Teacher Demonstration
Use the live model as a shared screen demonstration before students try their own predictions and observations.
Physics / Electricity and Magnetism
Potential Difference
Explore Potential Difference as an interactive EJS simulation for electricity and magnetism.
1. Watch or Launch
Launch the Interactive
Open the simulation, adjust the controls, and compare what changes on screen before answering the concept-check questions.
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2. Big Ideas
Key idea DC-circuit interactives make voltage, current, resistance, and power visible. The useful learning move is to connect the circuit connection and meter readings to Ohm's law and energy transfer.
What Students Can Learn
- Read voltage, current, and resistance as separate quantities.
- Use Ohm's law to compare one changed setting at a time.
- Check whether components are connected in series, parallel, or a simpler single-branch circuit.
- Relate current and voltage to power or brightness where shown.
Guiding Question
How do the circuit connection and meter readings explain the change in current, voltage, resistance, or power?
3. Try the Investigation
Trace the Circuit
Find the supply, component, switch, and current path before changing values.
Read the Meters
Record voltage and current readings with units.
Change One Quantity
Alter voltage or resistance while keeping the other setting clear.
Explain with Ohm's Law
Use V, I, and R to explain the observed change.
4. Teacher Notes
Lesson Use
Use this as a quantitative evidence task. Ask students to quote a meter reading before making an Ohm's law claim.
Discussion Prompts
Ask: Which quantity changed? Which quantity was held fixed? How do the readings support V = IR?
Teaching Moves
Use paired cases with only one changed value, then ask students to predict the next reading before checking the model.
5. Concept Check
These questions are generated from the topic and the concept illustrated by the simulation. Use them after students have explored the model.
Concept Score
Correct first attempts build a streak and unlock higher point multipliers on this device.
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Answer each question once to build your streak.
1. In an Ohm's law or resistor interactive, what should students compare?
2. For the same potential difference, what happens when resistance increases?
3. What does a straight-line V-I graph through the origin suggest for a resistor?
4. What evidence should be cited when a variable resistor is changed?
5. What makes a DC-circuit conclusion strong?
Expert Challenge
Unlocks after 3 correct concept-check answers on this page.
1. In an Ohm's law or resistor interactive, what should students compare?
2. What feedback fits 'higher resistance always gives higher current for the same battery'?
3. How should students interpret a straight-line V-I graph through the origin?
4. What is a fair test for a variable resistor?
5. What makes a DC-circuit answer expert-level?
7. Learning Pulse
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