Gr.

6 summary

3rd and 4th term

Electric circuits

A simple circuit has at least three components:

- Source of energy, ex. Cell.

- Conducting material, ex. Copper wire
- Output device, ex. Globe.

Electrical current is the flow of charge.

Electric circuit is a system for transferring energy.

A switch controls the flow of electrical current.

Electrical current can only flow in an unbroken pathway.

A cell or battery provides energy. + of one cell is connected to the – of another.

The thin wire inside a bulb becomes hot and gives off light.

Chemical energy in the cell is changed into electrical energy that flows through
the wires and then change into light energy in the bulb.

Thomas Edison invented the first light bulb.

Cell

Bulb

Wire

Open switch

Closed switch

Electrical conductors and insulators

When electricity can flow through a substance, it is called a conductor.

Copper is the most common material used for electrical wiring.

Silver is the best conductor but is very expensive.

Our body is a good conductor because of the water and salt inside of us.

Insulators prevent electricity to flow through it.

It protects us against electric shock.

Electrical systems

It changes electrical energy into another form of energy, ex. Light, heat or
movement.

A system consists of different parts working together to form a whole.

Input ex. Cell; Control ex. Switch; output ex. Bulb

Fossil fuels

Coal, oil and natural gas

Coal: to generate electricity, get it through mining.

Oil: petrol for cars, get it by drilling holes into rock layers.

Gas: home devices like stoves get it by drilling into rock layers.

ESKOM is the main supplier of electricity in SA.

Production of electricity:

- Coal is transported from a coal mine to the power station

- It is ground into a fine powder
- The ground coal is burned to hot up water.
- The steam turns a turbine
- The turbine is connected to a generator that produces electricity
- It is transported to substations and then to your home

Fossil fuels are a non-renewable source of energy. Once it is burned you

cannot use it again. It takes millions of years to form out of dead animals and
plants.

It pollutes the ear when it is burned.

Why is electricity expensive?

- Transport of coal to the power station

- Maintenance of machines and buildings at the power stations.

Renewable sources of energy: wind, sun, plants and water

Biomass: energy from plants and other organic materials

Sun: solar panels, photovoltaic cells

Wind: wind turbines

Water: hydro- electricity

Sun

A star produces its own light and heat.

Consist of Hydrogen and Helium.

Temperature in the core is 15 000 000oC and on the surface is 5 500oC.

Is 15 million km. away from Earth.

Dark spots on the sun are called sunspots.

Layers of the sun:

- Core
- Radiation zone
- Convection zone
- Photosphere ( surface layer )

Planets

The Greeks called planets the wanderers.

Gravity is a force of attraction between objects. It causes the planets to orbit

around the sun.

Order of planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune
A planet cannot produce its own light, but reflects the light of the sun.

Interior planets/ rocky planets

Mercury: closest to the sun, smallest, no atmosphere

Venus: almost the same size as the earth, 2nd brightest object in the night sky,
atmosphere consist out of carbon dioxide and sulphuric acid, warmest planet,
Evening star and Morning star, named after the goddess of love.

Earth: 3rd from the sun, one moon, atmosphere contain life on earth.

Mars: named after the god of war, red colour dew to the metal like surface.

Exterior planets/ Gas giants

Jupiter: biggest, pink brown colour, 66 moons.

Saturn: 2nd biggest, light yellow colour, rings consist out of ice and gas, 62
moons.

Uranus: blue green colour, 25 moons.

Neptune: Further away than all of the planets, 12 moons, stormy surface,
bright blue colour.

Asteroids: Small rock like objects that orbits the sun. The asteroid belt is in
between Mars and Jupiter. It moves at a speed of 25 km. per second.

Moons

It orbits around a planet.

Our moon has craters dew to meteorites. It has no atmosphere or water.

Moons of other planets:

- Mercury and Venus don’t have any moons.

- Mars has two, Deimos and Phobos.
- Jupiter: most important moon is Europa. There might be life on it.
- Saturn: Biggest is Titan
- Pluto: Charon
Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon.

Movement of earth and planets

Earth rotates anti-clockwise around its own axle. It is slanted at an angle of

23.5o. That is the reason for seasons.

Day and night occurs because of the rotation.

To get east, wait for the sun to rise.

Other directions: Point your right hand in the direction of east, left hand to
west ( where sun sets ) , north will be in front of you and south behind you.

It takes the earth 24 hours to rotate around its own axle.

Planets orbits or revolves around the sun. This pathway is called its orbit.

A moon revolves around a planet.

It takes our moon 28 days to orbit the earth. The same side of the moon is
always facing the earth, because it takes the moon 28 days to rotate around its
own axle.

The other side of the moon is full of craters.

Exploration of Mars and the moon

Mars:

- Vehicles are smaller, radio controlled, take photos and look at rock
samples. Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity. Uses photo-
voltaic panels to generate electricity to drive the rovers.

Moon:

- Bigger vehicles, driven by people, carry rock samples and is able to travel
great distances at a time. The tyres are wide to prevent it from getting
stuck.

Telescopes

Use it to look at far of objects to make them appear closer.

The telescope was first discovered by the Dutch. They used it to be safe at sea.

Galileo Galilei was the first person to invent a telescope to look at the stars.

He was the first to see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.

Southern African Large Telescope ( SALT )

It is one of the biggest telescopes in the world. It is build close to Sutherland.

Square Kilometre Array ( SKA )

It receives radio waves send out by stars. All of the dishes together form a
square that covers an area of 1 km2. South Africa and Australia will work
together to build the dishes in their countries, but the control room will be in
South Africa.

Steps to take in an experiment

- Aim: what you want to find out

- Hypothesis: what you think will happen
- Apparatus: what you will need
- Method: steps you are going to take
- Observation: what happened during the experiment
- Conclusion: what did you learn