Results

• Explore basic electricity relationships.
• Explain basic electricity relationships in series and parallel circuits.
• Use an ammeter and voltmeter to take readings in circuits.
• Provide reasoning to explain the measurements and relationships in circuits.
• Build circuits from schematic drawings.
• Determine if common objects are conductors or insulators.

• Explain basic electricity relationships in series and parallel circuits.
• Use an ammeter and voltmeter to take readings in circuits.
• Provide reasoning to explain the measurements and relationships in circuits.
• Build circuits from schematic drawings.
• Determine if common objects are conductors or insulators.
• Compare and contrast AC and DC circuits.
• Describe how capacitors and inductors behave in a circuit.
• Experimentally determine the RC time constant.
• Construct RLC circuits and determine the conditions for resonance.

In this lesson you will learn that:

• Circuit diagrams are used to show how electrical components are connected in a circuit.
• Individual circuit components are represented using circuit symbols.
• Current is the flow of electrons around a circuit.
• Ammeters are used to measure the current flowing through components. 
• Components in a circuit resist current flow.
• Voltmeters are used to measure the potential difference across components.

The Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet and as such there is a magnetic field present around it. The Earth’s magnetic field is thought to be caused by flowing liquid metals in the outer core of the planet which causes electric currents and a magnetic field.

You have learnt about static electricity where charged particles (electrons) can move from one object into another giving objects an overall charge. In this unit1 you will learn about current electricity. This is when a continuous flow of charge can be created using a circuit made of conducting wires and an energy source.

The idea of the electric field, how it's useful, and explains how the electric field is defined.

The flicker of numbers on a handheld calculator, nerve impulses carrying signals of vision to the brain, an ultrasound device sending a signal to a computer screen, the brain sending a message for a baby to twitch its toes, an electric train pulling into a station, a hydroelectric plant sending energy to metropolitan and rural users—these and many other examples of electricity involve electric current, which is the movement of charge. Humanity has harnessed electricity, the basis of this technology, to improve our quality of life. 

This podcast (audio) file explains how electric current can be obtained from the sun through the solar panel using direct illumination of the sun rays

In this lesson you will learn about:

• The concept of magnetism
• Be able to identify magnetic and non-magnetic materials
• Identify properties and types of magnets
• Understand that metals can be magnetised and de-magnetised
• Understand that magnets have a magnetic field
• Understand that the Earth has a magnetic field

The force that acts across the air gaps between magnets is the same force that creates wonders such as the Aurora Borealis. In fact, magnetic effects pervade our lives in myriad ways, from electric motors to medical imaging and computer memory. In this chapter, we introduce magnets and learn how they work and how magnetic fields and electric currents interact.