Circuit Basics
This is the movement or flow of electricity through a wire.
What is electric current?
Rubber, plastic, and glass are examples of materials that stop electricity.
What is an insulator?
You use this simple device to turn a light bulb on or off.
What is a switch?
This invisible area around a magnet exerts magnetic forces.
What is a magnetic field?
This tool measures small electric currents and shows their direction.
What is a galvanometer?
These tiny, negatively charged particles move through a conductor to make electricity.
What are electrons?
Metals like copper and aluminum let electricity pass through easily. They are called this.
What is a conductor?
A buzzer is connected to a battery, but the pathway is completely interrupted because the switch is turned off. This term describes why current cannot complete its loop.
What is an incomplete path?
Every magnet has two opposite ends called North and South. This structure is called this.
What is a magnetic dipole?
This term measures the total magnetic field passing through a wire loop.
What is magnetic flux?
A circuit has a broken wire so electricity cannot flow through it. This term describes the circuit.
What is an open circuit?
In a lab, a dry wooden stick does not conduct electricity. If you soak it in saltwater, this happens.
What is it conducts electricity (the bulb lights up)?
A bare wire connects the positive and negative ends of a battery directly, making it hot. This problem is called this.
What is a short circuit?
If you snap a bar magnet in half, this is what you get.
What is two smaller magnets (each with North and South)?
A magnet sits completely still inside a coil connected to a meter. The meter reads zero for this reason.
What is the magnetic field (flux) is not changing?
This part of a circuit provides the electrical energy or push, like a battery.
What is the power source?
Silicon is used in computer chips because it sits between a conductor and an insulator. It is called this.
What is a semiconductor?
Adding more light bulbs to a single pathway makes the lights dimmer because this total property increases.
What is total resistance?
Wrapping wire around an iron nail and connecting it to a battery makes this temporary magnet.
What is an electromagnet?
Opening a switch connected to a coil causes a sudden jump in voltage. This jump is called this.
What is an electric spike (or voltage spike)?
This fundamental law connects voltage, current, and resistance using the formula E=I X R
What is Ohm's Law?
Conductors let electricity flow easily because their atoms have these subatomic particles free to move.
What are free electrons?
A toy motor runs very slowly because dirty battery terminals are blocking current. The dirt created this specific problem.
What is high contact resistance?
Moving a magnet inside a coil of wire creates electricity. This process is called this.
What is electromagnetic induction?
Moving a magnet into a coil fast moves a meter needle more than moving it slow. This is because moving it fast changes this quicker.
What is the rate of flux change?