Building a Gravitational Analogy of Electric Circuits Using LEGOs®

Details Building a Gravitational Analogy of Electric Circuits Using LEGOs® Building a Gravitational Analogy of Electric Circuits Using LEGOs®

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006aas...20914829b&link_type=abstract

2007 AAS/AAPT Joint Meeting, American Astronomical Society Meeting 209, #148.29; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,

Physics

Scientific paper

One of the most powerful techniques that physicists have at their disposal is the ability to make analogies between different physical systems that share common characteristics. Physicists often use their familiarity with a phenomenon in one system to understand a similar phenomenon in an apparently unrelated system. They draw analogies, find commonalities, and examine how the principles that govern each system give rise to similar (or different) behaviors. This is one of the abilities that we want to instill in our students. Introductory physics students often find the concepts of potential difference, current, and resistance particularly challenging. This difficulty is compounded in the analysis of complicated electric circuits that involve combinations of series and parallel resistors. In order to help our students build a conceptual understanding of these systems, we have developed LEGO building exercises that expand on the well-known analogy between gravitational potential energy in mechanical systems and electrical potential energy in circuits. In this analogy a closed circuit is represented by a closed path made of LEGOs. The potential difference across a battery is represented by a sudden change in the height of the path, electrical resistors are represented by ramps with appropriate lengths and slopes, and electrical current is visualized as balls rolling along the path. These exercises are used in both the laboratory and the classroom. Students are required to build LEGO models along with the corresponding electric circuits and explain the analogies between the components of each.

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