a is for ampere

automatic captions, checked for structure and key terms; corrections welcome.

0:00Adabot, Billie,

0:05Connie, Ruby, Mho,

0:10Gus, Cappy,

0:16Circuit Playground.

0:48uh oh did i break something

0:54looks like you tripped the circuit breaker Adabot wait who did i trip no no the

0:58circuit breaker

0:59isn't a person, it's a device in that box over there. The circuit breaker turns off

1:02all the electricity when we draw too much electrical current and it's also something

1:07only a grown-up should touch. Committed to memory. Wow, powering all my stuff. Must use

1:14a lot of current. That's right and we measure electrical current in amperes. Huh, why do

1:18we call it that? The ampere is named after the scientist, Mr. André-Marie Ampère.

1:24Accessing

1:25database. André-Marie

1:30Ampère, a French scientist from the 1800s. That's right and Mr. Ampère was

1:35very curious about how electricity works. Curious? Like me? This is true. And he

1:40conducted many

1:41experiments to learn about electricity.

1:48The results of his experiments showed Mr. Ampère

1:51that electricity is created by the movement of many teeny objects which are so small we

1:56can't even see them.

2:01Electrodynamic molecules?

2:03Nowadays, we call these teeny objects electrons and when electrons

2:09move we call that electrical

2:11current.

2:15Makes sense to me.

2:23Oh, now I get it Ladyada, but how do we measure amperes?

2:27That's easy. We use a multimeter.

2:30Oh, I wish I had one of those.

2:36In this circuit, electrons flow from one end of the battery, through the LED,

2:40and then back to the other end of the battery.

2:44By sending the current through a multimeter,

2:46we're able to measure the amount of electrons flowing through.

2:54So this LED is using...

2:560.05 amperes.

2:59Correct.

3:01I wish I could see electrons move.

3:04Well, you may not be able to see every single electron,

3:07but you can see the effects of electrical current.

3:09Really? How do we do that?

3:11Well, you can see it when your boombox makes sound.

3:14Or when your toaster heats up.

3:16And you can feel it when your blow dryer blows hot air at you.

3:20I get it. Electrical current makes electricity go.

3:23Those electrons are amazing.

3:25That's right, Adabot.

3:27Hey, you know, you don't have any hair, right?

3:30What?

3:31[unclear speech]

3:46We'll see you next time.