DC circuit construction kit – build circuits, measure current and voltage
Integrated ScienceElectricity & MagnetismAges 14–15
Loading…
Sign in to playA free-form circuit board with two screens. On Intro, drag wires, batteries, resistors, bulbs and switches onto the board, join their ends and split junctions to separate circuits; electrons flow faster as the current grows, bulbs glow according to their power, a two-probe voltmeter and a non-contact ammeter take readings, and a short circuit sets the wire on fire. The Lab screen lets you set each component's value, the battery's internal resistance and the wire resistance, and adds fuses, a high-voltage battery, in-circuit ammeters and voltmeters, conductivity test objects (coin, paper clip, pencil, eraser, hand), a stopwatch and a schematic view with textbook symbols. Any circuit is solved by nodal analysis, so the readings obey Ohm's law and the rules for series and parallel circuits. Based on the "Circuit Construction Kit: DC" simulation by PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder (CC BY 4.0); rewritten.
Lesson: Series and parallel circuits
What it shows
A virtual lab bench for the lesson on series and parallel circuits in the topic of electricity. Students build circuits from wires, batteries, resistors, bulbs and switches just as on a real lab bench, then use a voltmeter and an ammeter to verify Ohm's law and the relationships for series and parallel circuits.
How to use
On the Intro screen, drag components onto the board, drag one end onto another to connect them and tap a junction to cut it apart; electrons move faster or slower with the current, bulbs glow brighter or dimmer with their power, and joining the battery terminals directly with a wire sets the wire on fire. The Lab screen lets you set component values and the battery's internal resistance, and adds fuses, in-circuit ammeters and voltmeters, and conductivity test objects. Try a 9 V battery with 10 Ω and 20 Ω resistors in series: the ammeter reads 0.30 A and the voltmeter measures 3 V and 6 V, adding up to exactly 9 V.
Parameters you can change
- Screen Intro, Lab
- Starting circuit Empty board, Battery, switch and bulb, Two bulbs in series, Two bulbs in parallel, Resistor in series with two parallel bulbs
- View Lifelike, Schematic (textbook symbols)
- Current display Electrons, Conventional current
- Show current
- Show component values
- Show component labels
- Real bulbs, resistance rises when hot (Lab)
- Battery internal resistance (Lab) 0–10 Ω
- Wire resistance (Lab), per 10 cm 0–1 Ω
Questions to explore
- Two identical bulbs are connected to the same battery, first in series and then in parallel. In which case do they glow brighter, and why?
- What happens to the current through the battery if an ammeter is mistakenly connected in parallel with a bulb?
- As the battery's internal resistance increases, how does the reading of a voltmeter across the battery terminals change?
