In the Virtual Workshop on Electricity and Magnetism, we will learn the following things:

Concepts

1. We can understand a lot about electricity when we think about it in terms of an analogy, to the flow of a fluid in a pipe. Each electrical concept corresponds to a more familiar fluid-flow concept.
2. The flow of a fluid is measured by the flow rate. Factors influencing flow rate are the pressure or height difference between the inlet and outlet, the length of the pipe or channel, and the cross-sectional area.
3. Most electrical effects are due to the presence of a current. Electrical current has a direction, and is measured in amperes.
4. The electrical equivalent of fluid pressure is voltage. When current flows from a higher voltage to a lower voltage, electrical power is converted into other forms of power.
5. Factors influencing the current are the voltage difference between the ends of the wire or conductor, the length of the path, and other properties of the conducting path.
6. Electrical energy can be converted into sound, light, heat, motion, magnetic energy, and chemical energy.
7. Different devices use different amounts of power, and let pass different amounts of current. We may characterize most devices in terms of how well they conduct electricity.
8. Magnets and currents give rise to a magnetic field, that tells a compass which way to point.
9. Electricity and magnetism are interrelated: an electrical current gives rise to a magnetic field, and a changing magnetic field gives rise to electrical effects.

1. How to read circuit diagrams, and how to build the circuits they describe.
2. How to read magnetic field maps
3. How siphons, batteries, motors, light bulbs, and electromagnets work
4. What light-emitting diodes, capacitors, resistors, and transformers do
5. How magnets and magnetic materials interact