Energy Use and Plan

For my project where I am trying to save energy and ultimately reduce my families electric bill. I chose to not use the dishwasher for our dishes, but rather hand wash and dry them. I also am going to try to turn off lights when ever i leave a room and make sure that the rest of my family is doing the same. The idea of not using the dishwasher is not very hard as long as you keep up with it and don't let the dishes pile up. Also the idea of turning off the lights is a very easy idea. We are not too lazy to do that but we just forget sometimes. If we just focus on the little things, then we will be able to save a good amount of money very easily.

Multimeters

A multimeter is an instrument that is designed to measure electric current, voltage, and resistance. The values can range from around mili- to kilo-. If you are on a current setting that is measuring too high then it will beep and you can normally change it to another setting that will be able to handle the current. The beep is also saying that the wire would not be safe and it could possibly blow the circuit. Electricians use these multimeters to find live wires and dead wires, along with figuring out what the source of a problem is. We can use the multimeter as a more accurate way to measure wires rather than assuming that the labels on things are right and using math.

Series and Parallel Circuits

Series Circuit (left) is a circuit with only one path of current and one voltage. You can hook up as many light bulbs (resistors) as you want on to the series circuit but the more you put on the circuit, the dimmer each bulb will be. If you have 1 bulb then that bulb will be the maximum brightness, if you have 2 bulbs then each bulb will be half of the maximum brightness. If you break the circuit by either having two bulbs then taking one out, or having a switch in the line, the current will not flow until you have two bulbs in the circuit or the switch is turned on.

A parallel circuit (right) is a circuit in which you can have as many paths as you want. You can hook up as many bulbs to this circuit as you need. The voltage will be the same through each of the paths of electricity but the current will be different through all of them. No matter how many bulbs you put on the circuit the brightness will always be the same for all of the bulbs. If one path is broken in parallel, the electricity will continue to flow through the rest of the paths just not the path that has been broken.

Ohm's Law and Power

Ohms law is an equation that consists of V=IR which also can be rewritten as I=V/R and R=V/I. This equation can be used in life as an electric engineer to find the relationship between current, voltage and resistance. It can also be used to determine if a circuit is safe or not. Voltage (V)(measured in volts) is directly related to current and resistance. Current (I)(measured in amperes) is directly related to voltage and inversely related to resistance. Resistance (R)(measured in Ohms) is directly related to voltage and inversely related to current.
Power is the energy used per unit of time. The units of power is joules per second. Power is used in our everyday lives in our homes.