Here are some applications of the things we have studied in this
section (if you haven't done this section yet, perhaps you should
come back to this page later).
There are two kinds of Christmas tree light. One kind, if one of
the bulbs blows, the whole chain is dead, while for another kind,
the chain works even if some of the lights are out. What's the difference, and why are the two methods both
used?
You have a switch at the bottom of the stairs and a switch at
the top of the stairs, and both will turn the stairs light on and
off. How does that work?
Could you wire three switches
(one for the front door, one for
the back door, and one for the garage) so that flipping any one of
them would turn the outdoor lights off and on?
You have a floor lamp which can be dim, brighter, or really bright,
depending on how many times you have clicked the switch.
How does that work?
Here's a
project you might enjoy: in the kit there is a "bimetallic coil."
It responds to an increase in temperature by unwinding a bit; if
you lock the orientation of the straight part at the center, the
tab at the outside will move about 1 angle degree per Celsius
temperature degree. Since the coil is a electrical conductor, you
could make it part of a circuit, that would turn on a motor (to run
a fan) if the temperature gets too high, and turns on a light bulb
(it's also a heater!) if the temperature gets too low. Or perhaps
you would prefer to have an alarm sound?
Here's a
project you might enjoy: in the kit there is a "bimetallic coil."
It responds to an increase in temperature by unwinding a bit; if
you lock the orientation of the straight part at the center, the
tab at the outside will move about 1 angle degree per Celsius
temperature degree. Since the coil is a electrical conductor, you
could make it part of a circuit, that would turn on a motor (to run
a fan) if the temperature gets too high, and turns on a light bulb
(it's also a heater!) if the temperature gets too low. Or perhaps
you would prefer to have an alarm sound?