Experiment 3
We have seen what happens when we add cells in series. If we keep adding cells we can create whatever voltage we need. Imagine how a battery would be made to supply 120 volts needed for household appliances! In this experiment we will now add cells in "parallel" rather than in a series.
STEP 1. Remind yourself on how bright one cell makes your light.
STEP 2. Now connect your cells in parallel:
This can get tricky if you are doing this by yourself. One way to connect the cells is to securely tape wire to the cells:
You will need to keep track of which is the positive and negative ends of the cells because the tape will cover that up. The end with the bump is always positive.
STEP 3. Connect you wires so that it is in parallel:
Compare the brightness of the bulb with one cell attached.
Discussion. The two cells in parallel do not add their voltages. They are still 1.5 volts. Considering our water analogy, this would be like having two tanks next to one another. Both deliver the same pressure.
Cells in parallel can supply their voltage longer, however. If you wanted to create a long lasting cell, you could attach cells in parallel!)
D, C, AA and A cells all deliver the same voltage. They simply are larger tanks!
RETURN TO 10 EXPERIMENTS WITH A DEAD STRING OF CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
