energypushingDef : the energy or pushing force available to move electrons through a circuit Unit: volt (V) Symbol: V Measured using an instrument called a voltmeter V

= 1.5 volts 3.0V ?V If

Def: difference between the charges at the beginning of a circuit and at the end Charges flow because of ‘potential difference’.

3.0 V 0.0 V 3.0 V By the time a charge travels through a circuit it will essentially have lost its voltage or “push”

Def: how much the voltage decreases as it passes through each resistor on the way back to the negative end of the battery series circuit dimmerThe more light bulbs you have in a series circuit, the dimmer they are because they have to share voltage

Resistance is the tendency for materials to oppose the flow of electricity Ω  Symbol: (R) Unit: ohm (Ω) Measured by an ohmmeter  High resistance = insulators.  Low resistance = conductors.  Anything using electricity is a resistor!!

Your Turn… Find the voltage drop across the missing bulbs 40 5

parallel circuit totalIn a parallel circuit, the voltage drop across EACH resistor is equal to the total voltage Light bulbs wired in parallel have the same brightness!

FLOWDef : the rate of “FLOW” of electrons through a wire Unit: Amperes (amp) Symbol: I It is measured using an ammeter A

Current in a series circuit is the same for each resistor (light bulb).Current in a series circuit is the same for each resistor (light bulb).

Current is divided up between each path; Each path gets the necessary number of amps.

TYPES of CURRENT Direct Current (DC) flows in one direction Ex. - Batteries Alternating Current (AC) reverses back and forth Ex. – Household current

to Electrical Current mostresistant Which of the following do you think would be most resistant to electrical current? Plastic InsulatorConductor OR

Resistance is affected by… Length The longer the wire, the greater the resistance Diameter The smaller the diameter, greater the resistance Material Poor conductors have high resistance Temperature The hotter the wire, the greater the resistance

Resistance Current Voltage How Fast? How much? How much is it slowed down? Match the word on the left to the phrase on the right. Ohms  or R AMPS (I) Volts (V)