Unit 8 Electricity

Making Electricity

a. Solar panel: uses the Sun’s energy (light) to make electricity

b. Wind turbines: use the wind to make electricity.
c. Acid rain made from burning coal to make electricity.
d. Coal- fired power station creates electricity by burning coal.

Battery appliances

Flashlight, Laptop, wall clock, toy robot

Mains appliances

Lights, lamps, alarm clock, hairdryer, television, toaster, kettle, refrigerator, phone

A cord is used to switch on the light so that we do not get an electric shock if our hands are wet.

It is dangerous to use mains-powered electrical appliances in the bathroom because electricity flows
through water easily (water is a good conductor of electricity and could give an electric shock.

What are Pylons

Pylons carry electricity from the power station to where it is needed. The danger of death sign is usually
displayed on pylons and substations to warn people not to go near them, Wind turbines use the power of the
wind to produce electricity and solar panels use the power of the Sun.
The electric Circuit

It is the path around which electricity can flow if it is complete.

Simple circuits

The components of the circuit

Lamp, lamp-holder, wires and cells(battery). A battery is a source of energy made up of more than one cell

For a circuit to work, you need a complete circuit. All the components must be placed correctly. They must also
all be connected (touching each other).

When using a single cell in a circuit, will not matter which way around the cell is placed, however, if two
single cells are placed together they must be positioned correctly in relation to each other,

a. Which circuits are complete and will work?

Which circuits will not work? Why?

b. Make each circuit to check your ideas.

c. Copy and complete this table to show your results,
The light bulb

Some inventions take a long time to be completed. It has taken over 20 inventors to come up with the design of
the lamp (light bulb) that we have today. It took over 70 years for inventors to keep testing different light bulbs
to finally make a lamp that could be used in houses.

The American inventor, Thomas Edison, designed light bulbs that are still used by many of us today!
However, these light bulbs only transfer a small amount of energy (from electricity) they have, as light the rest
is transferred to the surroundings by heating. It is too expensive to use a light bulb that doesn’t transfer much
energy. Scientists and inventors are still working on new ideas for light bulbs that will need less electricity to
transfer more energy as light. Electricity can also damage the environment. It is often generated by burning
coal. We can also get electricity from the Sun (Solar power) and the wind (wind energy).

Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)

Sir Benjamin Franklin was the first person to show that lighting is electricity
Humphry Davy (1778 – 1829)

The first electric light was made in 1800 by Humphry Davy an English scientist.

The electric lamp invented by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1802. He was the first to make a lamp
Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931)

Thomas Edison was the first scientist to make a long lasting electric lamp in his Laboratory.
Use different components in the circuit
When a circuit is complete something happens and energy is transferred for example,
A lamp lights up. The lamp transfers energy to the surroundings by heating and light.

Light is the useful energy transfer.

Heat is the wasted energy to the surroundings.

If you make a complete circuit using two cells (a battery) to light the lamp.

Cells in the battery have to face the right direction (fit them in the suitable position in the battery holder
(negative and positive or + and -).

There are other components we can put into a circuit that will also transfer energy, for example,

A buzzer is used to make a sound. Buzzers will only work one way in a circuit. There are two wires on a
buzzer. These may be coloured to help to connect them correctly. A buzzer doesn’t work if is wired
incorrectly.one wire often red connects to the positive + terminal. The other wire often black connects to the
negative _ terminal. We need more than one cell to make the buzzer work (a battery).

A motor is used to make something spin around

Placing a motor, the other way round in the circuit will make it spin in the other direction. The part that spins on
a motor is called the spindle. It can spin very fast, so to be safe, you shouldn’t touch the spindle. Generally,
motors only need a single 1.5V cell in the circuit.
Useful broken circuits

Electricity needs an unbroken path to flow. The electricity cannot flow if there is a break in the circuit. The
circuit will not work. We can use a switch to make or break a circuit. When the switch is open, the circuit is
broken. When the switch is closed, the circuit is closed (complete). The electricity can flow. A switch can turn a
circuit on and off.

There are many different types of switches, for example, button switches, slide switches and toggle switches.

Switches all work in the same way. They make and break a circuit.

Conductors and insulators

Conductors

In electricity, something that allows electricity to flow through it.

Insulators

Materials that do not allow electricity to flow through them.

Electricity travels more easily through some materials than others. Materials that allow electricity to pass
through them easily are called electrical conductor

Insulators

For electrical devices to work properly and be used safely. Certain parts must be made from conductors and
certain parts from insulators.

Most metals are good conductors and non-metals (except carbon) are poor.

For electrical devices to work properly and to be safe to use, certain parts must be made from materials
that are electrical conductors and certain parts (including the pats that people touch) must be made from
materials that are electrical insulators.
Bridge the gap in the circuit

 Which materials allow electricity to pass through them? Which materials are conductors of
electricity?

 This is a fair test enquiry. What variable did you change? What did you measure and observe?

The material is changed whether the lamp lights or not.

 What do you notice about the materials that allow electricity to flow through them?

They are all metals.

For each device, answer these questions

 Which parts must be made from electrical conductors? Which parts must be made from electrical
insulators? Explain

Electrical conductors in the lamp

The bottom of the lamp where it connects to the light fitting and the filament (curled wire inside the
lamp) so that the lamp will work.

The electrical kettle

The heating element in the kettle so that the kettle will work.
Electrical insulators in the lamp

The glass on the outside of the lamp so that users will not get an electric shock.

Electrical insulators in the kettle

All other parts or the outside parts so that users do not get electric shock.

More than one lamp

A cell has positive and negative terminals(ends).

It also has voltage. Voltage is the size of the push that comes from the cell. The push is what makes
electricity flow around the circuit

The bigger the number of volts, the more push the cell gives.

Cell is used to describe a single source of power.

A battery is made up of two or more cells placed together.

The “V” on a cell means volts. 1.5 V means or indicates the amount of “push” the cell gives to make
the electric current flow (move around the circuit).

The higher the number, the more volts or push the cell or battery gives to make the
electricity flow round the circuit.

The rectangular 4.5 V battery looks like a single unit but it is several cells together within the plastic
casing. We know this because the battery is 4.5 V. So it has three 1.5 V cells inside it

Work safely with Batteries

 Never cut open a cell or Battery

 Make sure that cells or Batteries are not corroded, damaged or leaking chemicals.
 Make sure that when cells and batteries are stored, the terminals do not touch
 Do not leave cells or Batteries in flashlights or other items that need cells or batteries to work.
As they age, they can leak acid and damage things that are in contact with them.
Series Circuit

This is called a series circuit. A series circuit is like a circle. Each component follows one after the other.

More than one lamp

Predict what will happen if you add more lamps to the circuit which has only one cell 1.5 V

Number of lamps What happens in the circuit

1 lamp The lamp is bright
2 lamps The lamps are dimmer
3 lamps The lamps become even dimmer
4 lamps You can hardly see any light in the lamps

The more Lamps you add to the circuit with only one cell, the dimmer the lamps become.

The variable changed in this fair test is the number of lamps

The variable observed is the brightness of the lamps.

If you make a series circuit with three lamps and a single 1.5 Volt cell. If you want all the lamps in your
circuit to light, what must you do to make this happen

We can add more cells; the lamps will be brighter. We can use 3 cells for the 3 lamps to make them
bright.

How will we stay safe and not blow the lamps when you test this idea?

We shouldn’t use more than 3 cells so we do not blow the lamps. We shouldn’t have wet hands when we
connect the circuit. We should only use the components provided.
How to measure the brightness of the lamps?

We have to use the light meter

Here is a dot plot of the results

Look for switches

Electrical appliances work using circuits and switches. Circuits allow electricity to flow so that appliances
can light up, make sounds or move. We need a switch to be able to turn the appliance on and off.

Switches that are connected to mains electricity can be dangerous. Do not touch switches without
permission. Never put anything in switches. Never touch switches with wet hands.

When a switch is off, there is a gap in the circuit and electricity cannot flow around it.

When a switch is on, the switch completes the circuit so that electricity can flow around it.
A power cut

It is when the flow of electricity is broken.

All the electrical appliances would not work. This would cause many problems, for example, to the
computer systems and machinery at an airport or a hospital.

Look at these pictures

Will the light from the flashlight appear brighter to learner A or B?

Light spreads out as it moves away from its source.

The more spread out light is, the dimmer it appears

Learner B is further away from the flashlight than learner A. so the flashlight will appear dim to learner
B and brighter to learner A

The closer the light source the brighter it looks.

The Further the light source, the dimmer it looks.

Cells and Batteries

Objects that use cells and Batteries are called electrical Appliances.

Some appliances which need a single 1.5 V cell to work or battery.

Toys – flashlights – door bells – radios – watches – cars – mobile phones-calculators – remote controls –
cameras – clocks – bicycle lamp- portable computer/laptop
The first Cell

Alessandro Gluseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745 – 1827) was an Italian inventor of cells
(batteries)Here is a picture of his first cell

He was born in 1745 and died in 1827. He invented his first battery in 1800 and it was called a voltaic pile
He was born in Como. Lombardy. Italy. He did not talk until he was four years old He always wanted to
be a scientist.

Why this circuit doesn’t work

Find four things that are wrong with this circuit

 Battery holder has two cells the wrong way round, so negative to negative terminal means it will
not work
 Frayed wires are not correctly connected to the holder, they are only connected on one side
 Crocodile clips linking to the lamp holder by plastic coating is not on the metal screw.
 Lamp unscrewed from the holder, final crocodile clip is not connected to the battery.