NAME: ______________________________________________________________ DATE: _________________________

LAB #________: Introduction to Breadboard Circuits AP E&M

Goals: Wire series and parallel circuits on a breadboard.

Materials
 Arduino with breadboard  330 ohm resistors  9V battery and connector
 Jumper wires  Pushbutton switches  LEDs

IMPORTANT:
 ONLY CONNECT POWER AFTER YOUR CIRCUIT IS COMPLETELY WIRED!
 ALWAYS DISCONNECT POWER BEFORE CHANGING ANY WIRING!

Breadboards
Breadboards are a convenient way to wire electrical components together. The key is understanding how
all the holes in the breadboard are connected. The diagram below shows you how:

Powering a circuit using the Arduino

For this lab, we will use the 5V (+5 volts) and GND (ground, 0 volts) pins. These pins allow for a constant
potential difference of 5 volts.

when ready to power,

connect 9V battery here
LIGHTING LEDs
 LEDs are unidirectional, meaning they only allow current in one direction.
The longer post must connect to (+) and the shorter post must connect to (−).
 The 5 volts supplied by the Arduino board will burn out the LEDs.
Every LED should be connected in series with its own 330 Ω resistor.

There are many possible wiring configurations to light the LED using a breadboard.
Here are two ways. Arrows show the flow of positive current. Try wiring both ways!
− +

5V 5V
GND GND

330 Ω

I prefer the second way, because it allows me to easily add multiple LEDs in parallel.
If you haven’t already tried it, reverse the +/− orientation of the LED so it doesn’t light, then switch back.

Get a stamp for each of the tasks below:

TASK 1
Add 2 more LEDs in parallel to the first LED so all 3 LEDs light up. Each LED needs its own 330 Ω resistor.

TASK 2
Add a pushbutton so all 3 LEDs light only when the button is pushed. Here’s how the button is wired:

TASK 3
Add a second button in series with the first one so that both buttons must be pressed to light the LEDs.

TASK 4
Rewire the second button in parallel with the first one so that pushing either button will light the LEDs.