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Electricity - Direct Current Circuit Construction Virtual Lab

Name _________________________ block _____________________________
One way we can study electricity is through the use of computer simulations.
In this activity you will work with a partner to explore direct current electrical
circuits and complete the six tasks below.

To start the lab - sign into your computer and go to

https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/circuit-construction-kit-dc
Start the simulation and click on the lab option.

Task 1a Getting familiar with the simulation

-Drag wires, batteries, and bulbs onto the blue work surface.
-Experiment for a few minutes, seeing how all the components work.
-Try to build a circuit with a light bulb. (You have built a complete circuit if the
light bulb glows.)
-Move parts around and try different configurations to make your circuit work.

As you make your first observations answer the questions below.

1. At the end of each PhET component (e.g. wire, battery, bulb) is a red dotted
circle. What happens to the color of the dotted circle when you connect two
pieces together?
__________________________________________________________

2. What happens when you click on a dotted circle of two connected PhET
pieces?_________________________________________________________

3. What happens when you click on the yellow scissors ?

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Task 1b – Building some simple series circuits

Build and sketch the each circuit listed below.

Circuit and Sketch of your working circuit What did

Parts to use you see? –
Circuit #1

2 wires
1 light bulb
1 battery

Circuit #2

3 wires
1 light bulb
2 batteries

Circuit #3

1 wire
1 light bulb
1 battery

Circuit #4

3 wires
1 light bulb
1 battery
1 switch
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5. What do you think the blue dots in your circuits represent?

6. Which elements are needed in every circuit?

7. What has to happen to get the light bulb to light up?

8. What does the switch do? Why?

Task 2: Testing material to identify Insulators and conductors

Directions:
-Build a working circuit.
-Scroll down on the left hand side of screen until you find the section with
everyday items such as a dollar bill and paper clip.
-One at a time, place each of the everyday items in the circuit and observe what
happens.
-Report your results below.

Item What happens in the circuit

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9. What is the name for the type of material which made the bulb to light up?
____________________Describe its properties.
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

10. What is the name for the type of material which did not made the light bulb
light up? ____________________Describe its properties. ______________
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

Insulators and high voltage

-Create a simple circuit with 3 batteries, wires and a hand (from the menu on
the left)
--Does electricity flow through the hand? Why or why not?
______________________________________________
-Remove the ordinary batteries and substitute in 3 high voltage batteries (they
are black and silver and have a voltage sign on them) into your circuit
-Set your three high voltage batteries to 50,000 volts each (a total of 150,000
volts) Does electricity flow through the hand now?
_____________________________ Why or why not?
_______________________________________________________
What does this tell you about electrical safety and high voltage wires? _______
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

Task 3 Exploring Series circuits –(In a series circuit, there is only one pathway.)
3a) Observing batteries in series.
-Build a simple series circuit with one battery, one bulb and an inline ammeter
-Record the current on the ammeter and the light brightness below
-Measure the voltage across the battery(ies) and record below
-Add a second battery beside the first, then measure the voltage and current
with two batteries, record below Record the relative brightness of the bulb.
-Add a third battery beside the other two then measure the voltage and current
with three batteries, record below. Record the relative brightness of the bulb.
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3A) Batteries in Series

number of Voltage Current (I) Relative Brightness of
batteries (V) light bulb (lowest,
medium, highest
1 battery
2 batteries
3 batteries

11. What happens to the voltage as you increase the number of batteries?.
________________________________________________________________
12. What is current? What happens to current as voltage increase?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

13. Click on the batteries and change the voltage of each using the slider.
What happens to the brightness of the light and the speed of the electrons as
you change the voltage? Why? ____________________________
____________________________________________________________

14. Adjust the voltage of the batteries until you start a simulated fire? Talk to
another group and hypothesize why higher voltage might cause a fire.___
________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
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Task 3b Resistance in series - Light bulbs add resistance to a circuit. Each light
bulb is 10 ohms resistance.

-Using the simple series circuit constructed in the last activity (three batteries
(set at 9 volt), one bulb, wires, an online ammeter and a voltmeter)

-Record the current and voltage with one light on the chart below
-Add a second bulb into the circuit and record the voltage and current.
- Add a third bulb into the circuit and record the voltage and current.

3B Resistance in series

Number of light Voltage Current (I) Relative Brightness of light bulb

bulbs (V)
1 bulb
2 bulb
3 bulb
15. What happens to the current measured as you increase the number of bulbs?
Explain what you think might be happening. ____________________________
________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
16. What happens to the brightness of the light and the speed of the electrons as
you change the number of light bulbs? _Explain what you think may be
happening. ____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
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Task 4 – Introducing Parallel Circuits.

In parallel circuits, electrons travel along more than one
pathway

-Use the diagram above to build your first parallel circuit.

-Using the battery voltage slide, set the voltage to 60 volts and close the switch.

17. Record your observations about electron flow and brightness of the light bulbs.
____________
________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

Task 5a) – Exploring Parallel Circuits – Resistance (lightbulbs)

in parallel
Using the parallel circuit you built in 4 above - Put an inline
ammeter into each pathways right beside the light bulb and
close the switch.

18. What is the current through each of the pathways.

__________________________________________________

19. Disconnect one of the two pathways – does the current in

the remaining pathway change? Why or why not?
______________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
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20. Add a third pathway with a light bulb and an ammeter.

Does the current change? Why or why not?
__________________________________________________
_________________________________
21. Based on your observations - What impact might the
number of parallel paths might have on the lifespan of a
battery? ________________________________________
__________________________________________________

Task 5b) Short Circuits

Short circuits occur when electricity does not flow down one
the possible pathways. Create a parallel circuit with a short
circuit. Draw your circuit and explain why this happened.

Task Six – Batteries in Parallel and in Series

-Build circuits with one bulb, and one inline ammeter. Then add in two, then
three, then four batteries in parallel. (There is an example of putting batteries
in parallel below).
-For each circuit, record the current, voltage and brightness of the light on the
chart below
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--(Hint) When you put batteries in parallel be careful to ensure all branches of
the batteries have wires which meet with a common junction point on both
sides, see example below.

Current (amps) Voltage (Volts) Brightness of the

light
Two batteries
Three batteries
Four batteries

Join with another group and: Compare the results of Task 6 batteries in parallel
to Task 3 where you placed batteries in series.
How do they differ? _______________________________________
_______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
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Which arrangement – batteries in series or in parallel would you choose if you

want:
A bright light? Explain why? ___________________________________
_________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
A longer lasting battery? Explain why? _____________________________
________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Task 7 Challenge - Group task -- Demonstrate your understanding:

Directions: Join with one or two other groups
For each of the questions below:
-Answer the question
- Explain in your own words why your answer makes sense
- and provide Evidence from your experiments above
Remember to use Ohm’s law I=V/R where needed.

21. When you changed the value of the battery voltage by adding more
batteries or using the battery slider:
a. How does the current through the circuit change when you change
the voltage of a series circuit? A parallel circuit? (answer, explain,
evidence)

b. How does the resistance total change when you change the voltage
of a series circuit? A parallel circuit? (answer, explain, evidence)
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22. When you changed the value of the resistance, by adding more bulbs
a. How does the current through the circuit change in a series circuit?
A parallel circuit? (answer, explain, evidence)

b. How does the voltage of the battery change? (answer, explain,

evidence)

23. Consider the two circuits below.

Use your understanding of voltage, resistance, and current to explain what you
think will happen when the switches are closed? (answer, explain, evidence)

How do you think the lights’ brightness will compare?

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