Concepts
What are the negatively charged particles that fuel electricity
Electrons
Voltage is analogous to what? What is current analogous to?
Pressure and Flow
Water pressure pushes water through a pipe the same way voltage pushes electric charge through a wire, and the amount flowing per second (water flow rate) corresponds to electric current.
What is Ohm's Law
RI=V
(resistance * current = voltage)
What are the two types of circuits the packet mainly covers?
Benjamin Franklin
What is polarization
Polarization happens when electrons shift slightly within a material in response to an electric field, creating tiny separated positive and negative regions without the charges fully leaving the material.
If the battery is like a water pump/source (in a pipe), then what happens regarding the "pressure" (voltage)
Process of basic electric pressure
A pressure (voltage) difference is formed in which the flowing water (electricity) fills in this difference
What is the fundamental power formula? What formula is made when combined with Ohm's law?
P = IV (power = voltage * current)
-> P = RI2 (w/ Ohm's Law)
What are dielectrics?
Insulators that (due to its position between two conductive plates) increase capacitors' charge
How is electric potential different from electric potential energy?
E.P -> Source charge only; E.P = E.P.E/q (electric charge)
E.P.E -> Total magnitude of charge (based on the position in the field)
How can the water analogy be used to understand the misconception of electron flow vs current flow
In the water analogy, we define current as flowing from high pressure to low pressure, like water moving downstream. But electrons are negatively charged, so they actually move in the opposite direction—like tiny particles drifting upstream while we still describe the river as flowing downstream.
What does Kirchoff's Law(s) state?
Hint: there are 2
Voltage (KVL): Around a closed loop, the sum of the voltages = 0
Current (KCL): sum of the current entering a node = sum of the current leaving
This device stores charge using two conductors separated by a small distance and can act like a temporary battery.
What is a capacitor?
What are the 3 laws of thermodynamics?
1. Law of Energy Conservation
2. Heat diffuses (high -> low)
3. We can never reach absolute zero (0K)
What are the resistance formulas of parallel and series circuits?
Parallel: 1/R = sum{R_i} for all i (individuals)
Series: R = sum{R_i} for all i (individuals)
In a parallel circuit, adding more branches of resistance does this to the total current compared to a series circuit.
Increase total current
A battery, first made by ____ and coined by ___, is usually made with what materials
Alessandro Volta
Ben Franklin
zinc and/or carbon submerged in a strong acid (sulfuric acid)
What is change in energy equivalent to?
delta{E} = q * V (charge * voltage)
During a lightning storm, when voltage becomes high enough, this normally insulating material conducts electricity as a bolt.
Air