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Electricity: Circuits and their Components

Why a lamp may stay dark

The switch looks closed. The cell is in. The lamp stays dark.

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The idea

A loop with a dark lamp.
Step 1 of 5
  1. A loop with a dark lamp.
  2. Is the switch really closed?
  3. Is the filament broken?
  4. Is the cell worn out?
  5. Do the wire ends touch the terminals?

A lamp with a broken filament is fused. A fused lamp leaves a gap in the loop. A wire end still covered with plastic cannot let current through. Plastic is an insulator.

A dark lamp has a reason. Check the switch, the lamp, the cell and the wire ends.

An adult stays with you for every circuit.

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This track

  1. 0 Start here
  2. 1 The loop has to be unbroken
  3. 2 A switch is a gap you can close
  4. 3 Some things let the loop through
  5. 4 A drawing everyone reads the same way
  6. 5 Two or more cells make a battery
  7. 6 One loop, one break, everything stops
  8. 7 Cells are for experiments
  9. 8 Checkpoint: loops, switches, parts and safety
  10. 9 An LED has a right way round
  11. 10 Two kinds of electricity
  12. 11 Why a lamp may stay dark
  13. 12 Checkpoint: LEDs, kinds of current and faults
  14. 13 The big picture
  15. 14 Track quiz

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