Electricity

Question 1

How do objects become charged?

Answer 1

By friction – rubbing a balloon against your jumper or a rod with a cloth

Question 2

What do we mean by charge?

Answer 2

Charge is a property of particles, just as size is a property of particles.

Question 3

How do charged objects behave?

Answer 3

Similarly charged objects repel, oppositely charged objects attract.

Question 4

How do charges interact?

Answer 4

They can repel or attract each other

Question 5

What is an electric field?

Answer 5

The space around a charged object where another charged object feels a force of attraction or repulsion.

Question 6

How can we make large amounts of charge?

Answer 6

We can use a machine called a Van De Graaf generator.

Question 7

How are large amounts of charge made naturally?

Answer 7

When rain clouds pass past each other.

Question 8

What is the danger of high amounts of charge?

Answer 8

High amount of charge can cause electric shocks.

Question 9

How do we make large amounts of charge safe?

Answer 9

We ‘Earth’ object so they take the charge to the ground.

Question 10

What do we mean by the conduction of charge?

Answer 10

When charges can flow through materials.

Question 11

What do we mean by insulators?

Answer 11

Materials that do not let charge flow through them.

Question 12

What kind of materials are conductors and insulators?

Answer 12

Metals are good conductors of charge and plastics or rubber are good insulators.

Question 13

In electricity, what do we mean by components?

Answer 13

Any simple electrical device is called a component.

Question 14

How do we represent circuit components?

Answer 14

We use symbols to represent components.

Question 15

How do we represent circuits where components are connected up?

Answer 15

We use circuit diagrams.

Question 16

What is a complete circuit?

Answer 16

When there is an unbroken route from one component to the next and back to the first.

Question 17

How do we draw circuits?

Answer 17

We use circuit diagrams

Question 18

What is electric current?

Answer 18

Current is a flow of electric charge

Question 19

What is potential difference?

Answer 19

Potential difference is the ‘push’ that make charges flow.

Question 20

What does current do when it passes through conductors and components?

Answer 20

Current shifts energy from one component to another.

Question 21

How can we model current, potential difference and and resistance in a circuit?

Answer 21

The Water Heater Model and the Rope Model,

Question 22

How do we measure current?

Answer 22

We measure current with an ammeter.

Question 23

What is the unit of current?

Answer 23

The unit of current is Amperes (or Amps for short).

Question 24

What is the unit of potential difference?

Answer 24

The unit of potential difference is the Volt

Question 25

What happens to current as it passes around a circuit?

Answer 25

The current shifts energy, it is not charged.

Question 26

What is the difference between a series and a parallel circuit?

Answer 26

A series circuit has only one pathway or loop back to the cells, a parallel circuit has more than one pathway.

Question 27

How do bulbs behave in a series circuit?

Answer 27

In a series circuit adding another bulb will cause both bulbs to become dimmer and if one bulb is broken the other does not light up.

Question 28

How do bulbs behave in a parallel circuit?

Answer 28

In a parallel circuit adding another bulb will cause both bulbs to light up the same as before and if one bulb is broken the other bulb carries on as normal.

Question 29

What happens to current as it travels around a circuit?

Answer 29

The current shifts energy but it is not used up.

Question 30

How does the current behave in a series circuit where there is only one pathway?

Answer 30

The current is the same in every part of the circuit.

Question 31

What happens to current in a parallel circuit where there are two pathways?

Answer 31

The current in each pathway adds up to the current coming from or returning to the cell/battery.

Question 32

What is an electric plug used for?

Answer 32

To supply electricity to electrical devices.

Question 33

What materials is it made from and why?

Answer 33

Plastic casing because it is an insulator and brass pins because it is a conductor.

Question 34

What does it have inside and why?

Answer 34

2 or 3 wires with the outside made of plastic insulator, covering copper wire, a conductor.

Question 35

What is the job of the Earth wire in a plug?

Answer 35

To make the electrical device safe in case of a fault.

Question 36

What is the job of a fuse in a plug?

Answer 36

To prevent wire from overheating and causing a fire.

Question 37

What is a fuse wire?

Answer 37

A very thin piece of conducting metal wire that can take a certain amount of current.

Question 38

What happens if too much current flows through a fuse wire?

Answer 38

If too much current flows through a fuse wire it get so hot that it melts.