Circuits

Well, today in class, we were able to experiment with a special "ping-pong ball" that was able to light up and hum. I guess that within the ball there was a open circuit because it needed to be connected to work. The class separated into groups and needed to complete 12 challenging questions.
The Q & A's are below.

1. Can you make the energy ball work? What makes it flash and hum?
Everyone within the group were able to make the ball work by touching the 2 metal plates on the exterior of the ball at the same time. Human skin is a conductor similar to metal, so when we connected the circuit the current flowed from one of the contacts through our body into the other contact.

2. Why do you have to touch both of the metal contacts?
Both metal contacts need to be touched for it to work because the circuit needs to be closed/completed.

3. Will it light up if you connect it with any other material?
It will not light up with every material, only conductors and semi-conductors. The ball worked when I connected both contacts to a metal faucet, but it did not work when I connected them with plastic pens.

4. What materials will make the ball work?
Metals would be the best materials to make the ball work because they have free electrons to transfer the energy faster. The most conductive materials would include silver, copper, and gold.

5. This does not work on an individual. What causes this to happen?
For the toy ball to work, the individual needs to have moist skin. Withing that moisture, there are metals such as salts which contains electrons that can transfer the energy freely. If the skin is very dry, there will be less contact with the metal plates.

6. Can the ball work with 5-6 people or the entire class?
In our group, we created a circuit of 4 people with our fingers and one person touch one of the contacts and the other person touched the other. The ball lighted up and hummed.

7. What circuit can you form with the ball?
The circuit that we formed was circuit in series.

8. Can you create a circuit for 2 balls?
We created a circuit with 2 balls by combining two groups together. Both of the balled lighted up when the 4 people touched their fingers to the metal contacts.

9. What will happen if one person lets go of the other's hand? Why does it happen?
When one person let go of another person's hand the ball stopped flashing and humming. When they let go, the circuit changed from closed to open therefore creating an incomplete circuit.

10. Does it matter who lets go?
It does not matter who lets go because when one part is disconnected the entire circuit will stop working.

11. Can there be a circuit of two energy balls where only one ball lights up?
Yes, there can be a circuit of two energy balls where only one lights up. The circuit is called circuit in parallel.

This really bad drawing kind of shows how to make one out of two balls light up within a circuit. The objects are on both sides of the parallel circuit. They both have power supplies. The resistors are placed right before the batteries, making the balls work only after the electric current flows through the circuit. In the diagram, the circuit is disconnected on the left top side stopping the current of the left ball, but on the right side, the circuit is still connected.


12. What's the least number of people for this to work?
I think that the least number of people needed for this to work is actually 1. Each hand touches 1 contact on each ball, this would create a parallel circuit. When a finger is removed from one circuit, the other one would still work by passing the electric current through the body and into the other hand.

*Additional*
The question isn't really that specific. After thinking about it a bit more, the least amount of people needed for this to work is none because, we could just connect 3 metal wires to the ball for it to work. Two connecting one contact from each ball and one in the middle that connects the wires to make it a parallel circuit.

Series and Parallel

In a series circuit, the loads (eg. light bulbs) are connected in a single path. When a part of the circuit is disconnected, the entire connection cease to work. A great example of circuit in series would be Christmas lighting, they are connected one after the other.

In a parallel circuit, there are more than one resistor and multiple parallel paths for charges to move through. These are placed side by side, so if one of the loads in the circuit is broken, the charge will stop moving through that path, but continue to pass through the others. This type of circuit is used everywhere. When somebody turns off the television, it wouldn't turn off all of the electricity in the house.