Electricity

In response to Electricity.

If there was ever one thing that completely flew over my head in science class, it most certainly was the units on electricity. Being someone with a tendency to doodle throughout my classes, I never paid much attention to these units. To be honest, I never did very well in them either. So having to read an article solely on electricity was not something I particularly looked forward to.

But the article was basic. I appreciate basic. Especially when it pertains to something I am not overly knowledgeable about.

The article contained a few simple diagrams, which I felt helped my understanding greatly and kept my attention longer than plain old text would have. Of course, they weren’t just diagrams thrown in for the sake of taking up space. They were actually useful, and were referred to throughout the article. Figure one, of a basic electrical circuit, using a light bulb, battery, and switch. This helped to set up the two diagrams to follow. It is the simplest and most basic circuit our class worked with, and the text provided a better understanding to it.

The second figure was of two light bulbs in a parallel circuit. This helped to better illustrate the ideas behind circuits and how they function. Continually referring to not only figure two, but back to figure one as well, the text helps to compare and contrast these two circuits, giving the reader something to reference if they ever get lost in the myriad of terms and potentially confusing descriptions of how exactly it is that electricity works.

The third figure is one that explains the “dreaded short circuit.” (O’Sullivan, 8.) This is used simply to further illustrate the path of least resistance and help with one’s understanding of it. I’ll admit I had no clue what it was before reading.

The diagrams were helpful tools when recreating my own circuit. (Though I replaced the light bulbs with a spinning motor.) And while some of the text still managed to fly over my head—much like high school—having the hands on experience in class, playing with wires and circuit boards, LED lights and batteries, combined with the article, was probably what gave me my greatest understanding.