Circuits

This past week in Science Honors, we were introduced to the world of circuitry. For me, this week felt like learning a new language: current, resistance, potential, Ohm's law, diodes, transistors, and voltage regulators...what?! Luckily, we used our class time to experiment and have some fun completing labs. Because our balloon project will require circuitry, this unit in class is super important for our balloon-launching-success! 

Let's take a look at some basic circuit-building vocab:

Diodes- current only travels one way through a diode; our diodes were LED. When current passes through them they light up. It was almost like playing with a Light-Brite!

The green light is a diode on one of our circuit boards.

Transistor- a gate controls the switch on a transistor. If the gate is closed, current will pass through; if it is open, current won't pass through. I think of it like an electric fence for cows: if you close the gate you'll get a shock if you touch the fence!

Transistor = small black square

Voltage Regulator- regulators are so useful in making circuits. What do you do if you have a 9 volt battery and want to light a diode that can only receive 5 volts? Use a voltage regulator! Just like their name they 'regulate voltage'; they can receive 9 volts in and send 5 volts out. They come in many different sizes: 5 volts, 15 volts, 30 volts, etc.

The voltage regulator is located in row E of our circuit board.

Resistor- resistors are used to regulate the flow of current by decreasing the amount of current. Resistors remind me of a traffic jam on the highway where only a small stream of cars get through.

The wires are connected to the resistors.

A 'mini resistor' on our circuit board. The colors of the bands indicate how much resistance it has.

At the beginning of the week, the only experience I'd had with circuits was a 6th grade project when I made a merry-go-round that very slowly rotated. By Friday, however, I had helped design circuits, drawn up schematics, and assembled circuit boards. This semester has been filled with so many new learning experiences!

--Olivia