Download Batteries in Series and Parallel Experiment

Name: __________________________________
Batteries in Series and Parallel
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Directions: Answer these questions before you begin the Lab.
1. What are the parts of a simple circuit?
2. Which will cause a bulb to be brighter, 1.5 V battery or 3.0 V battery?
Goals: Infer how the voltage produced by two batteries in a circuit depends on how they are
connected?
Materials:
1. 1.5 V light bulbs (2)
2. 1.5 V batteries (3)
3. Mini bulb sockets (2)
4. 10 cm long pieces of insulated wire (8)
5. Tape
Procedure:
1. Make brightness tester by connecting one battery to light bulb. Disconnect one wire
after you’ve made the light bulb light.
2. Tape two batteries together in a series so that the positive terminal of one battery
touches the negative terminal of one battery touch the negative terminal of the other
battery.
3. Connect the batteries to a light bulb. Close the circuit in the brightness tester and
compare the brightness of the light bulbs. Record your observations on the table
below and disconnect both circuits.
4. Tape two batteries together in parallel side-by-side with positive terminals on one end
and negative terminals on the other end.
Name: __________________________________
5. Tape a wire to each battery terminal. Twist together the ends of the wires connected to
both negative terminals. Do the same for the wires connected to the positive
terminals.
6. Repeat step 3.
Data and Observations:
Battery Arrangement
Observations
1 battery (brightness tester)
2 batteries in parallel
2 batteries in series
Conclude and Apply
1. Infer, if the brightness of a light bulb increases as the current in a circuit increases, in
which circuit was the current the largest?
2. Apply Ohm’s law to determine in which circuit the voltage was the largest.
3. Compare the voltage provided by two batteries in series and in parallel.