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An Electronic Fairy Tale!
or
Science Fair Scenario
A FishTackler® Article

Copyright 2005 by Lynn Mills. All rights reserved.

   There was a young boy who lived in a chalet on the edge of a cliff high in the Swiss Alps. Far across a deep precipitous chasm in another chalet lived a very pretty young girl Named Heidi. Every day Heidi and Bjorn would wave to each other. Bjorn tried to shout across the chasm to ask Heidi what her name was but alas she could not hear him. It was too far. Day after day they looked mournfully at each other not able to communicate except by waving. One day Bjorn had a great idea. He ordered two telephones from an electronics catalogue. He had just enough money left to buy enough wire to barely reach across the chasm once. When the phones came and he had the wire ready Bjorn sent one end of the wire and a phone across the chasm on a large kite he had made. Along with the phone and wire Bjorn sent some instructions to tell Heidi how to hook up the phone, which Heidi did. On his end Bjorn connected a battery and then the phone. Below in Fig 2 is the diagram he sent Heidi. What do you think? Do you think it worked? Did they finally get to talk to each other? If not then what was wrong?

Single wire phone line
Fig. 2


Fig. 1

Well, it didn't work! Hard as they tried and as loud as they shouted nary a word was heard. Bjorn was very disappointed. So Bjorn went to his science teacher. He found out from his science teacher that he needed two wires before the phones would work. His science teacher pointed out that there were two wires protruding from the phone. One wire going into the phone and one wire coming out of the phone. There needed to be a complete circuit or circle from Bjorn's chalet to Heidi's for the electricity to travel around. "Like a freeway," his teacher said. "with electrons going one way on one wire and the other way on the other wire." It needed to look like the diagram below. But Bjorn was stumped. He did not have enough wire to stretch it over the chasm twice. How would you solve this dilemma? Is there a solution? Any ideas? Look at Fig. 3 on the right. Can you see a complete circuit like the one shown in Fig. 4? Hint! Our mother Earth conducts electricity quite well.

NOTE: The symbol with the plus and minus signs in the diagram or rather schematic below represents a battery in the circuit.

Needs two wires to make a complete circuit or circle.
Fig. 4


  Fig.3

   Hmmmm. Hmmmm Bjorn mused. There must be solution to this problem. Finally an idea materialized in Bjorn's head. "The ground conducts lightning and lightning is electricity so could the ground be my second wire," Bjorn postulated.  "I must test this theory and see if it is correct!" Bjorn got out his kite again and sent a note to Heidi telling her how to connect the other wire on her phone to the ground. Bjorn then connected the second wire on his phone to the ground. What do you think.? Did it work? Can you use the ground for a wire or to complete a circuit? You betcha! the power company does it all the time. Well Bjorn and heidi talked for awhile but soon Bjorn tired of talking so he gave the phone to his sister and Heidi and Hilda talked happily ever after.

     In Fig 5. the electricity flows across the wire through Heidi's phone. Then it travels into the ground, around the chasm and into Bjorn's phone and the circuit or circle is complete.



A complete circle or circuit for the electron motion to flow around.

  Fig. 5
If you wanted to demenstrate this principle in a school gym or auditorium where would you find a good connection to the ground? If there are windows at each end of the gymn or auditorium then a metal stake driven into the ground, outside, at the far ends of the room will make a good connection to the ground. If there are drinking fountains or washrooms the water pipes or taps also make a good connection to ground. What you will need then is:
  •  Two telephone hand sets, (mouth piece and ear piece).
  • A length of insulated copper wire, (Radio Shack hook up wire).
  • A C cell battery and a holder for it, (Radio Shack for the holder).
Editors note: Because the power company ues some what the same principle, namely they send power out over the power lines and use the ground to complete their circuit, you will hear a hum in the phones. It is the hum from the 60 hertz AC,alternating current, the electric utility produces. The phones will still work good.

If you have questions, comments or ideas I would love to hear from you.
Email me.  wwindmills@comcast.net



Fig. #6
Note that in the above schematic the ground is acting as the second wire.





Some of my other pages


Science

Fishing


Quackery
Cartoons
By
Lynn Mills
Odds and Sods
And a little tongue in cheek

About Me
Black light UV LED
to convert a 3 or 4 cell flashlight
FishTackler®
Registered TM for sale! Click here for Info.
Cartoon 1
Strip Poker
Incredibly beautiful Drying Soap Bubbles
Make Wild Fires
Go Away!
Do Fish See Color? Cartoon 2
Left Overs
Energy Demand Verses Global Warming!
Where Does Lightning Come From? Fish the Strike Zone. Cartoon 3
Are You Asleep?
Bee Wars 200,000 Bees verses 3 men &
a dog! A true story.
Acid etching Limestone Fossils Triple spinner Bumble Bee  Cartoon 4
Panty Hose.
A long shot coincidence or Number please?
3D Through the Eyes of T Rex How to make Freeze Dried Night crawlers
or if messy isn't your thing...

Cartoon 5
Tantrums
How to Unlock Gridlock  This one earned
me the, "delightful nut" award
CJ
The Amazing World of Silica Gel
All you need is a laser pointer and silica gel.
Order Freeze Dried Night Crawlers. Cartoon 6
Bermuda Triangle
Panning for gold in western WA
What is Ultraviolet Light? Triple Blade Pop Style Fishing Spinners Cartoon 7
How Was It?
A Virgin Lost Gold Account
How to Make an Ultraviolet Light FishTackler® Home Page Cartoon 8
Rocking Egg
Grooming the Environment, a Green Thing 
Purify Your Drinking Water Triple Spinner Chartreuse Chaser Cartoon 9
Remove Your Clothes
Outdoor Survival Tips that may save your life!
Science Fair, Phone on a Wire How to Fish With GloWings™ Cartoon 10
God's Great Computer.
The amazing EZ garden
Subduction Zone Volcano Postulate.     Cartoon 11
Shear Delight
My memories of Bountiful, Utah
1947 - 2007
The Mystery Clock, how does it works?     Cartoon 12
Wet the Bed
Grow tomatoes indoors
Like SciFi? Read
Blue Dot .
    Cartoon 13
Basket Ball
Tips for your Halloween Haunted house
or spook alley
           
"Photo"
Is it real or has it been altered? Can you tell?
    Cartoon 14
Lovin the Rain
Spook Alley page 2         
"Photo"
How to erase unwanted objects
        The Camp Fire Ghost!               
How to make a barometer                      
How to make a smoke ring cannon