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Teaching Circuits with an Electromechanical Adder

    https://doi.org/10.1142/S2661339519500148Cited by:0 (Source: Crossref)

    Topics like series and parallel circuits are typically introduced to beginning students through entirely abstract problems, such as finding the equivalent resistance of a combination of resistors. To teach these concepts in a more context-rich way, we asked students in an introductory class how they would arrange a power supply, bulb and one or two switches to make an AND gate, a NOT gate, and an OR gate. Then, we challenged them to combine these gates to make an adder circuit with two input switches and two output bulbs that could add two numbers. Finally, we built the circuit, using large relays with transparent cases so that students can actually see (and hear) how, for example, current flows through the AND gate when both input switches are thrown. For many students, this is the first time they intuitively grasp the relevance of basic circuit concepts to the complicated devices, like computers, that we use in everyday life.