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!