1

1

Experiencing Electricity

I want you to get a taste for electricity—literally!—in the first experiment. This
first chapter of the book will show you:

• How to understand and measure electricity and resistance


• How to handle and connect components without overloading, damaging,
  or destroying them

Even if you have some prior knowledge of electronics, you should try these
experiments before you venture on to the rest of the book.

Shopping List: Experiments 1 Through 5

If you want to limit your number of shopping trips or online purchases, look
ahead in the book for additional shopping lists, and combine them to make
one bulk purchase.

In this first chapter, I will give you part numbers and sources for every tool and
component that we’ll be using. Subsequently, I won’t expect you to need such
specific information, because you will have gained experience searching for
items on your own.

Tools

Small pliers
RadioShack Kronus 4.5-inch, part number 64-2953 or Xcelite 4-inch mini
long-nose pliers, model L4G.
Or similar. See Figures 1-1 through 1-3. Look for these tools in hardware
stores and the sources listed in the preface. The brand is unimportant.
After you use them for a while, you’ll develop your own preferences. In
particular, you have to decide whether you like spring-loaded handles. If
you decide you don’t, you’ll need a second pair of pliers to pull the springs
out of the first.

Maker Shed (www.makershed.com)

has put together a series of Make:

Electronics companion kits. These in-

clude all of the tools and components

used in book’s experiments. This is a

quick, simple, and cost-effective way

of getting everything you need to

complete the projects in this book.

In thIs chAPter

Shopping List: Experiments 6 Through

Experiment 1: Taste the Power!

Experiment 2: Let’s Abuse a Battery!

Experiment 3: Your First Circuit

Experiment 4: Varying the Voltage

Experiment 5: Let’s Make a Battery