Electronics for Kids: Play with Simple Circuits and Experiment with Electricity
CONTENTS IN DETAIL Foreword by Joe Grand xix Acknowledgments xxi Introduction xxiii About This Book xxiv Who Should Read This Book xxiv How to Read This Book xxiv What’s in This Book xxv Your Electronics Lab xxvii Useful Supplies xxviii Safety First xxviii Part 1 Playing with Electricity 1 What Is Electricity 3 Project 1 Turn on a Light 4 Shopping List 4 Step 1 Inspect the Light Bulb 4 Step 2 Connect the Light Bulb to the Battery 5 How Does Electricity Light a Bulb 5 What Is an Electron 6 Voltage Pushes Electrons 6 Current Flows 7 Resistance Reduces Current 7 Lighting the Bulb 8 How Is a Circuit Like a Pipe System 9 Meet the Switch 10 Project 2 Intruder Alarm 11 Shopping List 12 Tools 13 Step 1 Does the Buzzer Beep 13 Step 2 Prepare the Aluminum 14 Step 3 Foil Your Door 15 Step 4 Prepare a Trigger Wire 15 Step 5 Connect the Buzzer and Trigger Wire 16 Step 6 Mount the Buzzer and Trigger Wire 16 Step 7 Add a Power Source 17
Step 8 Stage an Intruder Alert 17 Step 9 What If the Intruder Alarm Doesn’t Work 17 What’s Next 18 2 Making Things Move with Electricity and Magnets 19 How Magnets Work 20 Try It Out Find Some Magnetic Objects 21 Meet the Electromagnet 22 Project 3 Create Your Own Electromagnet 23 Shopping List 24 Tools 25 Step 1 Check Your Bolt 25 Step 2 Remove Insulation from One End of the Coil Wire 26 Step 3 Wind the Wire 27 Step 4 Connect the Negative Battery Terminal to the Coil 28 Step 5 Connect the Switch 28 Step 6 Test Your Super Electromagnet 30 Step 7 What If the Electromagnet Isn’t Working 31 Meet the Motor 31 Project 4 Create a Motor 32 Shopping List 34 Tools 35 Step 1 Create the Rotor 35 Step 2 Build the Motor’s Structure 36 Step 3 Place the Magnets 37 Step 4 Reinsulate Part of the Coil 38 Step 5 Rev Up Your Motor 39 Step 6 What If the Motor Doesn’t Work 40 What’s Next 41 3 How to Generate Electricity 43 Generating Electricity with Magnets 44 A Changing Magnetic Field Creates Electricity 44 How Does a Generator Work 45 Creating Electricity from Water or Wind 46 Meet the Multimeter 47 How to Measure Voltage 47 What Are AC and DC 48 x CONTENTS IN DETAIL
Project 5 Make a Shake Generator 49 Shopping List 50 Tools 50 Step 1 Prepare Your Tube 51 Step 2 Wind Your Coil 52 Step 3 Connect the Multimeter 52 Step 4 Shake That Thing 53 Step 5 What If There’s No Voltage 54 Try It Out Using a Motor as a Generator 55 How Do Batteries Work 55 What’s Inside a Battery 55 The Chemistry Behind Batteries 56 What Determines a Battery’s Voltage 57 Project 6 Turn On a Light with Lemon Power 58 Meet the LED 58 Shopping List 59 Tools 60 Step 1 Prepare Your Wires 60 Step 2 Insert Electrodes into a Lemon 61 Step 3 Create Four Lemon Batteries 62 Step 4 Connect the Lemons in Series 62 Step 5 Test Your Lemon Battery 64 Try It Out More Food Batteries 65 Step 6 What If Your Lemon Light Doesn’t Work 65 What’s Next 66 Part 2 Building Circuits 4 Creating Light with LEDs 69 Meet the Resistor 70 Resistor Color Codes 70 How to Write Large Values 72 What Are Resistors Made Of 72 Resistors Control Current and Voltage 73 Introducing Ohm’s Law 73 Project 7 Let’s Destroy an LED 74 Shopping List 75 Step 1 Identify Which LED Leg Is Which 75 Step 2 Break That LED 76 Step 3 What If Nothing Happens to the LED 76 CONTENTS IN DETAIL xi
