Elenco Snaptricity® - Manual (Page 19)

Project #9 Light the Way
Educational Corner:
What is really happening here?
1. The batteries (B3) convert chemical energy into
electrical energy and “push” it through the circuit,
just like the electricity from your power company. A
battery pushes electricity through a circuit just like a
pump pushes water through a pipe.
2. The snap wires (the blue pieces) carry the electricity
around the circuit, just like wires carry electricity
around your home. Wires carry electricity just like
pipes carry water.
3. The slide switch (S5) controls the electricity by
turning it on or off, just like a light switch on the wall
of your home. A switch controls electricity like a
faucet controls water.
4. The lamp (L4) converts electrical energy into light, it
is the same as a lamp in your home except smaller.
In a light bulb, electricity heats up a high-resistance
wire until it glows. A light bulb shows how much
electricity is flowing in a circuit like a water meter
shows how fast water flows in a pipe.
5. The base grid is a platform for mounting the circuit,
just like how wires are mounted in the walls of your
home to control the lights.
Water Meter
Pump
Valve
Comparing Electric
Flow to Water Flow:
Electric Paths
-18-
Build the circuit shown by placing all the parts with a black
1 next to them on the clear plastic base grid first. Then,
assemble parts marked with a 2. Screw a bulb into the lamp
socket (L4) and install three (3) “AA” batteries (not included)
into the battery holder (B3).
Assembly
This circuit is just like a lamp in your home, when you flip
the switch (S5) to on (position B), the lamp (L4) will be on.
Operation
Snappy says: touch the light
and feel how warm it is. Only
about 5% of the electricity is
converted into light, the rest
becomes heat. Don’t touch light
bulbs in your home because
they can be very hot.