How to Make an Electrical Circuit Lab

(Click here to see the movie of this lab!)

Purpose:

We wanted to find out if we could make an electrical circuit and learn a little more about electricity.

Materials:

1 battery and battery holder
1 bulb and bulb socket
1 switch
3 pieces of #22 coated hook-up wire, each 20 cm. long
1 piece of #22 coated hook-up, 80cm.long
1 magnetic compass

Procedure:

1. Use 2 of the 20 cm. wires and connect them
to the battery holder and the bulb holder so the
bulb can light up.
2. Unconnect one of the wires that connects to the light bulb and battery and add the other 20 cm. wire and add the switch to the battery holder so it has one wire to the battery holder which connects to the light bulb, and one wire that connects to the light bulb and switch and to the other side of the battery.
3. Now we saw electricity was flowing we took the light bulb and the 20 cm. wire that is connected to the battery holder and replace it with the 80 cm. wire and connect that to the battery holder and the switch and it should look like the 80 cm. to the battery to the switch and the 20cm. wire to the switch and the other side of the battery holder.

Results:

1. While we were doing this experiment we were able to see if we made a circuit the bulb would light up.
2. When we took out the light bulb and replaced it with the 80 cm. wire and turned the switch on after a while it got hotter, the longer we left it on the hotter it gets.
3. We also found out if we put even just one wire that was connected to one of the holders which was put connected by the plastic part of the wire it wouldn't work so we had to make sure the wires were connected by the metal part of the wire.

Conclusion:

In conclusion we learned how electricity works. It needs a path of metal to go from one side of the battery to the other. If there is a break in the path then electricity will not travel. Plastic will not let electricity through. If a lot of electricity can just run through the wires without a bulb, the wires get hot.