This week we furthered our knowledge in the area of circuits. We already knew about the two basic types of circuits which were series and parallel. Series are when the resistors are in a row next to each other or one path of current. Parallels are when the resistors are spread out on different currents or multiple paths. This week we learned about combo circuits, which consist of both series and parallel resistors. I used the picture of a microwave because a microwave is an example of an object that uses combo circuits. It uses combo circuits because of the way it powers itself to heat up your food. In physics to solve a combo circuit you need to follow four steps. The first step is the find the REQ or total resistance in the circuit. The next step is to find the I-Batt which is the total voltage divided by the REQ. The third step is the find the voltage drop across each resistor. Then finally the last step is to find the current through each resistor. Parallels have the same voltages but when finding the resistors you must first add them in inverse. But for series they share voltages and split the resistance.

Resistor & Resistivity

This week we furthered our education in conventional currents by learning about resistors and how to find resistivity. In a conventional current you usually have two things a battery and a resistor. In the schematic diagram above the battery is shown as a V, with the bigger or positive lines, and the smaller or negative lines. The batteries in this diagram are in a series. The battery is what gives the volts and the resistor obviously resists the charges flow makes the charges work. A resistor is represented with an R, which is equal to volts over amps. The unit for a resistor is ohms, which is represented by the omega symbol. A resistor has a certain amount of resistivity. Resistivity is how resistive an object is. To find an object's resistivity you divide the length of the material by the cross sectional area, then you multiply the quotient by rho, which is the constant for how resistive the material has. So work son!

Circuits

This week we are moving on in our knowledge in physics by learning in depth of charges and voltage by learning about circuits. Voltage is the "pump" that moves charge through a circuit. When charges move in a certain direction its called a current. A conventional current is the rate at which positive charges will flow. The unit for current (I) is amperes or amps (A) which is equal to coulombs over seconds.  The current of charges are kind of like the flow of water. Like water, charges can flow through pipes or in their case wires. Charges start with a high potential but as they move through a circuit they lose energy and potential because of the amount of work they go through. There are different types of paths that the charges flow through. One type is series which is one path. Series are when batteries are put from positive to negate together. Series have a higher charge and a higher average voltage. Another path is a parallel which are multiple paths. Parallels are when batteries are spread out allowing multiple currents to take place. Parallels lasts longer but have a lower voltage and charge.

Capacitance

This week we learned about capacitance. Capacitance is the electrical energy stored in the short term. Capacitance has a very high electric potential with a little charge. Capacitance is found between two charged plates. The material between that is activated by the capacitance is the dielectric or conductive material. The units for capacitance is farads (F),  which is charge or coulombs (C) divided by volts (V). To find capacitance you multiply the epsilon, or permittivity of materials between plates, by the area of the plates, then divide the product by the distance between the plates. Epsilon is a constant number which is basically air resistance, 8.85x10^-12. I remember capacitance because an easy example that uses capacitance is a computer or laptop keyboard. Under the keys there are capacitors that are programed to display the letter or symbol on screen. So when we push down on the key we activate the conductive material or dielectric which sends a charged message to the computer to display the letter or symbol. Even computers know their physics!

Weʻre gonna rock down to ELECTRIC AVENUE!

This week we decided to further our knowledge in energy. We already knew some types of energy such as potential gravity, potential spring, kinetic, heat, and work. This week we learned a new type of energy that links what we learned about charges with what we already learned about energy. The new type of energy we learned is called electric potential energy. Electric potential energy or PEq is stored energy of a charged object in an electric potential field. PEq is measured in joules just like any other type of energy. In this picture I am holding a pack of AA batteries. We learned how to calculate voltage by dividing PEq by its charge. So AA batteries have a voltage of 1.5 volts. If a battery has a greater amount of voltage than it has a greater amount of electric potential energy.

Charges #2

This week in physics we didn't really learn anything new involving charges but we did learn more about how charges interact with each other. We know that unlike charges attract, like charges repel, and neutral charges do nothing. But this week we got more in depth in how they actually attract or repel. Objects or more specifically their charges are like focus points that either suck in energy or project energy. Positive charges project energy, while negative charges suck in energy. Energy projected is in the form of rays that connect to unlike charges or run in hyperbolas to like charges. So if a negative charge was next to a positive charge, the positive charges energy will project energy and the negative charge will suck it all in. Like in the diagram above, if two positive energies are next to each other they project energy away from them, and since they don't suck in any then they end up repelling each other. Interesting...

After a long and a very much needed winter break, we began learning a new unit, energy. The first thing we learned in this unit was a new law, the law of conservation of charges. This law states that in an isolated system, the net charge will remain the same. This week along with a new law we also learned about the reactions of charges with each other. Everything has a charge it just depends if an object has a positive, negative, or neutral charge. Like in the picture above if charges have like charges then they repel from each other, but if they have unlike charges then they attract. Also if to objects have neutral charges then no reaction occurs.