{"id":39,"date":"2014-10-23T13:42:18","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T13:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2014-10-23T14:09:20","modified_gmt":"2014-10-23T14:09:20","slug":"measuring-electricity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/measuring-electricity\/","title":{"rendered":"Measuring Electricity Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Current<\/strong><\/p>\n

Current is a flow of electrons.\u00a0\u00a0 The larger the current, the more electrons are flowing.\u00a0 To operate an electrical appliance, we must have current flowing through it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Current is measured in Amperes or Amps (A).<\/p>\n

Voltage<\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Voltage is a measure of the energy<\/strong> or \u201cpush\u201d that individual charges have.\u00a0 \u201cHigh Voltage\u201d tells us that the individual charges have a lot of energy.\u00a0 Voltage is measured in Volts (V).<\/p>\n

NB:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do not confuse voltage with current.\u00a0 It is possible to have a very high voltage (very energetic charges), but very low current (not many charges flowing).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Measuring Current and Voltage<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Current is measured with a device called an ammeter.\u00a0 Voltage is measured using a voltmeter.\u00a0 These meters have to be connected in a particular way:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Circuits<\/strong><\/p>\n

An electrical circuit is a path or route around which current can flow.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Types of Circuits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Series Circuit<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a series circuit, the components are connected one after another in a single loop.\u00a0 There is only one path round the series circuit, and the current must go through each component in turn.\u00a0 There are no other routes for the charges to take.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

If there is any break in the circuit, or if a component stops working, no current will be able to flow in the circuit, and all the components will stop working.\u00a0 e.g. Christmas tree lights!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Parallel circuit<\/strong><\/p>\n

A parallel circuit has different routes (or branches) available for the current as it travels around the circuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Since the current can take different routes round the circuit, it is possible for some components to operate even if another is switched off or not working.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the diagram opposite, the top bulb is switched off, but the bottom bulb will still light.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Current in series and parallel<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a>Since the charges have no other path to take,<\/p>\n

the current is the same at all points in a series circuit<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the circuit below, the current will split as it reaches the parallel branches and will rejoin again after the branches.<\/p>\n

The diagram shown below has 3 branches in the circuit so the current splits 3 ways.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Voltage in series and parallel<\/h1>\n

In the series circuit the supply voltage (energy) is shared between the components in the circuit.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The total voltage across the components in a series circuit is equal to the supply voltage.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the series circuit the supply voltage (energy) is shared between the components in the circuit.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The total voltage across the components in a series circuit is equal to the supply voltage.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In the parallel circuit, the voltage across each branch of the circuit is equal to the supply voltage.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is because the voltage is a measure of the \u201cpush\u201d that individual charges have been given by the supply.\u00a0 By choosing the top path, the charges have only one component on which to use up their energy.\u00a0 They will use all 5V on the top bulb.<\/p>\n

Those charges choosing the bottom will be able to use all 5V on the bottom bulb.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Current Current is a flow of electrons.\u00a0\u00a0 The larger the current, the more electrons are flowing.\u00a0 To operate an electrical appliance, we must have current flowing through it.\u00a0\u00a0 Current is measured in Amperes or Amps (A). Voltage \u00a0 Voltage is a measure of the energy or \u201cpush\u201d that individual charges have.\u00a0 \u201cHigh Voltage\u201d tells us … Continue reading Measuring Electricity Summary<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2454,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-39","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions\/52"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/hydnsecscis2revision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}