Flow Rate, Resistors, Series/Parallel Circuits and Electric pressure

What is current? What is flow rate? What is analogy for it?

-Current: continuous flow of electric charge in a complete circuit -Flow rate: defined as the amount of charge passing a point in a circuit every second -measured in amperes or amps (A) -not relative to speed, just the amount of charge -an analogy for how a current flows in a circuit is how water flows. Over the course of a certain distance, the moving water will maintain the same flow rate. But if the river bed becomes narrower or shallower, then the water will pick up speed to maintain this same flow rate. -This is the same for electric current, in that when confined to a small space it moves faster, but the flow rate remains the same.

How can electric pressure be related to air pressure and electric pressure?

-a capacitor is like a container that contains charge. In a circuit without a battery, the charge pushes itself out through a wire attached to the capacitor the same way air pushes itself out of the hole in its container.

What are high and low electric pressure? How does charge move from a capacitor plate? How does charge always attempt to move?

-a capacitor plate with a large amount of (extra) compressed charge is said to have high(er than normal) electric pressure, while a capacitor plate with a small amount of compressed charge(has lost charge) has low(er than normal) electric pressure. -if a capacitor plate with high pressure has an wire leading to a place with low pressure, then charge will be pushed out of the high pressure plate and into the low pressure plate. -charge is always trying to move from an area of high electric pressure to an area of low electric pressure, similar to air. -explains when and where charge moves, and when and why it stops moving.

What is a series circuit? What is a parallel circuit?

-a series circuit has only one path for electric current to travel from one end of the battery to the other. Bulbs are all connected in a row, one after another. -a parallel circuit has several different paths for the electric current to travel from one end of the battery to the other. Bulbs are connected side by side(in parallel), meaning they are not connected to each other, just the battery.

What is the effect of adding cells to a charged circuit?

-adding cells to a circuit pushes more change onto the capacitor, compressing the charge within the circuit to make room for more. -charge behaves not like water, which cannot be compressed, but like air, which can be compressed.

What is measured by a compass?

-compass measures the flow rate(amount of charge per second), as opposed to the speed (amount of distance per second).

What is electric pressure? How does it compare to air pressure?

-property of compressed charged that enables itself to be pushed out of a conductor and through a circuit. -similar to the concept of air pressure, which is the pushing effort of air molecules against its container walls and driving them out of the container.

How does the number of bulbs in a parallel circuit affect flow rate? How does it affect compass deflection?

-resistance decreases as # of bulbs placed in parallel increases, therefore increasing the flow rate, since the numbers of paths for the current to take increases. -this is because each charge will only pass through a single resistor, so its flow is only resisted once. -more resistors in a parallel circuit act like a single wider resistor, making flow easier. -However bulb brightness does not change, since bulbs are connected the battery independent of each other. -compass deflection increases as flow rate increases.

How does the number of bulbs in a series circuit affect flow rate ? How does it affect compass deflection?

-resistance increases as # of bulbs increases, therefore decreasing the flow rate. -this is because all of the moving charge must pass through every resistor, and is resisted every time it passes through. -more resistors in a series circuit(bulbs) causes it acts as a single longer resistor, making flow more difficult -compass deflection decreases with flow rate.

What is resistance and what is a resistor?

-resistance is the property of any material that inhibits the flow rate of charge through a circuit and converts electrical charge into other forms of energy -any electrical component that inhibits the flow of charge in any way is a resistor, lying in between a conductor and insulator. eg. light bulb filament -materials have different levels of resistance, from low to high.

What is electric pressure measured in?

-values and differences in electric pressure are measured in VOLTS.

How does resistance affect the energy of a circuit?

-when a battery attempts to push charge through a circuit, if charge encounters resistance, some of the electrical energy stored in electrons is transformed into other forms of energy. -Energy is "lost" in a resistor, meaning that electrical energy is transformed into other forms of energy.