{"id":212,"date":"2016-06-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/16\/psle-science-electricity-trick-question\/"},"modified":"2024-04-04T12:55:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T04:55:09","slug":"psle-science-electricity-trick-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/psle-science-electricity-trick-question\/","title":{"rendered":"PSLE Science: Electricity Trick Question"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;0px|||&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_row custom_padding_last_edited=&#8221;off|phone&#8221; module_class=&#8221;single-post-body et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth et_pb_row_fullwidth&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; width=&#8221;89%&#8221; width_tablet=&#8221;80%&#8221; width_phone=&#8221;&#8221; width_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; max_width=&#8221;89%&#8221; max_width_tablet=&#8221;80%&#8221; max_width_phone=&#8221;&#8221; max_width_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; custom_margin=&#8221;|0px||0px&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; make_fullwidth=&#8221;on&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_text admin_label=&#8221;Main Blog Text&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.21.0&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;16&#8243; text_line_height=&#8221;28px&#8221; header_font=&#8221;geomanist-bold||||&#8221; custom_margin_tablet=&#8221;&#8221; custom_margin_phone=&#8221;-55px|-45px||&#8221; custom_margin_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; text_font_size_tablet=&#8221;&#8221; text_font_size_phone=&#8221;&#8221; text_font_size_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; text_line_height_tablet=&#8221;&#8221; text_line_height_phone=&#8221;&#8221; text_line_height_last_edited=&#8221;on|phone&#8221; z_index_tablet=&#8221;500&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<div id=\"id_57625ed98791d6c93079963\" class=\"text_exposed_root text_exposed\">\n<p>Recently, I was sent a question on <strong><a href=\"\/blog\/category\/primary-school-science-techniques\/primary-5-science\/electricity\/\">Electricity<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0from a parent who was revising together with her child.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>Read Also<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><a href=\"\/blog\/guide-to-solving-questions-on-electrical-conductors-insulators-easily\/\">Solving Questions on Electrical Conductors &amp; Insulators Easily<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/tpl.digital\/p5-p6-sps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ultimate Science Practice Series: Electricity (Practice Questions &#038; Explainer Videos)<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><a href=\"\/blog\/will-bulb-light-closer-look-arrangement-wires-bulb\/\">Will the Bulb Light Up: A Closer Look at the Arrangement of Wires in a Bulb<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This question is pretty tricky and I thought it would be good to share it with you.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #d00031; font-family: geomanist-bold;\">Question:<\/span><br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2255 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Mar29-Electricity-Trick-Question.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Mar29-Electricity-Trick-Question.jpg 576w, https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Mar29-Electricity-Trick-Question-150x105.jpg 150w, https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Mar29-Electricity-Trick-Question-400x279.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Question<\/strong>:\u00a0The batteries are arranged in the wrong order. Will the bulb still light up?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Answer<\/strong>:\u00a0The bulb will still light up because\u00a0the two\u00a0bulbs with the positive ends facing each other would &#8220;cancel&#8221; each other out. Thus, there will still be one battery (in red) in this circuit that will cause the bulb to light up.<\/p>\n<p>Hope this explains!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row admin_label=&#8221;ECMC&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;3.22.7&#8243; custom_margin=&#8221;0px||&#8221; custom_padding=&#8221;0px||&#8221; global_module=&#8221;556&#8243; locked=&#8221;off&#8221; collapsed=&#8221;on&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][et_pb_column type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; custom_padding=&#8221;|||&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221; custom_padding__hover=&#8221;|||&#8221;][et_pb_divider color=&#8221;#898989&#8243; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_image src=&#8221;https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/The-Pique-Lab-Electrical-Circuit-Masterclass-CTA.png&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; align_tablet=&#8221;center&#8221; align_phone=&#8221;&#8221; align_last_edited=&#8221;on|desktop&#8221; admin_label=&#8221;ECMC&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; z_index_tablet=&#8221;500&#8243; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.16&#8243; text_font=&#8221;||||||||&#8221; text_text_color=&#8221;#333333&#8243; text_font_size=&#8221;18px&#8221; global_colors_info=&#8221;{}&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p>If you like our approach behind solving &#8216;Electricity&#8217; questions, perhaps you may be interested to check out our upcoming\u00a0<strong>Electrical Circuit Masterclass<\/strong> where we&#8217;ll dive deep into several answering techniques and practice questions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/p6-science\/ecmc\/\"><strong>Click Here To Learn More About The Electrical Circuit Masterclass &gt;&gt;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":241559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"<span style=\"font-family: geomanist-bold;\">Students learn<\/span> the topic of <span style=\"color: #d00031;\"><strong>Electricity<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0at Primary 5 and many of them find the concepts to be confusing, especially when they are first exposed to this topic.\r\n\r\nAs such, over the next few blog posts, I will be sharing more about the concepts of <span style=\"color: #d30001;\"><strong>Electricity<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0that are commonly tested during examinations.\r\n\r\nIn today\u2019s blog post, I will be focusing on the arrangement of the wires in a bulb and relate it to how a bulb should be connected in a circuit.\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #d00031;\">Today\u2019s Question:<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<blockquote><span style=\"color: #d00031;\"><strong>How Should The Bulb Be Connected To The Circuit For It To Light Up?<\/strong><\/span><\/blockquote>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The following question is commonly encountered by students during tests.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ACS-J-Question.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8447 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ACS-J-Question-1024x630.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"630\" \/><\/a><em>Question Credit: Anglo Chinese School (Junior)\/ 2015 Primary 5 SA1\/ Question 18<\/em><\/p>\r\nWe can see that the key difference between the four options is the connection of the bulb(s) in the circuit.\r\n<h3><strong><span style=\"color: #d00031;\">Requirements Needed for a Bulb to Light Up<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Screenshot-2017-09-17-12.54.25.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8451 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Screenshot-2017-09-17-12.54.25-1024x547.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"547\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\r\n<strong><u>One wire is connected to the metal casing & one wire is connected to the metal tip<\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Example-of-a-Closed-Circuit.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8452 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Example-of-a-Closed-Circuit-e1505630926957-1024x665.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"665\" \/><\/a><em>Example of a closed circuit<\/em><\/p>\r\nWhen the wires in the circuit are connected to the metal casing and metal tip of the bulb, there is a closed (or complete) circuit with the bulb. Electricity will be able to flow through the filament, causing the bulb to light up.\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #d00031;\"><strong>What Happens When Both Wires Are Connected To The Metal Tip\/Metal Casing?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Scenario #1: Both wires are connected to the metal tip<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Scenario-1.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8453 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Scenario-1-e1506494508837-1024x543.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"543\" \/><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">E<em>xample of a circuit when the wires are connected only to the metal tip<\/em><\/p>\r\nWhen both wires are connected to the metal tip of the bulb, electricity is unable to flow through the filament, preventing the bulb from lighting up.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Scenario #2: Both wires are connected to the metal casing<\/strong><\/span>\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Scenario-2.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8454 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Scenario-2-e1505630899322-1024x545.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"545\" \/><\/a>Example of a circuit when the wires are connected only to the metal casing<\/em><\/p>\r\nWhen both wires are connected to the metal casing of the bulb, electricity is unable to flow through the filament, preventing the bulb from lighting up.\r\n\r\nNow, let us now take a look at the question again.\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #d00031;\"><strong>Analysis Of The Options<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ACS-J-Question.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8447 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/ACS-J-Question-1024x630.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"630\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\nWhen analysing the circuits, students need to take note of one key point:\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #d30001;\"><strong>How is the bulb connected to the circuit?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\nIn the following analysis, I have traced the pathway that electricity flows through (in red) as well so that it is easier to understand why the bulb lights up.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Circuit A<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Circuit-A.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8455\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Circuit-A-748x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"329\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\nBoth the metal casing and tip of the bulb are connected to the circuit, forming a closed circuit. Thus, electricity is able to flow through the wires in the circuit to the filament, allowing the bulb to light up.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Circuit B<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Circuit-B.png\"><img class=\"aligncenter wp-image-8456\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Circuit-B-940x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"367\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\nOnly the tip is connected to the circuit. Thus, electricity is unable to flow through the filament, preventing the bulb from lighting up.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Circuit C<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Circuit-C.png\"><img class=\"alignnone wp-image-8457\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Circuit-C-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"475\" height=\"380\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\nOnly the casing is connected to the circuit. Thus, electricity is unable to flow through the filament, preventing the bulb from lighting up.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Circuit D<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Circuit-D.png\"><img class=\"alignnone wp-image-8458\" src=\"https:\/\/thesmartstudent.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Circuit-D-707x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"311\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\nBoth the metal casing and tip of the two bulbs are connected to the circuit, forming a closed circuit. Thus, electricity is able to flow through the wires in the circuit to the filaments, allowing the bulbs to light up.\r\n\r\nAs the bulbs in circuits A and D will light up, the correct answer is option 4.\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #d00031;\"><strong>What We Have Learnt Today<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\r\nWhen students wish to find out if the bulb will light up, they should check the following:\r\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #d00031;\">Are both the metal casing and the tip of the bulb connected to the circuit?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIf the answer to the question is \u2018yes\u2019, the bulb will light up. :)\r\n\r\nIn the next blog post, I will be sharing about the advantages and disadvantages of arranging bulbs in series and in parallel.\r\n\r\nStay tuned! :)\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n[thrive_leads id='8207']","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,6,3],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"modified_by":"Jaimie Aberia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":244258,"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions\/244258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepiquelab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}