Phys Comp: Week 3 – Electronics

This week, our Phys Comp lab consisted of combining several previous labs plus the addition of using our multimeters to check the current of electricity. Checking the flow of electricity is something I’ll need to get used to doing, starting with just learning how to read the multimeter dial and learning to choose between A/C or D/C. Anyway, here are my steps:

A. Measuring Voltage: I set up the breadboard with a voltage regulator and a 12V A/C adaptor. Then I tested the input to and the output from the regulator.

Testing input (approximately 16 V)

B. A Basic LED Circuit: Next, I added a switch and an LED to the breadboard. This is when the voltage regulator came in handy, to decrease the amount of voltage coming into the circuit that the LED was attached to. (If not, it would have been too much current for the LED. That’s also why the regulator was so hot, the extra energy was being emitted as heat.)

Using a switch to turn on an LED
Using a switch to turn on an LED

C. Components in Series/Parallel: This experiment showed how parallel and series circuits work. Series circuits work like Christmas lights all in a row – when one goes out, the circuit is broken. Parallel circuits share the current, so if one goes out the other lights stay on.

3 LEDs in parallel
3 LEDs in parallel
Completing the circuit using the multimeter
Completing the circuit using the multimeter

D. Variable Voltage with a Potentiometer: This was pretty similar to “A”, except that now I was using an analog switch to adjust the output of an LED.

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