Students will explore the basics of dc circuits analyzing the light from light bulbs when connected in series and parallel circuits. Ohm's Law and the equation for power dissipated by a circuit will be the primary equations used. Using...

Students learn about electricity and air pollution while building devices to measure volatile organic compounds (VOC) by attaching VOC sensors to prototyping boards. In the second part of the activity, students evaluate the impact of...

Students design, build and test reflectors to measure the effect of solar reflectance on the efficiency of solar PV panels. They use a small PV panel, a multimeter, cardboard and foil to build and test their reflectors in preparation for...

Students will work to increase the intensity of a light bulb by testing batteries in series and parallel circuits. It analyzes Ohm's Law, power, parallel and series circuits, and ways to measure voltage and current.

Although he is best known as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, Carl Friedrich Gauss was also a pioneer in the study of magnetism and electricity. To facilitate an extensive survey of terrestrial magnetism, he invented an...

Need a unit converter? Links to the most common converters provide access to the answers you need quickly.

Energy! What do you know about it? Use this terrific site to find out everything about it through a series of Q&As. Educators will find useful lesson plans at the related Teacher's site.

Explains what an LCR meter is and how it is used to measure the inductance, capacitance, and resistance of a circuit. Lists the different parameters of a circuit that it measures, describes two types of LCR meters, and gives definitions...

Young scholars learn how water is used to generate electricity. They investigate water's potential-to-kinetic energy transformation in hands-on activities about falling water and waterwheels. During the activities, they take...

Describes the properties of seawater and the variations depending on its location, e.g., near a shoreline, in an estuary, or as sea ice. Discusses the instruments scientists use to measure the density of water and explains other...

Learn how to measure the electrical current using Ohm's Law.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes the Millikan oil drop experiment of 1909 that demonstrated how to measure an electric charge on one electron. Includes a video demonstration of the...

Students use a Magnetic Field Sensor to measure the magnetic field and the current in a solenoid. They explore factors that affect the magnetic field, study how the field varies in parts of the solenoid, and determine the permeability...

A very simple electrical resistance thermometer is described that can be built, calibrated and tested in a school laboratory at virtually no cost. With it, flames, focused sunlight and other high temperature sources can be probed. The...

Students learn how engineers transform wind energy into electrical energy by building their own miniature wind turbines and measuring the electrical current it produces. They explore how design and position affect the electrical energy...

Use this online tool to convert measurements of acceleration, area, density, electricity, energy, force, length, mass, and other measurable properties.

"Juice" is a slang term sometimes used for electricity. Batteries are made up of one or more cells. Cells often consist of two different materials in a solution that are connected to each other by a wire. In this experiment, you will...

Vasarosnamenyi Baro Eotvos Lorand, better known as Roland Eotvos or Lorand Eotvos throughout much of the world, was a Hungarian physicist who is most recognized for his extensive experimental work involving gravity, but who also made...

What is power? Illustrated discussion of power including how it is measured and electrical power.

An absorption wavemeter is a device which can make measurements on the strength of radio emissions and so this instrument is an essential item for investigating the mobile phone. In principle an absorption meter is a simple device that...

Peter Debye carried out pioneering studies of molecular dipole moments, formulated theories of magnetic cooling and of electrolytic dissociation, and developed an X-ray diffraction technique for use with powdered, rather than...

Isidor Isaac Rabi won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944 for his development of a technique for measuring the magnetic characteristics of atomic nuclei. Rabi's technique was based on the resonance principle first described by Irish...

Although it never quite measured up to expectations, the Edison battery paved the way for the modern alkaline battery.

From the auto shop to the doctor's office, the oscilloscope is an important diagnostic tool. A mechanic may use an oscilloscope to measure engine function, while a medical researcher uses it to monitor heart activity.