Data Sheet
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WHATS HAPPENING
HERES HOW
1. Use the red wire to connect one battery
contact to the lamp and clamp the blue
wire to the other.
2. Test to see whether everything is work-
ing okay with the batteries, wire, and
lamp by tapping briefly on the lamp’s
free terminal with the blue wire. When
you do that, it should light up.
3. Now try holding various things between
the free lamp contact and the free end
of the blue wire.
What happens when you hold a coin be-
tween them?
Try it with a glass, a cup, a wooden
spoon, a plastic bag, a nail, or a piece of
paper.
Electricity is
conducted — or
not
YOU WILL NEED
→ battery box
with batteries
→ red wire
→ blue wire
→ lamp
→ various household items
(such as glass, cup, wooden
spoon, plastic bag,
nail, coins, paper)
There are some materials — such as met-
als — that are good at conducting elec-
trical current. Other materials, such as
glass, porcelain, paper, and plastic, do
not conduct electricity. Now you know
why the wires of an electrical appliance
always have a plastic covering: It keeps
you from touching the metal under-
neath, which has dangerous household
current flowing through it.
Circuits and Conductors |
EXPERIMENT