Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I turn the 5 Flashing Lights circuit Off?
- Where is R1 on the 5 Flashing Lights Board?
- Which way round does the switch go?
- Where can I buy more kits / components?
- Where can I buy more tools?
- Where can I find other interesting circuit kits?
- What is a resistor?
- What is a capacitor?
- What does the chip do?
How do I turn the 5 Flashing Lights circuit Off?
Hold down the button for at least half a second. But don't hold it down for too long or the lights will come on again!
Where is R1 on the 5 Flashing Lights Board?
R1 is mis-marked on the circuit board - it looks more like XFB$B. It is the single resistor-sized space near the long edge of the board. This mistake was not listed in early editions of our instructions.
Which way round does the switch go?
The switch can fit onto the board in two orientations. Either is fine. Sometimes if you straighten the legs it can look like it will fit in all four orientations. The ends of the switch with the legs coming out should be towards the shorter edges of the board.
Where can I find other interesting circuit kits?
Madlab and Maplin have a huge range of interesting circuit kits available.
What is a resistor?
A resistor is like a very thin water pipe - it limits the amount of electricity that can get through.
We use different sizes of resistors for each coloured light on our rainbow circuit - we chose sizes that make the three colours equally bright so they mix to make a nice white.
Resistor sizes are measured in Ohms - the higher the value, the smaller the "pipe" - the less electricity can get through.
What is a capacitor?
A capacitor is like a water tank. It stores up electricity so it is there when needed, like a water tank stores water so it is there when you turn on the tap.
Our circuits will work fine without the capacitor, but when the battery runs down, they will stop working sooner. This is because every time one of the lights is turned on, the sudden surge can very briefly drop the voltage low enough to reset the chip - meaning the chip can never get running properly. The capacitor holds enough electricity for that brief surge when a light is turned on and prevents this problem.
Capacitor sizes are measured in Farads - the bigger the value, the bigger the "tank" - the more electricity stored.
What does the chip do?
The chip we use in our circuits is a tiny computer called a microcontroller that turns the lights on and off at the right times. We connect each one briefly to our computer to tell it what to do (different instructions for each of our three circuits) before packing it into our kits.
You can learn how to do this and how to play around with changing the sequence of lights etc. on this page.
