Energy systems
Energy Systems
Penguin Race Toy
The Penguin Race™ Toy
The toy consists of a bunch of penguins, a slide and a motorized escalator that lifts the penguins to the top of the slide, so they can go back down again. Besides being fascinating to watch, this toy provides an excellent model for understanding how an electric circuit works. The penguins are like the electrons, which account for the flow of electricity in a circuit. The escalator lifts them up to a place where they have enough energy to travel down the slide by gravity. It is like the battery in a circuit, which gives the electrons an “energy kick” that is enough for them to travel on their own through the rest of the circuit. While traveling down the slide, the penguins speed up, but then stop when they hit the bottom. In a circuit, the electrons lose their energy in other ways: they may make a bulb light up, create a sound in a buzzer or make a motor turn.
Two basic circuit concepts are current and voltage. The amount of current counts the number of electrons that are flowing. In the toy model of a circuit, you could increase the current by adding penguins. If there were too many penguins to fit in the track, you would have to make it wider to accommodate them. Similarly, a wire may need to be bigger to contain more current. The reason an automotive jumper cable or battery cable is so fat is that it takes a lot of current to start a car.