For our science assessment this term, we’ve been learning all about how electricity moves through circuits using the site PhET. HEre is my assessment on how current and voltage work.
What are Current and Voltage?
Current: Current Electricity moves around a circuit in a loop. If there are a lot of components in the series or parallel then the electrons are still flowing but are shared around.
Voltage: It is the measure of how much energy the electrons are actually carrying. To measure voltage, you need to have a voltmeter to measure it.
The Difference – Basically, current is how many electrons are flowing through the wires, while the voltage is how much energy has to give to the components attached.
My PhET diagrams
Series Circuit: The series circuit shows two light bulbs and a switch in a single loop. But when the switch is closed, current flows through the bulbs the same.
Parallel Circuit: The parallel circuit shows two seperate branches with a switch on one branch controlling a single light bulb.
When we used PhET to build my circuits, the lightbulbs in the parallel circuit were brighter than the ones in the series circuit.
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Why they are lighter and dimmer
Series Circuit: The bulbs have to share the battery’s electrons, so if you have two bulbs, they get half of the energy. Because all the bulbs are lined up in one branch, it slows down the electrons which also slows down the current.
Parallel Circuit: Every bulb used on the circuit has a different connection to the battery, each one gets an amount of energy. Having extra branches gives the electrons more paths and an easier way to travel. So electricity flows easily through the bulb.