How to Make an Electric Lamp Circuit for a Science Project

You can easily make your own electric lamp circuit for a science project. The project does not use household current, depending instead on a safe size D battery as the power source. It’s a simple circuit made of a battery, wires and a light bulb, with the addition of a knife blade switch so that you can turn the light on and off. Utilizing these basic items will allow you to better understand how an electric circuit works.

1) Strip 1-inch of the insulation off both ends of each piece of copper bell wire. To do this, put each piece of wire in the notch of the wire stripper, leaving 1-inch of wire hanging out one side of the stripper. Close the handles of the wire stripper and rotate it around the wire, cutting through the insulation in the process. Open the wire stripper and pull off the insulation.

2) Connect one end of a 9-inch wire to one of the screw terminals on the knife blade switch. To connect the wires to the screw terminals, wrap the bare end of the wire around the base of the screw in a loop. Tighten the screw to hold the wire in place. Attach the other end of the wire to the positive terminal of the battery holder.

3) Attach another 9-inch wire to the second screw terminal on the knife blade switch. Open the switch by putting the movable blade in the upright, vertical position. Connect the other end of this wire to a screw terminal on the lamp holder.

4) Screw the light bulb into the lamp holder. Attach one end of the 18-inch wire to the remaining terminal on the lamp holder.

5) Connect the free end of the 18-inch wire to the negative terminal on the battery holder. Place the battery in the battery holder.

6) Push the movable blade of the knife blade switch in the down position to turn on the light bulb. The circuit is now closed, allowing the electricity to flow from the battery through the switch to the light bulb and back to the battery.

7) Turn off the bulb by pushing the movable blade of the knife blade switch to the upright, vertical position. This breaks the circuit and stops the electricity from lighting the bulb.