Blogpost #23

This week, we learned that our homes are routed in parallel circuits. This means that voltage is the same across the entire circuit, but current is different at different resistors. Although parallel circuits require more energy, it allows every light fixture to shine its brightest even if another light fixture is turned on, as shown above. However, a series circuit does not have the same voltage throughout the circuit but has one current ("one path, one current"). If my house was routed in series, every time I turned on another light fixture, each one would become dimmer. 

Blogpost #22

This week, Mr. Blake presented an electricity savings challenge to us. Since I am a boarder and don't live at home, I guess it wouldn't be fair for me to tell my parents to do all of these things to save energy and then give me the money they saved. So, I'll talk about a few simple different ways people could save energy in their homes on a daily basis. The first picture, on the top left, depicts a couple of dryers in my dorm. Dryers use a lot of heat, and thus require a lot of energy to create that heat. This costs a lot of electricity, so people could save money on their electric bill by simply hanging their clothes up instead of putting them in a dryer. The second picture is of a window. Instead of always using an air conditioner or a fan, people could just open their windows occasionally (this usually works to keep my room cool at school) to save electricity. The next picture (bottom left) is of a light that is off. Whenever any type of light fixture is not being used, turn it off, this could help to save you money as well. The last image displays a shower in my dorm. By taking slightly colder showers than usually, a person could definitely save money on the electricity/energy it takes to heat water. 

Blogpost #21

This morning, my sister and I decided to go and do some homework at Starbucks. After finishing my English homework, I thought I'd do a blogpost. This week, we learned a lot about electricity. Electric potential is measured in volts, electric potential energy is measured in joules, and electric current is measured in amperes. We also learned how to draw schematic diagrams. Sitting in Starbucks, there are lights everywhere, depicted in the picture above. The reason why the lightbulb lights up is because electrons pass energy from a battery or other energy source. The light travels really quickly (at the speed of light), which is why when a person flips a switch, the light goes on instantaneously. Electrons also move, but substantially slower.