Lab: Electric Circuits (26 points)

Objectives

After you have completed this laboratory, you will be able to:
 Complete an electric circuit.
 Identify the properties of circuits that electricians manipulate to change the
amount of energy flowing.

Introduction

Principles of physics can be found everywhere in the real world. One of the most
abundant illustrations of physics is electricity. We use it every day in multiple ways and
often take it for granted until the electricity goes out during a storm or for some other
reason. Many professionals, such as electricians, use their knowledge of circuits to help
build houses and business or help restore the electricity when goes out.

Purpose of This Lab

The goal of this lab is to complete a circuit to light up a light bulb.

Questions

1. What are some variables that can either increase or decrease electric flow to a light
bulb?

The length of the wire and the voltage of the batteries.

2. A string of Christmas lights goes out when one light bulb is removed. What kind of
circuit is it and how do you know?

It is an open circuit as electricity no longer flows through the circuit.

Hypothesis

After reading the lab instructions but before starting the lab, record your best “educated
guess” about what will happen in the experiment. Write the hypothesis as an “if-then”

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statement. Give your reasons and outline any assumptions that lead you to this
hypothesis.
Be sure to include a discussion on how you could increase the electric flow to make the
light bulb glow brighter.

If the voltage is increased, the electric flow will also increase and the bulb will be brighter.
I know this because I=V/R. R will remain constant, but if the voltage is increased then the
current will be increased. If more batteries are added then the current will increase and
the bulb will be brighter. If the length of the wire is increased then the brightness of the
bulb will be decreased.

Experiment: Electric Circuits

In this lab you will use different batteries and different lengths of wire to complete a
circuit and light a light bulb. You will then apply what you learn to the job of an
electrician. While you are doing this lab, think about how you could use these principles to
make the lights in your home dimmer or brighter.

Materials

 1 small lamp (light bulb) with base (an example would be a mini screw lamp
base with a flash light lamp found at RadioShack or a hardware store)
 2 AA batteries
 2 D-cell batteries
 Electrical tape
 Insulated copper wire
 Wire strippers or sharp scissors
 Ruler

Safety Precautions

Be safe as you work on this or any lab. Follow these steps to safely conduct the
experiment:
 Never use electricity near water.
 The batteries and wire will get hot, so be careful not to burn yourself.
 Wire cutters are very sharp, so use caution while stripping the wire.
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Getting Started

 Gather all the materials for the lab.

 Cut 2 pieces of insulated wire about 10 cm long each. Very carefully strip about
1 cm of the insulation off both ends of both wires using the wire strippers.
 Cut 2 pieces of insulated wire about 30 cm long each. Very carefully strip about
1 cm of the insulation off both ends of both wires using the wire strippers.

Procedure

1. Look at the voltages on the AA batteries and the D-cell batteries. Record these
values in the Data section.
2. Screw the light bulb into the lamp base.
3. Using the electrical tape, attach one exposed end of a 10 cm wire to the negative
end of 1 AA battery. Attach one exposed end of the other 10 cm wire to the positive
end of battery. Be careful when touching the wire because it will heat up quickly.
4. Touch the other exposed ends of both wires to the metal ends of the lamp base and
record how bright the light is in the Data section. You may wish to rate the
brightness on a scale of 0 to 10 (with 0 meaning the light bulb does not light up and
10 meaning the light bulb is as bright as possible).
5. Untape the wires from the battery and add a second AA battery to the set up (so
the batteries are touching (the negative end of one to the positive end of the
other). Each battery should have one of the wires taped to its exposed end.
6. Repeat step 4.
7. Repeat this procedure for one D-cell battery as the power source. Record your
observations in the Data section.
8. Add another D-cell battery to the setup and record your observations.
9. Repeat steps 3-8 using the 30 cm wires instead of 10 cm wires. Record your
observations.

Disposal and Clean Up

1. Throw away the tape.

2. You may either throw away the wires or recycle them to use them some other time.

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3. Put the batteries and light bulb away after they have cooled. Be careful not to burn
yourself.

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 Data

Voltage of one AA battery:

1.5 V

Voltage of one D-cell battery:

1.5 V

Data Table: Brightness of Light Bulb

Wire Length (cm) 1 AA Battery 2 AA Batteries 1 D Cell Battery 2 D Cell Batteries

10 4 7 4 8

30 3 6 3 5

Analysis

How did the number of batteries used affect the brightness of the bulb?

The more the brighter.

How did the voltage of the batteries used affect the brightness of the bulb?

The more the brighter.

How did the length of the wire affect the brightness of the bulb?

The longer the dimmer.

Conclusion

After conducting the experiment, how would you now explain the problem(s) or answer
the question(s)? Were you able to support your hypothesis or not? Be sure to base your
answer on the data you collected. Consider whether your conclusion is the only
explanation for the data you collected or if there could be alternate explanations.
Use these prompts to guide you in writing your conclusion:
 What is required to complete an electric circuit?

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  What are some properties of circuits that can be used to change how bright a
light bulb shines? Be sure to use your data to support your observations.
 How can knowing about these properties of circuits help electricians do their
job?

Additional Questions

1. Dimmer switches can be used to either make a room brighter or dimmer, depending
on how a switch or knob is turned. What do you think the switch does to make the
light dimmer?

It uses a lower voltage.

2. Sometimes when the flow of electricity is too much for a circuit to handle, a circuit
breaker is activated. Describe what happens when a circuit breaker goes off.

It breaks the circuit so no more electricity can pass through.

3. If your experiment does not seem to match the expected results, what did you learn
from the experience? If you were to repeat the lab so that the results were closer to
what was expected, what would you do differently?

It matched the results.

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