ACTIVITY – DC VIRTUAL LAB SOFTWARE 1
DESCRIPTION
The University of Colorado has
created many interactive online tools related to science. One of them is called the Circuit
Construction Kit – DC Virtual Lab. It
allows you to build simple circuits inside an interactive online tool.
LINK
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/circuit-construction-kit-dc-virtual-lab/latest/circuit-construction-kit-dc-virtual-lab_en.html
INSTRUCTIONS
Follow the steps below to get familiar with this
software. The steps in blue indicate
that you need to capture your screen to be able to show your work at a later
point.
OUR
FIRST CIRCUIT
A series circuit consisting of a battery, switch and lightbulb.
EXPLORATION OF BASICS
- Create the circuit by dragging in and connecting
different components together.
- Get familiar with how to break a circuit at a joint
and how to delete an element from the circuit.
- Under the menu with the components on the left, you
will see a small image of a battery and a small battery symbol beside
it. Try toggling between the two
to see how your circuit changes.
Use the one you prefer.
- Once all connected, try to toggle the switch between opened and closed. The lightbulb
should go on and off. Leave the
switch closed.
- In the menu at the top right, put a checkmark beside
the word Values to see some of
the characteristics of the devices in the circuit.
- Turn down the resistance of the lightbulb to 0 ohms. Notice what happens to the bulb and
what happens to the battery.
- Turn up the resistance for the lightbulb to the
maximum value. Notice what
happens to the brightness of the bulb.
- Return the resistance of the lightbulb to 10 ohms.
- Now try changing the voltage of the battery. Notice how it impacts the brightness
of the bulb. Return the voltage
to 10 volts.
- In the menu at the top right, under Show Current, try toggling
between Electrons and Conventional flow.
Notice what happens to the current flow in the circuit.
EXPLORATION
OF THE VOLTMETER
- Drag a voltmeter out beside your circuit. Measure the voltage drop over the
light bulb by placing one probe on one side of the bulb and the other on
the other side of the bulb. Notice
how the voltage drop reading compares to the battery.
Note: Notice that you are actually connecting the voltmeter in parallel
with the lightbulb.
- Switch the probes around so that the black one goes to
where the red one was and the red one goes to where the black one
was. Notice how the reading on
the voltmeter changes.
Note: Generally, the black probe should be on the negative side of the
load and the red probe should be on a the positive side of the load.
- Take
a screen capture of your circuit with a voltmeter in it in case your
teacher wants to see evidence that you did the work.
EXPLORATION
OF THE AMMETER
- Insert an ammeter into the circuit. Remember that it has to be in series
in the circuit. Make sure you get
a reading for current.
- Set the voltage of the battery to 15 volts. Set the resistance in the lightbulb to
10 ohms. According to Ohm’s Law,
the current should be equal 15 divided by 10, so 1.5 amps. Confirm that that is the case.
- Remove the ammeter.
Insert a new one but place it parallel to the lightbulb. Notice what happens. You are creating a short as there is
no resistance in the ammeter so all current goes through that path.
Note: Doing this in the real
world can be dangerous and can cause damage to your multimeter. This is creating a short circuit.
- Take
a screen capture of your circuit in its final state in case your teacher
wants to see evidence that you did the work.
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