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m co el W of SN AP orld eW o th t e S N AP PY A ND F RI E N D S CIR C UI T S ®
Table of C ontents INTRODUCTIO ELECTRICITY AS ELECTRIC N TO ELECTR IN OUR WOR LD ITY ENTERS Project Listin How To Use Y our Snap Circ uits About Your S DO’s and DO Troubleshoo nap Circuits® N’Ts of Build 9-11 Parts 13-50 51-53 54 55-57 58 59-60 SC- MyH7 Pa rts Layout A Note to Pa ® ing Circuits ting Notes 7-8 12 4 Parts List 3-6 YOUR HOME gs Projects 1 - 3 ICITY 61 62 rents and Ad CAUTION: The lamp (L4) has a very warm lamp enclosure.
INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICITY How do you turn on your light or your television or anything else that requires power in your home1? You flip a switch, right? And if the switch doesn’t work, what do you do? You check to see if it’s plugged in. Anything that requires power (or charging) in your home must be ‘plugged in’ to the wiring inside the walls of your house or your building. The wiring inside your house is connected to the power cables on your street.
Valves and faucets control the flow of water throughout your home and into appliances like your washing machine and refrigerator. Switches and transistors control the flow of electricity throughout your home and into appliances like lamps and fans. Turning a switch off blocks the passage of electricity the way that turning a faucet off blocks the passage of water. Like water, electricity must flow in one direction in order to do its work.
The power provided by a battery (or other power source) is the amount of work that its stream of electricity can do at any given moment. A harder stream of water will get more dirt off your car, right? This is because a hard stream of water has more power than a weak stream. Batteries that produce harder streams of electrons have more power too.
The voltage of the power source is a constant value - it’s printed on every battery. So if the resistance goes up, the current must go down, and vice versa (if the resistance decreases, the current must increase accordingly). As long as there are no breaks in its wire path, electricity can take side tracks along its main transmission line from the (-) to the (+) side of its power source, providing electricity to appliances, homes, and whole towns.
ELECTRICITY IN OUR WORLD A small amount of the electricity we use comes from the chemical energy in batteries (like the AA batteries in your B3 battery holder), but most of the electricity used in our world is produced at enormous generators driven by steam or water pressure, or (increasingly) by wind or solar. Fossil fuels (coal/oil/natural gas) or nuclear fuels are burned/consumed to produce high-pressure steam that drives electric generators.
Note that “distances” includes not just large distances but also tiny distances. Substation Try to imagine a plumbing structure of the same complexity as the circuitry inside a portable radio it would have to be large because we can’t make water pipes so small. Electricity allows complex designs to be made very small. Most electricity produced at large generating stations comes out at very high voltage (sometimes >100,000V).
AS ELECTRICITY ENTERS YOUR HOME Before it goes into your house or building, the electricity produced at the power station goes through a meter and is measured by your electric company to determine how much you are using (and how much it will cost you). The electricity then goes through a service panel (usually in the basement or garage), where fuses or circuit breakers protect the wires inside your home from being overloaded. Fuses are designed to shut down a circuit when the current gets too high.
But fuses are not designed to protect Fuses in your home’s fuse box are designed to prevent a problem in part of your house from starting a fire or affecting the rest of your house. you directly from getting hurt when you use an electrical appliance in your home because the normal operating power of some appliances is already enough to be dangerous to people.
AS ELECTRICITY ENTERS YOUR HOME When lightning (or ice or wind) causes a tree to fall and break a power line, a gap is created in the line that cuts off electricity to every building along its route. If it is a main transmission line, entire towns and cities can lose power until the line is repaired. When this happens, it’s no use plugging your appliances in and turning them on, the electricity is ‘out’.
PROJECT LISTINGS Project Description Page Project Description Page 1 Meet Your Parts 13-14 18 Electric Heater 35 2 Wire Up! Lights Can Share The Same Circuit 15 19 Water Completes Circuit 35 3 Dependent Lights 16 20 Automatic Light 36 4 Independent Lights 17 21 Tree Lighting 36 5 Windmill 17 22 Transistor Amplifier 37 6 Mini-Windmill 18 23 Light & Sound 37 7 Overhead Lights 19-20 24 Audio Fan Speed Adjuster 38 8 Electric Home 21-24 25 Distance Loss Simulat
Project 1 | MEET YOUR PARTS 50mA + Build the circuit shown on the left by placing all the parts with a black 1 next to them on the base grid first. Then, assemble parts marked with a 2. Install three (3) “AA” batteries (not included) into the battery holder (B3) if you have not done so already. Set the meter (M6) to the 50mA setting. Turn on the slide switch (S1). The white LED (D6) lights and the meter measures the current.
Part B: Replace the white LED with the color LED (D8, “+” on top) and enjoy the light show as the meter measures the current. For best effects, dim the room lights. Part C: Replace the color LED with the lamp (L4). The current measured on the meter will be very high and off the scale (you are measuring a 200mA lamp with a 50mA meter). Incandescent light bulbs are much less energy efficient than LEDs. Do not leave the circuit for two minutes because the lamp will be hot.
Project 2 | WIRE UP! LIGHTS CAN SHARE THE SAME CIRCUIT Placement Level Numbers Build the circuit shown. Set the meter (M6) to the 5V setting. If desired, place the fiber optic festive tree in its mounting base and on the color LED (D8). Turn on the slide switch (S1) and enjoy the show. This is a single snap, placed beneath other parts as a spacer The battery voltage (electrical pressure) may drop as the current increases, because the batteries may not be able to supply all the current the circuit needs.
Project 3 | DEPENDENT LIGHTS The two LEDs are connected in a series, and all the electric current from the batteries flows through each component in the circuit. The LEDs are dim because the voltage from the batteries (B3) is divided between them. Build the circuit and turn on the slide switch (S1). The white and color LEDs (D6 & D8) should be blinking but may be dim. If neither lights at all then replace your batteries. Connecting parts in series is one way of arranging them in a circuit.
Project 4 | INDEPENDENT LIGHTS In this circuit the batteries produce an electric current, which flows through the switch, then divides between the 2 LEDs, then re-combines and flows back into the batteries. Build the circuit and turn on the slide switch (S1). The white and color LEDs (D6 & D8) are bright now and only the color LED is blinking. Compare this circuit to the preceding circuit. This circuit has both LEDs connected in PARALLEL.
Project 6 | MINI-WINDMILL Change the preceding circuit into this one. Now blow on the fan to simulate wind. If you blow hard enough, the color LED (D8) lights up. Is it easier to light the LED in this circuit or the previous circuit? This circuit improves the air flow by removing the base grid from behind the fan, but it is not as physically stable and comes apart more easily.
Project 7 | OVERHEAD LIGHTS Think of this circuit as a room with an overhead light. Electricity flows from the batteries on the floor to the white LED on the ceiling, down to the slide switch on the other wall, and then back to the batteries. The batteries represent the power supplied by your local electric company. The white LED is a ceiling light. The slide switch is the switch on your wall that turns the ceiling light on or off. And the blue snap wires are the wires in the walls of your house.
Assembly (adult supervision recommended): 4. Place the remaining parts on grids A, B, & E. 1. Place base grid supports on base grids A & B. Turn on the slide switch (S1) to light the white LED (D6). 2. Place parts on base grids C, & D, and install into base grid supports on grids A & B. The pegs should be facing inward. Base grid colors are interchangeable, so you any color you like at any location. Go to www.elenco.
Project 8 | ELECTRIC HOME The light covers and slides may be placed on the LEDs (D6 and D8) or lamp (L4) as decoration. Fold the slides as indicated and slide them into the slots on the cover, as shown. This is a single snap, placed beneath other parts as a spacer 50mA The grids fit into the supports easier if the column marking (1-7) is on this side. 21 These red pieces are the same vertical snap wire (V1), mounted so it stands up.
Assembly (adult supervision recommended): 1. Place base grid supports on base grids A & B. 4. Place the remaining parts on grids A, B, & E, including the two blue jumper wires 2. Place parts (except the blue jumper wires) on base grids C & D, and install into base grid supports on grids A & B. The pegs should be facing inward on grid C and outward on grid D. Base grid colors are interchangeable, so you can use any color you like at any location. 3.
This Circuit Demonstrates How Electricity Is Used In Your Home: The battery holder (B3) represents the electricity supplied to your home. Usually the electricity is generated by a power station, but it could also come from a gasoline-powered backup generator, from solar panels on your roof, from wind turbines, or from larger batteries. The meter (M6) is the meter that measures how much electricity you’re using and reports it to your local electric company.
What is a short circuit? You can connect an extra jumper wire across the 5.1kΩ resistor to simulate the short circuit problems that often happen in homes. A short circuit occurs when the resistance in an electrical pathway is suddenly and drastically reduced, so that the electricity suddenly flows very quickly. If you connect an extra jumper wire across the 5.1kΩ resistor you bypass the resistor, so the current doesn’t have to go through it at all (it goes through the jumper wire instead).
Project 9 | HOME SECURITY Place a small object inside this house. If an intruder reaches in to grab it, the alarm will sound and the color LED will flash to scare the intruder away. This circuit works like the security systems in a lot of people’s homes, which are activated when a beam of light is broken or when motion or a loud sound (like a window breaking) is detected. Some home security systems are linked to a monitoring company, which contacts the police when the alarm is activated.
Assembly (adult supervision recommended): 1. Place base grid supports on base grid A & B. 2. Place parts (except for the jumper wires) on base grids C & D, and install into base grid supports on grids A & B. The pegs should be facing inward. Turn on the slide switch (S1); the white LED (D6) should be on, but there should not be any sound. Now place your hand between the white LED and the phototransistor (Q4); an alarm sounds and the color LED (D8) turns on. Other side view 3.
Project 10 | BLOCK THE SOUND Assembly (adult supervision recommended): 1. Place base grid supports on base grids A&B. 2. Place parts on grids C&D and install into base grid supports on grids A&B. 3. Install remaining parts on grids A&B. Turn on the slide switch (S1); the white LED (D6) and melody IC (U32) are on. Place your hand to block the light between the white LED and phototransistor (Q4); the sound stops.
Project 11 | MATERIALS TESTER You can calculate the resistance of the materials you tested using Ohm’s law: Resistance = Voltage / Current. From the information on your batteries, you know that the Voltage is around 4.5V, and you can measure the Current using the meter. WHAT IS RESISTANCE: If you rub your palms together very quickly, they will begin to feel warm. The friction between your hands converts the physical motion of your body into heat.
Project 13 | MINI BATTERY 50mA A B Electricity flow Build the circuit as shown and set the meter to the 50mA setting. Turn on the slide switch (S1) until the meter current drops to zero (indicating the 470µF capacitor (C5) is fully charged), then turn the switch off. Push the press switch (S2) to discharge the capacitor through the white LED (D6), lighting it. Turn S1 on and off and then push S2, several times.
Project 14 | STORING ELECTRICITY Build the circuit as shown and set the meter (M6) to the 5V setting. Turn on the slide switch (S1) and watch as the voltage slowly rises to 3V or more. Next push the press switch (S2) for a moment; the fan wiggles and the voltage drops to 0. Repeat this several times. 5V How it works: the 5.1kΩ resistor (R3) slows the flow of electricity from the batteries, causing the capacitor (C5) to charge up slowly and the voltage reading on the meter to increase.
