Color Light

Project Number: 1

Parts Needed: Any Base Grid, Battery Holder (B3), Slide Switch (S1), 1 3-Snap Wire, and Color LED (D8).

Description: Snap Circuits® uses electronic blocks that snap onto a clear plastic base grid to build different circuits. These blocks have different colors and numbers on them, so you can easily identify them. This set contains both large (11” x 7.7”) and small (7.7” x 5.5”) base grids; you may use either size for this small circuit. Build the circuit shown on the left by placing all the parts with a black 1 next to them on the base grid first. Then assemble parts marked with a 2. Install three (3) “AA” batteries (not included) into the battery holder (B3) if you have not done so already. Turn on the slide switch (S1), and enjoy the light show from the color LED (D8). For best effects, dim the room lights.

Snappy: (First Line): Snappy says when you turn on the slide switch, electricity flows from the batteries through the color LED and back to the battery through the switch. If the switch is off, the flow of electricity is blocked, and the color LED won’t light. LEDs are light-emitting diodes, which convert electrical energy into light. The color of the light depends on the characteristics of the material used in them. The color LED contains separate red, green, and blue lights, with a micro-circuit controlling them. (Second Line): NOTE: this circuit (and many others in this book) have an LED being used without a resistor or other component to limit the electric current through it. Normally, this could damage an LED, but your Snap Circuits® LEDs include internal protection resistors, and will not be damaged. Be careful if you later use other electrical sets with unprotected LEDs.