Electricity

In Physics we learned more about Electric Current, Resistance, and Power. On top of parallel, and series circuits, we learned about combo circuits as well. Some terms that we reviewed included current through which is when the current will flow through the multimeter "like water" arranged in path before the object you are going to measure. I related the lessons that we learned in class to my home appliances, such as this wall plug.  A wall plug gets its electricity originally from a power plant, the electricity then comes underground to each house. I think that it all must be connected somehow, by circuit resistors such as the ones we learned about in class. I think that by knowing background knowledge about circuits, I can be more aware of how the electrical appliances in my house work. 

Energy Conserve Challenge

This week we were told to try and conserve energy in our own homes. I challenged my parents that if I could save more energy, I could keep the difference between the old electricity bill, and the next one that we receive. I even got my parents to join to. I conserved energy by shutting the light off when it wasn't needed, shutting the water off when I'm shampooing my hair, and scrubbing my body. I also tried to not watch TV as much, I did other things that were more productive. My parents did the same thing as well, they shut the water off during showers when it wasn't needed, and they shut the water off in between scrubbing the dishes. My mom conserved energy by hanging the clothes, instead of putting it in the dryer. These small changes, definitely taught us how to conserve energy more, and it also benefited the electricity bill. 

Current

This past week in physics we learned about electric current, resistance, power, and capacitance. Current is the number of charges passing a point per second. The rate of flow of charges. I learned that if the current that's going into the circuit is to powerful for the voltage that is made for that circuit, it will trip it, meaning a power surge will happen, and the circuit will blow. We had a home power activity that we did on the weekend, to learn how much electricity we use in our household. I found out that the dryer is the number one electricity consuming appliance in my household. I kind of thought that because to me, it does seem like it uses a lot of energy because it has to conduct heat, a lot of it to dry the amount of clothes that we put in it. I learned a lot from the lessons we learned this week, and from the power activity. 

Capacitance

This week we learned about capacitance, and we can find capacitance by using the formula C=(Eo)(A)/(d). Eo is the permitivity of free space and has the constant 8.85x10^-12 c2/nm, A is the area, and d is the distance of separation in meters. I learned that with this, I can find the magnitude of the charge between two plates. I understand this unit a little more better, I did the rest of the PA by myself, and I think I understand the new lesson of capacitance that we learned.

Batteries

This week in class we learned about batteries, and their energy potential. We learned that between a tripple A battery, and a double A battery has the same battery voltage. The different size of the battery, represent how long it can last. Event though a double a battery, and a triple A battery may have the same voltage, the double A battery has a longer battery life span. In class we lit up a light bulb by connecting two alligator clamps to one battery. The light bulb could tolerate the voltage of the double A battery, however when we connected the 6 volt battery, the light bulb couldn't handle it, it short circuited the light bulb. I learned that the size of the battery, measures the potential that the battery contains. 

Notes

This week in physics we learned more about electric fields and forces. I took a picture of of the PA that we worked on this week. I have to say it somewhat helped. At first I didn't get the concepts of the different formulas that I learned this week, but when I did the PA, I started putting the formulas to use, for example I was already introduced to protons, electrons, and neutrons.  Those terms I was already familiar with. This PA also helped because I started actually applying the notes that I took in class to the problems that were given to me to practice with. It helped me prepare for the test this coming week, and gave me a better understanding of what I was learning. 

Neutrons, Protons, & Electrons

This week we learned about protons, neutrons, and electrons and how they all have their own charges. We learned that when two like charges are put together, they tend to repel from each other. On the contrary, when two opposite charges are put together they tend to attract to each other. However, when two neutral charges are put together, they have no effect on each other. The lesson that we learned in class this past week relates to this picture because magnets have the same effect. When you have two magnets, each with positive, and negative end on it you can observe something. You can observe that when you put the positive ends of the two magnets together, which are like charges, they will repel each other. However, when you put the positive end to a negative end, they will attract and attach to each other.