Circuits

This week in Physics we learned more about Electric Current, Resistance, and Power.  I learned that when you measure voltage, you have to make a path so you must measure across.  When you measure current, you must break the past, so you have to break the path.  Voltage is the electric potential difference between 2 points and is measured across what you are trying to measure (making a bridge).  Current through is when the current will flow through the multimeter "like water" arranged in path before the object you are going to measure.  A voltmeter makes a new path, an ammeter measures the current, breaking the path, and an ohmeter measures resistance out of the circuit.  A series circuit is one path.  It is the sum of the voltage drop across each resistor and it will equal to the total from the voltage source. On the other hand, a parallel circuit is a multi path circuit.  Each resistor has the same amount of voltage and is not broken down into components.  I related this to a type of voltage source used to charge multiple things at once.  I'm not exactly sure if this is the right concept but I think that because this voltage source is connected to the original source, it creates a parallel circuit. Because multiple things can charge at once, it gives the same amount of voltage making it a parallel circuit.

Saving Electricity

This week in Physics we had to bring in our electric bills into class.  We then talked about our electricity and how much we use it.  The amount we pay shows us whether or not we use a lot of electricity.  Compared to one of my friend's electricity bills, the amount my family pays was low, but, compared to another friend, my electricity bill was high!  My family pays about $360 a month for electricity.  The person who's electricity bill was lower than mine only pays about $16 a month.  But, this is because they have solar panels on their roof.  We learned a little bit about the solar panels and how it saves us money.  It uses the sun's energy to create energy we need to run the electric utilities in our house.  The use of the sun isn't limited at all! Electric bills have been going up recently though because Hawaiian Electric paid borrowed money in advanced, thinking they would get their money back over the months, but since this new solar panel technology has come out, people pay much less for their electricity so Hawaiian Electric has raised their prices and taxes for those who do not have any panels on their roofs.  My family is currently looking into putting some panels on our roof so we won't have to pay as much.  But for now, I have challenged myself to try and save electricity.  I have been unplugging things from the walls when I am not charging them and taking shorter showers and turning off the lights when I'm not using it.  Hopefully this works and my parents won't have to pay as much this month!

Direct Current

This week in Physics we learned about Electric Current, Resistance, and Power.  We learned a couple of basic definitions of this unit: voltage, current, and resistance.  A voltage is the amount of work that each charge will do as it goes through the circuit; it can also be thought of as the amount of push on the charges.  A current is the number of charges passing a point per second; also know as the rate of flow of charge (I).  Resistance is the opposition to flow of charge; also any application that asks the charge to do and will slow it down. One thing I really understood this week was about circuits.  We learned that for a system to work, there needs it needs to be in a circuit.  Also, without potential difference (voltages), charges will not flow.  The different types of circuits are direct (DC) and alternating (AC).  A direct circuit makes charges flow one way.  An example I related this to was my laptop charger.  As I was writing this blogpost, my computer was about to die, so I grabbed my laptop charge and connected it to the outlet in the wall.  Because of the direct current, my laptop is able to charge back to 100% battery. Thank God for laptop chargers!`

Capacitance and Voltage

This week in Physics we learned about capacitance.  A capacitance is energy stored.  It is the storage of lots of voltage but not a great deal of charge.  Some examples of of capacitance are keyboards and touch screen devices.  Let me try to relate my typing on this computer to this unit of physics that we are learning. The equation of a capacitance is C=(EA)/d [where C is the capacitance, E is the epsilon or permitivity of (air) free space, A is the area of plates (meters squared), and d is the distance between the plates (meter).  Every time I hit a key to type a letter, the capacitance changes because the distance between the two plates change.  The units of capacitance are Coulombs (Q)/Volts (V), also known as Farads (F).  This is what I learned this about in Physics this week.

"It's Electric...Boogie Woogie Woogie"

This week in Physics, we learned a little bit about Electric Potential and Electric Potential Energy. Electric Potential Energy is the stored energy of a charged object in an electric potential field.  Its unites are in Joules.  During our lesson, Mr. Blake over and over said that Electric Potential DOES NOT equal Electric Potential Energy.  But, he did say that Electric Potential DOES equal Electric Potential Energy/Charge.  Electric Potential is also known as "Electric Potential Difference".  This unit of Electric Potential is in Volts (Voltages) because it is Joules/Coulombs.  Basically, Electric Potential is how much energy you get per unit of charge.  This is all I know of this unit so far and hopefully this week I get a better understanding of it!

"Opposites Attract"

This week in Physics, we kept learning about our unit of Electric Charges.  As I've said in my last blogpost, opposite charges attract while similar charges repel.  I've related this concept to my relationships with people.  Although relationships don't specifically deal with charges, it has the same idea of opposites attracting.  For example, me and my boyfriend are not really alike.  He does different sports than I do. He is extremely social. I am not. He enjoys speech, and I definitely do not like speech. He is always confident in himself, and I lack in that area of self-confidence.  Although we are not similar, we are attracted to each other. Another example would be me and my friends.  In our entire group, everyone is uniquely different.  Some of us play similar sports and have a few things in common, but we are not entirely alike.  That is a reason why we are attracted to each other.  I kind of enjoyed learning about this unit in Physics because I learned the real reason why things are attracted to each other and how opposite charges attract.  I will not ever forget this concept in Physics because of the slogan, "Opposites Attract".

MAGNETSSS!

This week we learned about Electric Charges, Forces, and Fields.  One of the basic concepts of this unit (also something I understand pretty well) was about the electric charges.  Their are 3 types of charges: positive (protons), negative (electrons), and no charge (neutron). Protons are represented by a +1.  Electrons are represented by a -1. Neutrons have no charge, so their symbol is 0.  According to the Charge Force Law, like charges will repel each other and unlike charges will attract each other.  For example, if 2 object are both negative, they will repel each other.  If one is positive and one is negative they will attract.  If two objects are neutral, they will have no effect. Also, if one object is either positive or negative and the second object is neutral, they will attract.  I related this concept of physics to my refrigerator door.  Everyday I go in and out of the fridge to get food to eat.  I see the calendar on the door everyday as I open and close the door.  The calendar is hanging from a magnet which is on top the fridge door.  I made the connection from the door and the magnet to this physics concept of electric charges.  Because the magnet is able to stick to the fridge door means that they have opposite charges.  The magnet sticks to the fridge door because it is attracted to it. It all makes sense now!!