Electrical Cicruits

Question 1

{two small circles, with a line going up from one of them}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 1

Switch OFF

Question 2

{a circle with an X in it}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 2

Light bulb

Question 3

{a circle with a semi circle inside of it}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 3

Light bulb

Question 4

{a circle with an M in it}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 4

Motor

Question 5

{A straight bit on top with a semi circle under that}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 5

Buzzer

Question 6

{two small circles with a line connecting them}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 6

Switch ON

Question 7

{a thick line not touching the longer thin one parallel to it}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 7

Cell {two of these together make a battery}

Question 8

{a thick line with a long thinner one parallel to it, and the same again next to that}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 8

Battery {two cells}

Question 9

{a circle with a V in it}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 9

Volt meter {measures the volts running through a circuit}

Question 10

How should the wires off the circuit be when you are drawing a circuit?

Answer 10

They should be drawn as straight lines, no curvy corners. Corners should be at a 90* angle wherever possible.

Question 11

What type of energy is in the battery and when it travels into the wires what energy does it then become?

Answer 11

Chemical energy is stored in the battery, and it turns into electrical energy in the wires.

Question 12

How does a fuse work?

Answer 12

A fuse has a wire in it and that wire has a very high resistance, hob if it gets too hot it will eventually melt, destroying the circuit and stopping electricity passing through it. This is to stop fires starting and people getting electrocuted.

Question 13

What is a parallel circuit?

Answer 13

A parallel circuit is a circuit that has more than one path for the current to flow through. The voltage is the same across each component of the parallel circuit. The sum of the currents through each path is equal to the total current that flows from the source.

Question 14

What is a series circuit?

Answer 14

A series circuit is a circuit where there is only one path from the source through all of the loads {loads being a lightbulb, for example} and back to the source. This means that the current in the circuit must flow through all of the loads.

One example of a series circuit is a string of old Christmas lights.

Question 15

In which end of the battery {positive or negative} does the energy come out, and at which end does it go in?

Answer 15

Energy goes out the positive end of the battery and into the negative

Question 16

What is the current and what do we measure it in?

Answer 16

Current is the flow of electrical charge around a circuit.

We measure it in amps, using an ammeter.

Question 17

Is the current the same everywhere in the series circuit?

Answer 17

Yes

Question 18

Is the current in a parallel circuit the same everywhere?

Answer 18

No, the current in the branches adds up to the current in the main circuit

Question 19

What is voltage used for?

Answer 19

Voltage is used to measure the change in energy across two points. It tells you how much energy something uses, for example a light bulb.

Question 20

What is voltage measured in and how can we measure it?

Answer 20

Voltage is measured in volts. You can measure voltage using a volt meter.

Question 21

What happens to a voltage reading and what you are powering if you increase the voltage of a circuit?

Answer 21

The voltage reading will go up to show more volts, and whatever you’re powering will increase. (Eg the light in a bulb, the volume of a buzzer, the noise of a fan)

Question 22

{A circle with the letter A in it}

What does this circuit symbol mean?

Answer 22

Ammeter - it measures the amount of current in a circuit