Capacitors #1 Exploring the capacitor

A capacitor Find the capacitor in your kit. The dashed black line on one side of the container marks the wire that is supposed to be connected to the negative side of the battery (the end that is indented).

1. Charge up the capacitor by connecting the two terminals to the two ends of a pair of batteries in series.

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circuit diagram ->

It only takes a few seconds to fully charge the capacitor. Then disconnect the capacitor and use it like a battery.

Will it make the light bulb glow? For how long?
Will it make the LED glow? As long as the light bulb, or longer?
Will it make the buzzer buzz? As long as the light bulb, or longer? Which end of the charged capacitor do you connect the buzzer's red wire to?
Will it make the motor run?

You will need to recharge the capacitor after each test, by connecting it to the battery again.

2. Show that a capacitor will hold the stored charge and energy for a while when it is not connected to anything. Then show that you can discharge the capacitor with a wire or a paper clip or any other conductor, by using it to make a conducting path from one terminal of the capacitor to the other terminal.

3. Now build these circuits:

a battery, a capacitor, and a light bulb

a battery, a capacitor, and a buzzer

In these circuits the switch just means that you connect the wire from the battery and then disconnect it again, as shown at right. Start with the capacitor uncharged, and notice what happens right after you make the battery connection. If the circuit stops doing anything, discharge the capacitor.

Which way is the current flowing while you charge a capacitor?
Which way is the current flowing when you use this capacitor to run a device? a battery charging a capacitor a capacitor and a light bulb

Check the box when you are done:
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