Basic Electricity

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We have taken a look at circuits, series and parallel. We have mentioned voltage and current. We have seen how they work but up to now it may have seemed a little mysterious. It's time to clear up the mystery and explain just what they are

The circuits we have constructed with wires and lights can be thought of as
carrying electricity just like a hose carries water. Voltage is the amount of pressure
pushing the water through the hose. Current is the amount of water that actually comes
through the hose.

Suppose we have the hose connected to a faucet and open it just a little bit. Some water
will trickle out, but not much. Now, if we open the faucet up more, more water will flow.
That is what happens when we raise the voltage too, more current will flow.

The lights are like a nozzle at the end of the hose. They slow the flow as they do
their job. But if we were to put two nozzles on a hose we could water the lawn faster.
We would also use more water. Just like adding a bulb gives more light, and
raises the current, adding a second nozzle would use more water.

We can see a relationship between how much water flows through the hose and the pressure. We also see that increasing pressure or decreasing the the resistance of the nozzle increases the water flow. It's the same with electricity. Increasing the voltage (pressure) or decreasing the resistance (by adding lights) increases the current flow. (Amps)

Click the Wizard for more about Volts and Amps

I hope you have had some fun and learned a few things along the way. Take what
you have learned and experiment on your own. Try adding some more lights and maybe a switch
But don't stop there, get a bell! Put that in place of one of your lights. Have fun!!!

Thanks for visiting the Wizard's Electronics Pages!