One Direction for LED

Project Number: 8

Parts Needed For Circuit: All The Parts Used From Project #7, polarity on D1 reversed

OBJECTIVE: To show how electricity can only pass in one direction through an LED.

Description: Rebuild the circuit from Project #7 but put the LED (D1) as shown on the left. When you close the slide switch, current should flow from the batteries (B1) through the resistor and then through the LED. When current flows through an LED, it lights up. Since the LED is in backwards, current cannot flow. The LED is like a check valve that lets current flow in only one direction. In this project, you changed the direction of current through the LED. An electronic component that needs to be connected in one direction is said to have polarity. Other parts like this will be discussed in future projects. Placing the LED in backwards does not harm it because the voltage is not large enough to break down this electronic component.