light a bulb 2.Light two bulbs in two different ways as many bulbs 3.Light as many bulbs as you can without using wire 4.Make a circuit and light a bulb without using wire 5.Incorporate a switch 6.Make your OWN switch Diagram each circuit- utilize the symbols on the symbols shortcut sheet, use your multimeters!

Wiring the Control Box Circuit Diagram

Wiring the Control Box Circuit Diagram

Wiring the Control Box ParallelSeries

Wiring the Control Box Series Parallel 12 V 3 V 12 V

Electrical Energy 101 Printed Circuit Board Made of fiberglass (insulator) Conductive wires/threads throughout board! Introduce power to whole circuit board Custom made by MATE so that all of our components can get power! Wired in parallel circuit

Electrical Energy 101 LED data sheet: Max 3 volts and 0.02 amps (20 mA) Hypothetically: We have a 9 volt battery. How many volts do we need to remove from the circuit? How big of a resistor does my LED need?

Electrical Energy 101 Thank goodness we have Ohm’s Law! V=IxR  R=V/I So then, in this case: R = 6 volts/0.02 amps R = 300 Ω We need to remove ~6 volts from the circuit Holler

Electrical Energy 101 The longer the wire and the thinner the wire, the more resistance it has How much voltage does a wire consume? You can measure the resistance of your tether wire and calculate how much voltage you lose.