Circuits - Basic Flashcards
What is electric current?
The flow of charge around a circuit.
What are the moving charges?
Negative electrons
What does the circuit need to be for current to flow through?
Complete
What is conventional current and do the negative electrons follow it?
Conventional current is the flow of electrons from positive to negative, and the negative electron don’t follow it (they go negative to positive).
Is current used up in a circuit?
No, the total current in a circuit is always the same.
What is the battery’s use in a circuit?
To provide the driving force to push the charge around a circuit.
What is the driving force in a circuit called?
The potential difference or voltage.
What happens if you increase the potential difference in a circuit?
The more current will flow.
How could you make a bigger potential difference?
Put multiple batteries together.
Do all batteries have the same potential difference?
No, some are bigger than others.
What is potential difference measured in?
Volts
What is resistance?
Anything in a circuit that slows down the flow of current.
What is resistance measured in?
Ohms (Ω)
How do you calculate resistance?
Resistance = Potential difference / Current
What happens if you increase the resistance in a circuit?
Assuming the voltage is the same, the current will decrease.
What are conductors?
Materials and components electricity travels easily through.
Give an example of a conductor.
Metals like copper, iron, gold, aluminium, and silver.
What is an insulator?
Components and materials that don’t easily allow electrical charges to pass through them.
Give an example of an insulator.
Wood
If you lower the resistance of a material, is it better or worse at conducting electricity?
Better
What is this?
Battery - two or more cells put together
What is this?
Buzzer
What is this?
Cell - a single energy source
What is this?
LED (light emitting diode)
What is this?
Light source (lamp)
What is this?
Motor
What is this?
Closed switch
What is this?
Open switch
What is this?
Ammeter - measures current in Amps (A)
What is this?
Wire - used to connect a circuit
What is this?
Voltmeter - measures potential difference in Volts (V)
How do you attach a voltmeter?
On a battery, is the voltage the maximum or minimum allowed for it to run safely?
Maximum
