Download Parallel and Serial Circuits

TEACHING THE QUANTITATIVE
ANALYSIS OF CIRUITS
ROBERT SHAW
VERNY THURAIRAJAH
INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICITY
AND ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
Electricity is a general term
encompassing a variety of phenomena
resulting from the presence and flow of
electric charge.
If electricity is the flow of charge then
electronics would be the applications of
that flow.
Electronics is the science and
technology concerned with the
understanding of electronic devices,
circuits, and components.
To perform Quantitative analysis of
circuits one needs to understand
electricity and electronics.
LESSON SEQUENCE

Lesson 1: Introduction to Electricity


Lesson 2: Conversions and Resistance


Kirchoff’s Current Law and Kirchhoff's Voltage Law, QUCs Simulator.
Lesson 5: Summary Of Concepts


Series and Parallel circuit equations, breadboard circuit planning,
design, and layout, QUCs simulator.
Lesson 4: Kirchoff’s Voltage Law


Conversion units in Electronics, Digital Multi-meter, Resistor Colour
Code chart, breadboard design and measurement.
Lesson 3: Parallel and Serial Circuits


Define electricity, electrical components, Ohm’s Law, breadboard
Review of lessons 1 to 4, Jigsaw Group exercise, Review Test format
Lesson 6: Electrical Circuits Test

Summative Assessment test
CURRICULUM EXPECTATIONS
D2.1 use appropriate terminology related to
electricity and magnetism, including, but
not limited to: direct current, alternating
current, electrical potential difference,
resistance, power, energy, permanent
magnet, electromagnet, magnetic field,
motor principle, and electric motor.
D2.2 construct real and simulated mixed
direct current (DC) circuits (i.e., parallel,
series, and mixed circuits), and analyse
them in quantitative terms to test
Kirchhoff’s laws.
D2.3 analyse, in quantitative terms, real or
simulated DC circuits and circuit diagrams,
using Ohm’s law and Kirchhoff’s laws.
OHMS LAW

Video demonstration of Ohms Law
RESISTOR COLOUR CODE CHART

Resitance conversions

Students use an inquiry-based approach to determine
that resistance values of physical resistors and its units.
PARALLEL AND SERIAL CIRCUITS
TEACHING APPROACH:
Teacher reviews on smartboard interactively Series and Parallel circuit examples and
equations.




Series Circuits
 Resistance equation
 Capacitance equation
 Voltage equation
Parallel Circuits
 Resistance equation
 Capacitance equation
 Voltage equation
Circuits Demonstration
 Demonstrate voltage measurement with a DMM on example breadboard circuit.
 Demonstrate voltage measurement with QUCS simulator.
Lab Work:

Lab to measure parallel and serial circuits on QUCS simulator.
THE QUCS SIMULATOR
TEACHING APPROACH:

QUCS Circuit
Simulator
Students today are
technology natives. They
enjoy working with
technology.
 Teacher demonstrates to
build a QUCS circuit, and
how to run a simulation
for measurement,
analysis, resultant graphs
and tables.
 The simulator will be used
for Parallel and Serial
Circuits and Kirchoff
Voltage laws.

KIRCHOFF VOLTAGE LAWS
TEACHING APPROACH:
Teacher reviews on smartboard interactively
circuit examples and equations.



First Law – Conservation of Current
 video on Kirchoff’s laws
 Demonstrate current measurement with
a DMM on example circuit.
 Demonstrate current measurement with
QUCS simulator.
Second Law – Conservation of Voltage at
Nodes
 Interactive demonstration on
smartboard.
 Demonstrate voltage measurement with
a DMM on example circuit.
 Demonstrate current measurement with
QUCS simulator.
Lab Work:
 Solve Kirchoff’s circuit problems on
QUCS simulator.
POTENTIAL STUDENT DIFFICULTIES
• Abstract concepts of voltage, current, and power – may
be hard for students to differentiate with clarity.
• Units of measurement are varied from Tera to nano.
Conversions are needed frequently.
• Terminology is dense. Embracing many concepts
Polarity, DC/AC, resistance and capacitance.
• Distinguishing between electron flow (negative to
positive), and a a purely figurative positive unit of charge
flow (positive to negative).
• Distinguishing between parallel and serial circuits.
When a circuit loop has few components its easy to get
confused.
• For complex circuits it can be challenging to find the
nodes and the current loops. Both are needed to apply
Kirchoff’s voltage laws.
• Breadboard work is not as simple and quick as
simulator, and it requires dexterity, planning, and debug
skills.
SOLUTIONS TO STUDENT DIFFICULTIES
• Interactive videos and power points cover the abstract
concepts, this will be online for reference and self paced
learning.
• Conversion of units can be done with teams and groups on
flipcharts and on the board in class summary and recaps.
• During jigsaw group activity system experts can
collaboratively teach the denser concepts.
• Create diagrams of individual components to illustrate the
physics and flow of electronics. Only use flow of positive
charge on circuits. The seperation of component versus circuit
helps students to grasp the different polarity flows.
•Have students work in groups with circuits in a pictionary
style activity to differentiate between parallel and serial
circuits, nodes and current loops. Students thrive on gaming.
• Demonstrate good breadboard planning, design, and wiring.
The biggest problems are with unplanned disorganized circuits.
Collect and diagnostically evaluate each groups performance.
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
•A DC circuit lab concern is
short circuits overheating.
Checking voltages, and a sense
of smell avoids this.
•Cutting of wire needs to be
done pulling outwards from the
body.
•Clean up to prevent tripping
hazards.
Practical Applications
The Flasher Circuit
• A multi loop circuit, that
varies flashing with resistance,
used with Kirchoff’s laws.
Tesla Coil
A cool voltage device that
creates lightning strikes, used
in fundamentals of electricity.
•Capacitor Charge
Dissipation
• discuss the rate of charge
dissipation for electric plates.
DIFFERENTIATED ASSESSMENT
• Students would have been assessed in the labs in a number of applied means:
 Group work drawing parallel, serial circuits (Visual)
A set of labs building circuits using components and a breadboard
(Kinesthetic)
A set of labs building circuits, adding tools, running simulations, generating
graphs, data tables (Virtual, Analytical, Visual)
 Video about the Ohms Law, and Kirchoff’s Law’s (Linguistic)
 Group work conducting jigsaw expert training (Intrapersonal)
 Lessons on terminology, laws, charts and conversions taught to the class
(Interpersonal)
 Demonstration of the DMM and measurements made on the bread boards.
Demonstration of simulator tool. (Visual, Kinesthetic)
Exemplar of circuit planning, design, layout, and wiring techniques. (Visual)
• Students’ understanding of the concepts evaluated on unit test, exercises, and lab
questions (Logic)
•Formative assessment based on lab work and unit test. (Summative/Formative)