We had so much fun when we made a simple motor using neodymium magnets.
The copper wire moves because the magnet, the battery and the copper wire forms a circuit.
In this experiment, I want to introduce my preschooler to the concept of electricity and circuit.
What you need
- small LED light (you can buy this or get it from an old Christmas string light decoration. I got mine from this flashlight keychain)
- 2 small button batteries
- copper wire
- scotch tape
Steps
- Cut two pieces of copper wire.
- Stack the two button batteries together (facing the same direction so that + on one battery is touching the – on the other).
- Tape the two pieces of wire onto the batteries, one on the top and one on the bottom.
- Connect one wire to one leg of the LED light and the other wire to the other leg.
- The LED light goes off. Voila! Now you have a simple electric circuit.
- Try to connect and disconnect the wire from the LED light and see what happens.
Why
A simple electric circuit is an electricity supply (e.g. batteries) connected to a series of electrical wires and electrical equipment (e.g. LED light) to form a circle.
When the circle is not complete, it is called an open circuit. The electrical equipment does not work in an open circuit.
When the circle is complete, electric current can travel from one point of the circle around the loop back to the same point. It is called a closed circuit. The equipment works in a closed circuit.
