How does a transistor work?
A short video explaining how transistors work. At the heart of our high-tech society with radios, mobile phones, computers and space exploration are tiny electronic components called transistors. They have revolutionised electronics and in the pr....
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A short video on solar cells explaining with accompanying information sheet. How they work and how Jonathan uses solar power at home.
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With some simple circuitry and a homemade hand powered generator Jonathan makes AC and DC electricity that could be used for charging a mobile phone or attaching to a wind turbine.
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Jonathan makes some simple paper windmills/turbines and experiments with a simple generator to power house hold devices such as torches, calculators and even a radio.
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Jonathan shows us with a cheap and simple homemade demonstration how your mobile telephone generates radio waves in order for you to use it to communicate. As you will see you can use this method to explore many aspects of your mobile phone!
More details | Watch nowElectrical Generator
This short video shows one of the demonstrations for the Physics SEPNet exhibition - "Who will keep the lights on?" which travelled around the southern UK from February 2009. We describe and explain the electrical generator demonstration which Jona....
More details | Watch nowPlastic fantastic: electronics for the 21st century
Plastics - or, more correctly, polymers have traditionally been used by the electronics industry as passive materials. Now however, new types of polymers have been discovered which behave as semiconductors. For example, they can emit light when subje....
More details | Watch nowSticky tape X-rays
Peeling sticky tape emits energy that extends into the X-ray regime, reports a study in Nature. The research provides evidence for a phenomenon that was first observed more than 50 years ago.nnIt is well known that unwinding sticky tape produces spar....
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Fine tuning the frequencies of light gave John Hall a Nobel Prize, and helped transform the fields of precision measurement and information transmission. Iris Choi and Andrei Ghicov are young scientists excited by the ways physics can change our worl....
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When two different types of conductors are pushed into a potato chemical reactions take place charging them up - we have a simple electrochemical cell. A potato, zinc screw and carbon rod produce about 1V. We experiment joining a few of these cells u....
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This is a simple yet effective demonstration of electricity generation. 500 turns of wire are wound onto a 35mm film can and the two ends are attached to an LED light. A strong magnet is placed in the can and the lid fixed back in place. The generato....
More details | Watch nowSeawater Battery
When two different metals are placed in a salt solution (an electrolyte) the chemistry produces a voltage. This is called a cell. By wiring up a number of these cells we can make a battery and use it to power electrical circuits.
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