Prize Winning Science Fair Experiments – Project #12 – Electrical Conductors

objective

This is a science fair experiment in which you will test different materials to see which conduct electricity well.
 
introduction

Electricity has been known to exist since the times when the ancient Greeks rubbed amber and fur, which produced static electricity.

The first remarkable achievement in this field was by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, who developed the first electric circuit in 1800. He also showed that a circuit must be closed or completed for electricity to flow through it. Science fair experiments can be done using circuits that demonstrate this principle.

Volta’s student Georg Simon Ohm made the following discovery in 1826. He noticed that some materials do not allow electricity to pass freely. In other words, they resisted the flow of electricity through them. The resistance of a circuit is measured in a unit called the Ohm and is abbreviated by the Greek letter Omega (?).

Some materials allow electricity to pass through them while others do not allow them to move well. Those materials that allow electricity to pass through them are known as conductive materials. Those materials that resist the passage of electricity through them are called insulators. The resistance of conductive materials is low while the resistance of insulators is high. In science fair experiments, we can use copper wire as a conductor and plastic coating as an insulator.

In this experiment, different materials will be tested by you, to see if they are insulators or conductors. You will discover the same thing by attaching different materials to the circuit and noting how bright or dim the lamp is. You will be creating your own light bulb circuit for this.
 
Material

• Paper clips, twine, plastic, aluminum foil, rubber bands, etc…
• battery (6v)
• 3 pieces of wire with alligator clips attached to both ends
• A light bulb (6 volts) connected to wires
• An insulating surface such as a flat cutting board

Procedure

 

1. Create a circuit to test materials.
2. Connect both ends of the battery to the wires. One end of the black wire should be connected to the (-) terminal and the free end should be connected to the lamp wire.
3. One end of the red colored wire should be attached to the (+) terminal and leave the free end as is the case for the different materials to be connected.
4. Connect the second wire of the lamp to one of the two ends of the yellow wire and leave the end free as is the case for the different materials that will be attached to it.
5. Now, both the red and yellow colored wire will have one free end each. This is where the test materials will be connected.
6. In science fair experiments, data is always recorded. So draw a table with three columns to write the type of substance, the source of the substance, and the brightness of the lamp.
7. Now connect the first piece of material to the circle.
8. Write down whether the bulb lights up and how bright it is. Continue for all other articles.
9. You can attach an ohmmeter and write down the readings in the table.
10. Now make another table with three columns to write the names of conductors, weak conductors and insulators.

Note that when the lamp is shining, the material has high conductivity and low resistance, and it should be written in the conductor column. When the lamp is dimmed, the material with low conductivity and enters the column of the weak conductor. When the lamp does not light, there is no high conductivity and resistance, and the material should be written in the insulator column. Now that you’re excited to get going with this experiment, your next step will be to download a FREE copy of Easy Steps to Award-Winning Science Fair Projects from the link below now.