In this experiment, we are adding a capacitor to the experiment #7 circuit.
Everything worked great.
Although i had problems makinf this work at first, im not certain why but the circuit wasn't working and a burn smell was starting to appear.
I changed the capacitor and play around and finally it started to work.
I'm still not sure what was the problem.
So everything is working fine.
My only question is why did we add the capacitor in parallell instead of in series.
if anyone can explain me this it would be great!
Another thing is i don't fully understand the "capacitors have infinite resistance" things and exactly how they work or what use they could have.
I guess i'll find out later in the book.
UPDATE:
after re-reading the chapter on capacitor in both the Make: electronics book, and the "for dummies" book, plus watching the Make youtube video, i have a better understanding of capacitors but still have a question about experiment number 8 that i cannot find the answer for.
Why the circuit doesn't just ignore the capacitor, since there is no resistance in the relay so it is just like a direct wire. So you should have a result exactly similar to the same circuit without a capacitor.
Also since the circuit clearly doesn't ignore the capacitor, and presumably, the relay coil only use the power from the capacitor and nothing from the power supply,
- why does the capacitor get all of the voltage and the relay's coil get nothing from the power supply?
if anyone can explain this to me, i would be very grateful!
Thank you!
Hi! I know you're hoping someone comments with an answer. Unfortunately, I cannot do that. Why? Because I myself need help. I've followed the instructions and replicated the circuit as close as I could. But when I plug it in and play around with the switch, nothing happens. The LED's stay dark, nothing pops, and the capacitor doesn't throw flaming bits of plastic across my desk. I've connected my multimeter, and the current seems to go all the way through the boad. So that's not the issue. Any help you could offer would be very much appreciated! If you want, I can go into detail and give you some links to pictures.
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DeleteThanks for watching the blog.
Yes if you could put more info with pictures perhaps it would help.
But generally, i find that circuits usually don't work right off the bat.
Usually i plug everything in, it doesn't work, i mess around and re-check everything, still doesn't work, then im ready to give up and go to bed, and all of a sudden it work!!
haha
I guess my advice would be to just take everything off the breadboard and re-do the experiment using alternate components if you haven't done so yet.
Ok. This is my first time doing anything with the breadboard and capacitators, so I'm not all that suprised at my screwing up. I'll try to get pictures up soon!
ReplyDeleteAs for more info? First of all, I wasn't sure what sort of switch to use (the button my kit came with wouldn't fit in the little holes). So I took a small switch and, after a bit of poking and prodding, managed to get it to fit. Good. Then, I tried to put everything together (though some of the components didn't rest as they should have-- I'll get into that when I come back with pictures). I plugged it in, made sure my adapter was set to 12V and Flickr the switch a few times. Still nothing. I messed around with a few of the connecting wires, but that really didn't do anything :P.
So yes, I'll get back (hopefully within 24 hours) with pictures.
(Sorry 'bout the typos. I'm using an iPad, and while the auto correct feature can sometimes get handy, it can also inadvertently cause 'Flickr's. Meant to say 'flick'...)
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