1. Basic Electrical Circuits
Principles of EngineeringTM
Unit 4 - Lesson 4.4 – Electrical Systems
Forging new generations of engineers
Project Lead The Way, Inc.
Copyright 2007

2. Basic Electrical Circuits
Any arrangement of components that allows an electrical current to flow

3. There is only one path for the electrons to flow
A Basic Circuit
Battery
A Source Battery
Wire
A Conductor Wire
Lamp
A Load Lamp
Switch
A Control Switch
There is only one path for the electrons to flow

4. Create our own Basic Circuit
You need
Base (what we are calling a bread board)
experimental circuits are called breadboarding
Using a actual kitchen breadboard is ideal because it is a non-conductive surface
nails could be used to create elecrical connection points for electrical components

5. Create our own Basic Circuit
You need
Straws
Cut into 1/3rds
Place support straws for the battery at (1,11) & (2,10) & (2,12) & (6,12) & (6,10) & (7,11)
Make battery holder
Using cut straws AA AA

6. Create our own Basic Circuit
You need Wire
We will make our own
Folded foil wires
Fold the foil to make a thin ribbon
Wrap the foil around strip of card board
foil

7. Create our own Basic Circuit
You need
Cut folded foil wires into 2 sections 2 ½ in. long
Wrap the folded wires around the straws at the end of the batteries
Add more support straws (1,1) & (1,7) &
(6,1) & (1,7) & (6,7)
Wrap folded foil around the additional straws
Add christmas bulb with wires by
Wrapping the wires around folded wire ends
Now try your switch AA
Christmas light
Switch
Straws

8. A Series Circuit Battery A Source Battery Wire A Conductor Wire
2 Lamps
A Load 2 Lamps
Switch
A Control Switch
Electrons can only flow along one path, and MUST go through each component before getting to the next one.

9. A Parallel Circuit A Source Battery A Load 3 Lamps A Conductor Wire
A Control Switch
Two or more components are connected so that current can flow to one of them WITHOUT going through another

10. A Series-Parallel Circuit
A combination of components both in Series and in Parallel