**Before you read:
This is a science script for a video I'm posting to my channel soon, and not one really for SciShow. I see this workshop as a way of getting feedback and becoming a better creator. Thanks for the help, and link to your science scripts in the comments if you'd like my feedback. DFTBA**
[standing outside jumping from rock to rock]
Many of us have played the game “the floor is lava” when we were younger. You have to hop from object to object without touching the ground, well, because it is made of lava. But what if we took it up a notch and we electrified the floor?
[intro plays]
[show mesh netting and metal shoes on the floor]
Before we talk about how to turn your floor and yourself into a giant circuit we have to talk about what a circuit is.
[this video is for a wide audience so maybe a note on screen “if you understand, open and closed circuits and switches go to X:XX to start the projects”]
You use complex and simple circuits all day every day. One of the simpler circuits you use is a light switch.
Here we have light circuit. There is a battery that stores the energy used to power the light. If just one side of the battery is connected to the light, nothing happens. That is because we have something called an open circuit. Electricity needs a complete or closed circuit in order to work.
That is great and all but how do we turn off this light. Do we have to “unplug” it every time?
We just need to add a switch. This allows us to control whether a circuit is opened or closed or in other words if it is “on” or “off.”
Now we can build an electrified floor and many so other things.
I have covered my lab floor with fly netting which is just a giant metal mesh to be our electrified lava. These pieces of cardboard are the “safe” objects to step on. The metal is a conductor, which means it easily allows electricity to flow through. The cardboard is an insulatior, which means it resists the flow of electricity.
Now to build the circuit.
What do we want this circuit to do? I would like it to buzz every time I touch the lava.
So what do we need? If it is going to buzz, we need a speaker or a buzzer.
We need something to power the buzzer like a battery with a clip so we can easily connect things. This buzzer is rated for 9 Volts [show battery and buzzer]. Other are rated for lower voltages like this one [the 1.5 volt one and show AA battries and clip]. And we need a way to connect this all together, I am using alligator clips like before.
If we connect the battery right to the buzzer, we will just constantly get this loud awful noise. Plus that does nothing to help in our game.
So how do we make a switch? We need to make the circuit open when we are on the cardboard and closed when we are on the mesh.
If we just hooked the wires to our foot, we wouldn’t hear anything. People are conductive, which is why you should never stick your finger in sockets and always be careful around electricity. However, this isn’t a very powerful circuit so we need to use better conductor than us like metal.
These shoes are wrapped in aluminum foil and connected to the negative end of the battery. The wire mesh is then connected to the negative side of the buzzer. The positive side of the buzzer is connected to the positive end of the battery.
Let’s try this out. [me hopping around]
So what else can we make?
You can make a tabletop buzzer game. I took a box top and drew a figure on the top and shapes inside of it. Then I cut out all the shapes. I glued foil to the back and carefully folded the foil around the cutouts. Then using strips of paper I made little pockets and put objects in them. The circuit is the same as before. This time the tweezers are your feet and the foil is the metal mesh.
You can make a ring game by cutting holes in two cups, bending some foil, and shaping a ring wand. You can adjust the bends and the size of the ring to make the game harder.
You can make and intruder alarm.
Or you can make a basketball game where the ball can’t touch the sides.
If the buzzer is super annoying, especially if you are doing this in a classroom, change it to a light or have both in your circuit.
Now that you know how to make this simple circuit and have seen some of the possibilities, it is time to start thinking of other cool things you can do. If you make these games or any others like it, please let us know. Use #SciJoy and #ElectrifiedLava on YouTube, Twitter, or Tumblr. And if you have questions ask in the comments or talk to us on twitter @TheSciJoy.
There is an amazon shopping list in the description if you need it, and links to great electronics sites.
Thank you for watching this episode and remember to keep exploring.
