Breadboard Electronics LED flasher

Your Activity
Make an LED flasher using a timer chip
Material

1 Small solderless breadboard

1 Resistor, 10 K- (brown, black,

2 5mm Red LEDs

1 9V Battery

orange)

3 Resistor, 1 K- (brown, black,

red)

1 10 uF electrolytic capacitor
1 0.01 uF ceramic disk capacitor
Circuit Worksheet LED Flasher

1 9V Battery
Holder
1 555 Timer Chip
8 Jumper Wires
Multimeter
(Optional)

Create
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Insert the 555 timer chip in the center of the board

Insert the jumper wires using schematics in attached Circuit Worksheet LED Flasher.
Insert the resistors.
Insert the capacitors.
Insert the LEDs.
Connect the battery.
You are finished! Test your circuit. Do the LEDs flash when the battery is connected?
(Bonus) Add switch to the circuit, so LEDs only flash when the switch is pressed

Science Topics
Electrical Engineering, Electricity

Whats going on?

Breadboards are often used for testing new designs since they do not involve soldering. Breadboarding is an essential skill
for anyone who plans to design analog and/or digital circuits.

Breadboard Electronics LED Flasher

Activity Lead Notes

Introduction
In this activity, students will build a circuit that alternatively flashes a pair of LEDs. The circuit uses a 555 Timer chip
configured to flash the LEDs. The resistor and capacitor values are chosen so that each LED stays on for about 1/10 th of a
second.

Learning Objectives

Build a simple circuit using a solderless breadboard

Explain that engineers use solderless breadboards to test circuit design because these circuits may be changed
quickly.
Identify a battery, resistors, Capacitors, LEDs.

Vocabulary

Battery: Source of electrical energy

Resistor: Limits energy flow and converts electrical energy into heat
Capacitor: is a device that stores energy by accumulating an internal imbalance of electric charge
LED Light Emitting Diode: converts electrical energy into light
Breadboard: A solderless board for building electric circuits
Schematic: A diagram of a circuit used by electrical engineers
Multimeter: Device for measuring electrical quantities such as voltage

Materials
See the activity description

Preparing Materials
Check each multimeter and 9 V battery by turning the knob of the multimeter to the 20 V DC setting and touching the
probes to the battery terminals. The multimeter should read more than 8.7 V. If the multimeter reads less than 8.7 V, try
a second meter. If that still reads less than 8.7 V, try a new battery.

Notes about Materials

Ask students to not play with the insulated wire; they might poke or cut themselves or another student.

Activity Sheet
Copy the activity sheet Circuit Worksheet LED Flasher and distribute one per student (or team).

Conduct Experiment
Guide students in conducting the experiment.

Split students into groups of two.

Pass out electronic components. Tell the students not to connect the battery to anything until they are told to
do so!
Walk around and help the students as they work through the activity.
If the LEDs do not light up, change the polarity of the LED by switching the leads. Check to make sure the
students circuits are built correctly.

If the battery leads are hard to get into the breadboards, try twisting the strands of the wires to form a firmer
end of the wire.
At the end of the activity, ask the students to put the components back in their original bags.
Collect the components from the students. The batteries go back in the boxes to keep the contacts from touch
something metal and short circuiting.

Background Information
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/electronics-projects-how-to-make-an-led-flasher-us.html

(Bonus) Modify to add a set/reset switch

You can modify the circuit so that the circuit is controlled by two pushbuttons that function as a set/reset switch. When
you connect the power to this circuit, LED1 turns on and stays on. When you press the set pushbutton, the two LEDs
start flashing alternately and continue to flash until you press the reset pushbutton.

For this project, we need all the parts from the LED flasher activity, plus the following:

1 555 timer chip (RadioShack 276-1718)

2 10 k resistor (brown, black, orange)
1 0.01 uF ceramic disk capacitor
2 pushbuttons (RadioShack 275-1547)
10 Jumper wires (various lengths)

Breadboard Electronics
Worksheet: LED Flasher

1.
2.

Insert the 555 Timer Chip

a. Put Pin 1 in hole E5 and pin 8 in hole F5
Insert the Jumper Wires

From
To
A5
Any hole in the ground bus
C3
C6
C7
C10
D6
G7 (This wire crosses over the top of the 555)
D8
G5 (This wire also crosses over the top of the 555)
H3
H6
F9
Any hole in the ground bus
J5
Any hole in the positive voltage bus
3. Insert the resistors
Resistor
From
10K
D3
1K
J3
1K
B10
1K
D10
4. Insert the capacitors

To
G3
Any hole in the positive bus
B13
F13

Capacitor
From
0.01 uF
G8
10 uF
A3
5. Insert the LEDs

To
G9
Any nearby hole in the ground bus

LED
LED1
LED2

To
Any hole in the positive bus
A13

6.

From
J13
Any hole in the
ground bus

Connect the battery: Put the 9V battery into the battery snap connector, and then connect the red lead to the positive voltage
bus and the black lead to the ground bus. The LEDs should begin flashing immediately when the battery is connected.

Breadboard Electronics
Worksheet: LED Flasher with a Set/Reset Switch

1.
2.
3.
4.

Build the LED Flasher circuit

Remove the jumper wire you inserted from hole J5 to the positive bus to stop the voltage supply of 555 from previous activity.
Insert another 555 chip in the center with pin 1 in hole E17 and pin 8 in F17.
Insert the additional jumper wires

From
To
A17
Any hole in the ground bus
I5
I15
E15
F15
D15
D19
C18
C23
D20
D27
F21
Any hole in the ground bus
E23
F23
E27
F27
J17
Any hole in the positive voltage bus
5. Insert the resistors
Resistor
From
10K
J23
10K
J27
6. Insert the capacitors

To
Any hole in the positive bus
Any hole in the positive bus

Capacitor
From
0.01 uF
G20
7. Insert the pushbuttons

To
G21

Pushbutton
Set
Reset

To
Any hole in the ground bus
Any hole in the ground bus

8.
9.

From
A23
A27

Connect the battery: Put the 9V battery into the battery snap connector, and then connect the red lead to the positive voltage
bus and the black lead to the ground bus. LED1 should immediately light up.
Press the Set button to start the LEDs flashing. Let them flash for a little while and then press the reset button to make flashing
stop.