Lets get the humming started !

On Friday, our class was able to do a very interesting experiment , which was a good review on the topics we have learnt in the past about physics. We were given a ball that resembled a ping pong, but in fact it was an energy ball. Every time we contacted our fingers to the two metal points the ball would flash and hum. Now how was it able to do so? I was able to conclude that my hands were transferring some type of energy to make the ball work. This energy was electrical energy. We build up this energy through static electricity.  I observed that a few people were not able to make the ball light up and hum. I believe that this was because they were less charged than others. That is why they can light up the ball for shorter amounts of time or none at all. Additionally, I think another factor can be how dehydrated or moisturized their hands were because dehydrated hands can act as insulators, preventing the transfer of electricity. There are also other elements in your body that can contribute to how much charge your body emits like iron and copper. These individuals might be low on these substances; therefore they give off less electric charge than others.

With the ball, the class made two different circuits : series and parallel. Lets review what they are.

Current passage in a series circuit

 series circuit - an electric circuit arranged so that the current passes through all of the loads in one unbranched pathway  
An example of a series circuit system can be Christmas lights. If one of the bulbs burn out, they all go out. 

Current passage in a parallel circuit

parallel circuit - an electric circuit arranged with parallel loads that are connected side by side where electric current can flow through multiple pathways 
An example of a parallel circuit system can be your house. If the lights in your room have a fuse,  it doesn’t mean all of the lights in your house will have a fuse.  

We were told to make a series circuit by linking our pinkys' together. This way the current would be able to flow through us to light the ball. We observed that when one of us would let go (independent of their location in the circuit) the energy ball would stop working. This allowed us to confirm the statement that when one of the devices connected to the circuit stops functioning, the whole system fails to function as well.

Next we made a parallel circuit using two balls, linking to the whole class. Here we observed, that when one person would let go, only one of the balls would continue to work. This allowed us to confirm that in a parallel circuit ,when one device stops functioning, the current can use an alternative path to be transferred.

In most situations we can say that a parallel circuit system would prove to hold more advantages. However, in situations like fire, a series circuit would be safer. If electricity is cut off all at once, it prevents rapid spreading of the fire and would alert nearby people of danger. So we can conclude that both circuit systems have equal disadvantages and advantages. Furthermore, I think this activity proved to be a great learning experience for everyone in the class. It was a great start to our new physics class!