Year 10 Electrostatics:

Electrostatics and Series Circuits Summary Questions

Electrostatics involves charges building up on the surface of an object usually after rubbing of one material against another. This form of electricity is only temporary. Two examples of static electricity are lightning, using a Van der Graaf generator, charging a balloon on wool by rubbing ...... Series Circuits: 1. Current Electricity involves electrons moving around an electrical circuit. 2. An electrical circuit must have no gaps in it and contain: a source of electrons such as a battery, cell or a power pack . Some users or converters which change electrical energy into other forms of energy such as heat or light or sound . Some examples of converters are light bulbs or heaters . wires to carry the electrons. Electrons move around a circuit in the direction that means that the electrons move away from the negative terminal and towards the positive terminal of the dry cell or power pack.

3. A series circuit is one in which all the components (source and converters) are joined in one circuit.
Batteries connected in series have their terminals connected to each other positive to negative

4. As more and more lamps (converters) are connected in series (without changing the number of batteries i.e same amount of energy provided to the circuit) the dimmer each lamp gets.

5. As more and more batteries (source) are connected in series (without changing the number of lamps in
the circuit) the brighter those lamps get.

6. Electric current measures how fast the electrons are flowing in a circuit. It is measured using an
Ammeter which is always placed in series with the circuit and so that its terminals are connected positive to positive with the battery or power pack. Current is measured in amperes or Amps (A) for short. i.e. when one coulomb ( a bundle) of electrons flows through the ammeter in one second, 1.0 amps will be seen on the ammeter. 7. In a series circuit the current is the same anywhere in that circuit. 8. In a series circuit, if one lamp blows then the rest of the lamps all go out too . 9. Energy of any component in a circuit is measured using a Voltage . A voltmeter is always placed across the component it is measuring this is called connecting in parallel ). A voltmeter must be connected so that its terminals are connected positive to positive with the batteries or power pack. Energy is measured in volts(V). 1.0 volts is the amount of energy that one coulomb of electrons will pick up from a source or transfer to heat or light etc. in a converter. 10. The energy that a source (batteries or power pack) provides will be used by all the converters in that circuit. i.e. the voltage of power pack will equal the sum or total of all the voltages of the converters in that circuit.