Creating a Simple Electric Circuit: A Homework Question for 11-Year-Olds

[zanyzebra]

My brother [11 years old] has a homework question to do with electricity. I go blank when the subject of electricity is involved, so I found this forum.

His question is:
You have wires, 2 cells, 1 ammeter, 1 voltmeter, 4 lamps, a switch.
Create a circuit, using these rules:
o Of the 4 lamps, 2 must be bright, and 2 must be dull.
o Switch must control the 2 bright lamps only
o Voltmeter to read voltage across cells
o Ammeter reads the current to the dim cells only.

This was our attempt..

Bulbs 1 and 2 are meant to be bright, while 3 and 4 are the dim ones.

If you wouldn't mind, some feedback would be great. Would this circuit work? Would those bulbs be bright/dim in accordance with the rules?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Hammie]

Looks OK to me.

 

[kyle8921]

I can say that your attempt at creating a circuit based on the given rules is a great start! However, there are a few things that can be improved upon.

Firstly, it is important to note that in a circuit, the current flows in a closed loop. This means that all components, including the cells, must be connected in a continuous path. In your attempt, the cells are not connected to the rest of the circuit.

To improve your circuit, you can start by connecting the positive terminal of one cell to the negative terminal of the other cell. Then, connect the positive terminal of the second cell to one side of the switch. The other side of the switch should be connected to bulb 1. From there, you can continue the circuit by connecting the other end of bulb 1 to bulb 2, and then to the negative terminal of the first cell.

Next, you can connect the positive terminal of the first cell to the positive terminal of the second cell using a wire. This will allow the voltmeter to measure the voltage across both cells.

For the ammeter to measure the current to the dim bulbs, you can connect one side of the ammeter to bulb 3, and the other side to bulb 4. Then, connect the negative terminal of the second cell to the negative terminal of bulb 3, completing the circuit.

Overall, this circuit should meet all the given rules and provide a working solution to the homework question. It is always important to double check your connections and make sure all components are properly connected in a closed loop. I hope this helps and good luck with your brother's homework!