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Electricity and Magnetism
Investigation 1
Investigation 1
Electricity and Magnetism
Phase 1 – Defined Understanding
Student Guide
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Student Guide with answers
Teacher PreLab
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Phase 2 – Dynamic Understanding
► Investigation One Summary – Voltage, Current, and Resistance
In Investigation One, you explored voltage, current, and resistance. During this Investigation, you:
1. Constructed a simple circuit using (1) one battery and resistor “A”.
2. Constructed a simple circuit using (2) two batteries and resistor “A”.
3. Constructed a simple circuit using (3) three batteries and resistor “A”.
4. Constructed a simple circuit using one, two, and three batteries and resistor “B”.
5. Calculated the amount of resistance from resistors “A” and “B” using the following formula for Ohm’s Law:
Resistance (R) = Voltage (V) / Current (I)
► Investigation One Summary – Learning Goals
Through these experiments, you concluded that:
1. The change in current in a circuit is directly proportional to the change in voltage. As voltage in a circuit increases, current increases, but the current flow resistance remains constant. As the number of batteries in each of the two circuits increased, the voltage increased and the current increased, but the resistance in the first trials remained constant.
2. In addition, the change in current in a circuit is inversely proportional to the resistance. As the resistance in a circuit increases, the current decreases. Two different resistors were used in the two different circuits. Although the current increased as the voltage increased in both circuits, the circuit with the greater resistance had a lower current than the circuit with the lesser resistance.
3. The relationship among voltage, current, and resistance is described by Ohm’s law
V= IR.
Concept Slides
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Mathematics Concepts in This Investigation
- (in)direct relationships
- predict/verify results
- circuit (sequential order)
- measuring electrical current using multimeter
- positive/negative charges
- patterns/trends
- line graph
- (in)dependent variables
- skip counting by 5
- data analysis
- calculating Ohm’s Law (resistance)
- multiplication
- division
- manipulating mathematical formulas
- comparing (non)measurable characteristics
- data table
- decimals to nearest tenth to hundred thousandth