A-level Topics

Introducing Delight! An Educational Board Game on Current Electricity

Delight - Physics board game on electricity

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Creative Commons License
Delight by Tan Seng Kwang is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

An educational board game for 2 or any even number of players (in 2 teams) based on the concepts of current electricity. Targeted at high school / junior college physics students, Delight is a fun way of practising the use of physics concepts such as

  1. electrical power $$P=\frac{V^2}{R}$$
  2. the potential divider rule.
  3. wires bypassing a device short-circuits it.

This game can be easily printed on A4 paper and the game pieces can be cut up for use.

Game Play

  1. This game is meant for 2 players or 2 teams of players. Each player/team has the following tiles:
    • 2 x light bulbs
    • 3 x T-shaped wires
    • 2 x crossed wires
  2. The players will take turns to place the tiles on the board.
  3. Each new tile must have at least one wire connected to an existing wire on the board.
  4. The game will end when the last tile has been placed on the board.
  5. The person with the brightest bulb will win.In the event that there is an equal number of opposing bulbs of the same brightness, it will be considered a tie. If there are three bulbs of the same brightness, the one with two of these bulbs wins.

Test Yourself: Who is the winner for the games below?

GAME 1

delightend

GAME 2

gameplay2

 

 

 

Conditions for Using this Game

  1. Anyone can print and use this game for free as long as it is for educational or personal use. Any other reproduction or republishing of this material, in hard copy or electronic form, without written permission, is prohibited.
  2. If you would like to make a suggestion or an enquiry, please leave a comment below.

Planning Question

The following is the script that I used for recording the video above for our e-learning day. I’m posting it here as I can edit it easily via wordpress’s mobile app, and because I have LaTeX enabled here.

Aim:

The aim of this planning question is to investigate how the resonant frequency of a wire vibrating in its fundamental mode depends on the tension in the wire.

The independent variable is the tension in the string which can be varied by hanging masses at one end of the wire and dangling that end over the edge of a table on a pulley. The tension is represented by the symbol.

The dependent variable is the resonant frequency of the fundamental mode in the wire. The fundamental mode consists of two nodes at both ends of the wire and one antinode in the middle.

In other words, in our experiment, we shall vary tension and measure the resonant frequency of the fundamental mode.

The length of wire between the supports is kept constant throughout the experiment and we shall use the same wire throughout so that the mass per unit length is kept constant.

Procedure:

The experiment will be set up according to this diagram. One end of the wire is first tied to a fixed object. The other end is hanging over a pulley clamped on the edge of the laboratory table and tied to a mass hanger. To control the length of the wire, place a bridge at each end. Only the length of the wire between the two bridges will be vibrating. We shall keep this length constant for the whole experiment.

Record the mass of the mass hanger m and determine its weight. The weight mg is taken to be equal to the tension T on the string.

A uniform horizontal magnetic field is generated by a pair of large electromagnetic coils on both sides of the wire. The wire is connected on both ends to a function generator. An alternating current is produced by the function generator and its frequency can be varied using the same apparatus. The function generator should have a display that enables us to read the frequency. 

The resulting magnetic force acting on the wire will be driving the oscillation of the wire at the frequency shown on the function generator. By adjusting the frequency of the alternating current until the fundamental mode of a standing wave is formed on the wire, we can record the resonant frequency ffor the corresponding tension T.

We shall repeat the experiment for different values of m by adding known amounts of mass (e.g. 50 g increments each time) onto the mass hanger. All the values for the mass m and resonant frequency for the fundamental modes fo should be recorded and tabulated.

The tension in the wire is then calculated using the equation T = mg.

Assume that the resonant frequency for the fundamental mode fo and the tension T follows the equation  fo = kTn where k and n are constants. Then lg fo = lg k + n lg T. Plotting a graph of lg fo versus lg T, we can conclude that the assumption is correct if a linear relationship is observed and we can obtain the values of n and k from the gradient and the vertical intercept of the graph respectively.

As a safety consideration, the person conducting the experiment should wear goggles as the wire at high tension might suddenly snap or come loose. Always handle power supply with care.

As a precaution to improve reliabiliy, we can place a white card behind the vibrating wire so it can be seen easily. To make sure that the weight of each of the slotted masses is as indicated, measure them on a weighing balance. FInally, ensure that the pulley is smooth by measuring the tension in the wire using a force meter to check that it is indeed equal to the weight of the slotted mass.

Boyle’s Law

Using a hand-operated vacuum pump, we can demonstrate the relationship between pressure and volume of a gas. According to Boyle’s law, the pressure of a gas of constant mass and temperature will be inversely proportional to its volume.

In our demonstration, we will reduce the ambient pressure within the sealed container, hence allowing the higher internal pressure of a balloon to cause it to expand. When the volume within the balloon increases, the internal pressure can be observed to decrease until it is in equilibrium with the surrounding pressure.

While the relationship between pressure and volume is not exactly obeying Boyle’s law due to additional factors such as the tension due to the elastic property of the balloon, it does demonstrate an inverse relationship.