Download The Christmas Light Conundrum - Shorecrest Preparatory School

The Christmas Light
Conundrum
Proceed
A multimedia Xperience
Jonathan Van Gils
INTRODUCTION
Maybe
think about this situation: You are
getting ready for Christmas, Channukah,
and / or the Winter Solstice and putting up
festive lights.
PROCEED
INTRODUCTION
Suddenly,
you step on one of them and it
breaks!!!!!!! Not only does that light break,
all the lights after that one stop working as
well!
Why is this happening?
INTRODUCTION
This
power point presentation is made to
further explain the science behind this
modern day conundrum.
In this presentation I will discuss Ohm's laws, series and
parallel circuits as well as well as answer basic questions
such as "what is a circuit". It's suprising but most people
don't know!
VOCAB
Resistor
- a device designed to
introduce resistance into an electric
circuit.
Battery- a combination of two or more
cells electrically connected to work
together to produce electric energy.
Vocab
Electron-
a unit of charge equal to
the charge on one electron.
VOCAB
Ohm’s Law-Ohm's law is a statement that specifies the
relationship between electricity to resistance and voltage.
This law is used to measure electric currents. Ohm's law
states that the current of electricity is equal to the voltage
divided by the resistance. This means that current and
voltage are proportional. However the current is indirectly
proportional to resistance. This relationship is similar to
force to mass. F=ma. This was created by George Ohm in
1826
VOCAB
Circuit-
the complete path of an
electric current, including the
generating apparatus, intervening
resistors, or capacitors.
http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu
/jmac/sj/cj/5cj8mng.JPG
George Ohm
CIRCUITS
We
use the word circuit all the time, but what really is a
circuit?? A circuit is any path along which electrons can
flow. A circuit is usually controlled by a switch, so when
the switch is closed (i.e a light switch turned on) the
circuit will run. A circuit is the science behind any
electronics we use. A circuit is most commonly
connected two ways, in a series is one way. The other
way to wire a circuit is in a parallel circuit.
SERIES CIRCUIT
What
is a series circuit? A series circuit is a
way of connecting circuits so that there is
only one path for an electron to take.
Christmas lights are assembled in a series
circuit and this is why the conundrum
happens.
SERIES CIRCUIT
Let
me explain. In a series circuit, there is
only one path for the electron to take, a.k.a
one wire, as on christmas lights.
http://www.pha.jhu.edu/dept/lecdemo
/img/EM-f2a_400x300.jpg
SERIES CIRCUIT
A
prime example of a series circuit.
http://iss.cet.edu
/electricity/pages/
images/G/g1_3.jpg
PARALLEL CIRCUITS
A slightly
more complicated but more practical
way to wire circuits is in parallel circuit. In a
parallel circuit, electrical devices are connected to
TWO points on an electrical circuit. This allows
an alternative path for the electron to take if the
resistance forces the electron to not continue on
that particular path.
PARALLEL CIRCUITS
An example of a
parallel circuit
http://www.pha.jhu.edu/dept/lecdem
o/img/EM-f2a_400x300.jpg
PARALLEL CIRCUITS
A parallel circuit are wired so that
An electron has more than one route
If Christmas lights were wired
Parallel then the conundrum would
Be solved!
http://webhw.unca.edu/roberts_phys222/Content/labs
/multimeter/images/parallel_circuit.gif
Survey
I asked 20 adults if they knew what
caused the lights to go out when one
breaks. This was their response.
Why do the lights succeeding a light that breaks on a strand of lights go out ?
10
9
9
8
number of responses
7
7
6
5
4
4
3
2
1
0
Incorrect
Partially Correct
Adult Responses
Correct
Relative Links
The
Physics
Classroom
Wikipedia
Websters
Nasa
The Physics Classroom is a great site for helping diagrams as well
As simple definitions to give you the tools you need for understanding.
I used wikipedia to look up formulas and specific models that helped
Shape my understanding of circuits
I used websters for all my definitions.
I used the “Nasa files” to try to find
Helpful explanations and images.
A series circuit.
http://scifiles.larc.nasa.gov/text/kids/Problem_Board/problems/electricity/ci
CONCLUSION
In
conclusion, the reason all the
lights following a broken light on a
Christmas tree go out is because they
are wired in a series circuit, and the
electron can not pass through.