Electric Circuits Test Study GuideTest will be on Wednesday, October 10th

Vocabulary:

1. Conductor – An object that allows electricity to flow through it.

An example of a conductor is a paperclip, a brass screw, aluminum screen.

2. Insulator – An object that does not let electricity flow through it.

An example of an insulator is a plastic spoon, a marble, chalk.

3. Parallel circuit – Electricity flows along more than one pathway.

4. Series circuit - Electricity flows along only one pathway.

Use the picture and numbers above to answer these questions:

5. Which number gives power to the circuit? ___2___

6. Why is number 1 a conductor of electricity? It is metal

7. If you replace number 1 with a piece of chalk, will the bulb light? No

8. Imagine you are walking down the street and you see a loose wire from a utility pole lying on the

ground, with one end still attached to the pole. What should you do?

a. Call the police

b. Tell an adult

c. Don’t touch it

d. Walk away

9. Imagine you are designing a house. Will you use series circuits or parallel circuits? Why?

(See below for reasons for either choice:)

Series: All the bulbs will have the same brightness. The bulbs will stay lit longer.

Parallel: If one bulb fails, all the others will stay on. The bulbs will be brighter than in a series circuit.

10. You have just put together a circuit. After you have completed the job, the light does not go on as you

expected it to. What could you do to try to figure out why it did not go on?

a. Check the filament.

b. Check the wire connections.

c. Check the battery strength.

d. Check to see if the battery is in the holder the correct way.

11. Here are some electrical devices connected by wires and a switch. The bulb is on now. Why is the bulb

lit even though the switch is open?

It is a parallel circuit. The electricity will still travel to the bulb, even if the

switch is open.

12. Draw the circuit diagram symbol for the following items:

Battery Bulb Wire Switch