Simple for some......... need help here lol

Thread Starter

ScicoticPain

Joined Jan 10, 2008
4
I tried posting in homework section but no bites maybe have better luck here I hope.

My daughter has turned to me for help with her homework project for Science class and alas I'm at a total loss.

The idea is to design a basic lighting system with the following criteria:

-Main room has 3 lights in total- 1 light controlled by a switch & 2 lights wirted in parallel controlled by a second switch.

Bedroom 1- has 2 lights wired in series controlled by a third switch.

Bedroom 2- 1 light wired in parallel with 2 lights wired in series all controlled by a fourth switch

Bathroom has 1 light controlled by a fifth switch.

Here is the problem

only 1 9volt battery may be used to power all,
only 1 wire to each terminal on the battery (no junction boxes permitted, negates the idea of the project lol)
All 5 sets of lights must be wired in parallel with one another using a minimum of wire.

There is my dilema, any help or guidance is greatly appreciated....thank you in advance form the electrical nooblet lol..

Cheers!!!!
 

hgmjr

Joined Jan 28, 2005
9,027
Is the student expected to accomplish the project using just switches, lamps, and the 9 Volt battery or is it expected that the student will use electronic components such as transistor and/ or digital logic integrated circuits?

hgmjr
 

hgmjr

Joined Jan 28, 2005
9,027
Do you know anything about simple "ladder" diagrams?

The main thing you will need to do is diagram the circuit and work out what is needed on paper before you do any wiring. That is where a "ladder" diagram can be handy.

hgmjr
 

thingmaker3

Joined May 16, 2005
5,083
The key is that all five of your switches are in parallel off the positive battery terminal. (This simulates switches in parallel off the "hot" lead of a branch circuit.)

Run a positive (+) wire from the battery to the first switch, and from that
same terminal on the switch to the second switch, etc.

Run the correct wires from each switch to the bulbs, and between the bulbs.

Run wires from the appropriate bulbs back to the negative (-) battery terminal to simulate the "neutral" lead of a branch circuit.
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
Look at the attached schematic.

V1 is the 9V battery.

S1 controls a single lamp

S2 controls two lamps wired in series.

S3 controls two lamps wired in parallel.

Notice the + and - bus wires along the top and bottom of the schematic.
(ignore the thin blue line across the top; that's merely a cropping error)

The rest is just various combinations of what's in the schematic.
 

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