Physics – Circuit Construction Kit (DC Circuits) PhET Lab

(Please make a copy and add your name to the title and submit in google classroom)

Today, you will use the Circuit Construction Kit PhET lab to qualitatively explore series and parallel circuits.

PreLab

Draw a simple diagram for a series and parallel circuit below using your notes/homework.

Series Circuit Parallel Circuit

Beginning Observations

1) Open the Circuit Construction Kit (DC Only) PhET simulation. What can you change about the simulation?

2) Build a simple circuit with a battery, wires, light bulb and voltage source. Draw it below.

PhET diagram (draw what you see on the screen) Circuit diagram (use symbols we have learned in class)

3) What are the main differences between what you see on the screen and what you drew in your circuit diagram?

The elements such as the battery, resistor, and bulb are represented differently.

4) What flows through the wires when there is a closed circuit? What on the screen represents these?
The electrons flow through the wires during a closed circuity. The blue balls with a white line through them represent the
electrons.

Part 1 – Series Circuit

Construct a simple series circuit with the following amounts of light bulbs using the PhET simulation. Remember in a
series circuit, there is only one path for electricity to flow. Keep the battery source the same. Draw the proper circuit
diagram in your table and rank the relative brightness in your table.

Number of Light Circuit Diagram Relative Brightness of bulbs (use

Bulbs words like brightest, least bright, etc.)
1 Brightest

2 Second-Brightest
 3 Least-Bright

What can you conclude about what happens to the brightness of the bulbs as you add more bulbs in series? Why do you
think this is the case?

The electricity needs to pass through more light bulbs, so more electrical energy is lost along the way. There are more
resistors, such as the light bulb, where more energy is lost.

Part 2 – Parallel Circuit

Construct two parallel circuits one with 2 light bulbs in parallel and one with 3 light bulbs in parallel and rank the relative
brightness of the bulbs. Remember, in a parallel circuit there are multiple pathways for electricity to flow. Keep your
battery source the same.

Number of Light Circuit Diagram Relative Brightness of bulbs (use

Bulbs in Parallel words like brightest, least bright,
etc.)
2

3
What can you conclude about what happens to the brightness of the bulbs as you add more bulbs in parallel? Why do
you think this is the case?

The brightness of the bulbs, in contrast to those in series, is not affected by the number of bulbs present. This is because
there are multiple paths.

Conclusion Q’s

1. How does the parallel circuit compare to the series circuit?

The parallel circuit enables for an increased number of light bulbs with the same level of brightness, in contrast to the
corresponding decrease in level of brightness for the series circuit. This is because the electrons are able to travel in
multiple paths.

2. What happens when you break a parallel circuit (try it out in the sim if you need to!)? How would this property be
useful when designing circuits?

When you break a part of a parallel circuit, it only affects a certain lightbulb, and the current to the other light bulbs
continues.

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of series and parallel circuits?

The advantage of each light bulb being unaffected by changes/cuts to other parts of the circuit in the parallel circuit is
the exact disadvantage of the series circuit, a cut in the wire in one part means that the whole circuit is affected.
However, I believe that a disadvantage in the parallel circuit is that the current decreases.