Elenco Snap Circuits SOUND &reg - Manual (Page 78)

Project 171 Capacitors in Parallel
Project 172
Capacitors in
Parallel (II)
Turn on the right slide switch (S1). Press
any green key and compare the sound with
the left slide switch on or off.
With the left switch on, the 0.1 m F and 1 m F
capacitors (C2 & C7) are connected in
parallel. Turning off the left switch
disconnects the 0.1
m F capacitor. Notice that
having the 0.1 m F included has only a small
effect on the tone.
Use the preceding
circuit, but swap the
locations of the 0.1
m F
and 1 m F capacitors (C2
& C7). Press any green
key and compare the
sound with the left slide
switch on or off.
The tone changes
much more now than in
the preceding circuit.
When capacitors are
connected in parallel,
the larger value
dominates the circuit. Think of capacitors as
storage tanks for electricity. If
you place a large storage
tank in parallel with a big one,
electricity flows into both at
the same time, but keeps
flowing until both are full.
Use the project 171 circuit, but replace the 0.1 m F
capacitor (C2) with the much larger 470 m F capacitor
(C5). Press any green key and compare the sound
with the left slide switch on or off. (When the switch is
on, hold down the key, because you will only hear a
click every few seconds.)
Turning on the left switch has a big effect on the circuit,
because connecting the large 470
m F in parallel with
the small 1 m F greatly increases the total capacitance.
Swap the locations of the 1 m F and 470 m F capacitors
(C7 & C5). Press any green key and compare the
sound with the left slide switch on or off. Now the tone
is the same whether the left switch is on of off,
because connecting the small 1
m F in parallel with the
large 470 m F has little effect on the total capacitance.
Turn on the right
slide switch (S1).
Press any green
key and compare
the sound when
you remove one
or two of the
capacitors (C2,
C5, and C7). You
will only hear a
click every few
seconds if C5 is in
the circuit.
Project 174 More Capacitors in Parallel Project 173
Capacitors in Parallel (III)
-77-