Download Simulation Website: (after accessing the website, click on “Run Now

Name: ______________________________
Home 2-2: Lighten Up
qWDYT? p. 50 (this sheet)
qFYTD (this sheet)
qFor You To Read, p. 52
qPTG p. 54 #1-2 (on loose leaf or on back)
WDYT?
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FYTD
You and your partner will use the simulation at the website listed below to answer the questions below. After
constructing the circuits in questions 1, 3, and 5, be sure to have your teacher confirm that the circuit is built correctly.
Simulation Website: (after accessing the website, click on “Run Now!”)
http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Circuit_Construction_Kit_DC_Only
1. Build a basic circuit with a battery, two wires, and a light bulb. _______
a. By right clicking on the battery you can increase its voltage. Increase the voltage of the battery
to 25 V, what happens to the brightness of the bulb? __________________________________
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b. The brightness of a light bulb depends on how much current is running through the bulb.
Increasing the amount of current will increase the brightness. Using this fact and your results
from part a, what relationship exists between voltage and current in a light bulb?
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c. By right clicking on the light bulb you can increase its resistance. Increase the resistance of the
Light bulb to 25 W, what happens to the brightness of the bulb? _________________________
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d.
Using your results from part c, what relationship exists between resistance and current?
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2. Using pg. 51 of your textbook as a guide, draw a circuit with two light bulbs connected to a battery in
series.
3. Reset the resistance in the light bulb to 10 W. By right clicking on the connection point between the wire
and the battery, you can disconnect the wire from the light bulb. Add another light bulb in series with
the original one. _______
a. What happen to the original light bulb when the wire was disconnected? __________________
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b. What happened to the brightness of the bulbs when the second bulb was added in series
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c. According to your results from part b, does the current in the light bulbs increase, decrease, or
stay the same when a second bulb is added in series? __________________________________
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d. After the light bulbs are connected in series, disconnect one of the light bulbs. What happens to
the other light bulb? ____________________________________________________________
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4. Using pg. 51 of your textbook as a guide, draw a circuit diagram with two light bulbs connected to a
battery in parallel.
5. Build a new circuit with two light bulbs connected in parallel to a battery. Set the voltage of the battery
to 25 V. _______
a. What happened to the brightness of the bulbs when the second bulb was added in parallel?
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b. According to your results from part a, does the current in the light bulbs increase, decrease, or
stay the same when a second bulb is added in parallel? _________________________________
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c. After the light bulbs are connected in parallel, disconnect one of the light bulbs. What happens
to the other light bulb? __________________________________________________________
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d. Increase the voltage of the battery to 40 V and add another light bulb in parallel to the original
two. What happens to the circuit? _________________________________________________
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6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a series circuit? __________________________________
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7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a parallel circuit? ________________________________
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