Resistance in a Wire


This manipulative will help the students to learn about the physics of resistance in a wire. The electrical resistance of a wire would be expected to be greater for a longer wire, less for a wire of larger cross sectional area, and would be expected to depend upon the material out of which the wire is made, to understand this, students can change the resistivity, length, and area to see how they affect the wire's resistance. The sizes of the symbols in the equation change along with the diagram of a wire.
Some of the sample learning goals can be:
  • What characteristics of a resistor are variable in this model?
  • How does each affect the resistance (will increasing or decreasing each make the resistance correspondingly increase or decrease?)
  • Explain your ideas about why they change the resistance.
Resource ID#: 52324 Type: Virtual Manipulative
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Direct Link: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/resistance-in-a-wire

General Information

Subject(s): Science
Grade Level(s): 9
Intended Audience: Educators educators, Students , Parents
Suggested Technology: Adobe Flash Player
Keywords: Resistivity, Resistance.
Instructional Component Type(s): Virtual Manipulative
Resource Collection: Games and Simulations

Aligned Standards

This vetted resource aligns to concepts or skills in these benchmarks.

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