I shared this on twitter and there was enough interest that I figured I should archive on the blog.
We’ve been playing around with circuit representations this semester… the first two were really helpful for students in clarifying and connecting certain concepts.
The third was done later to orient drops in potentials as vertical descents. It’s making me think about how I can more explicitly link potential in circuits with gravitational potential contour lines.
These diagrams reminded me of the electron gas model of circuits that Jan-Philipp Burde and Thomas Wilhelm (from Frankfurt, Germany) told me about, this summer. Almost the same color coding, even. These articles are in German, but the images might be of use?
http://www.phydid.de/index.php/phydid-b/article/viewFile/666/808
There’s high pressure and low pressure zones in the circuit, and there’s “no pressure” in yellow, basically. Bummer that the link to the English language ESERA publication is dead, though.
Yeah, that makes sense…this has also been a staple of the CASTLE curriculum here in the states. (https://physicshandson.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/equipotential-color-coding/ ) . I got into thinking about this it this way back in Maine when I was writing at my old blog– Leslie Atkins and I talked quite a bit about it then.. I think I was calling it the “squeeze release” model. (http://teachbrianteach.blogspot.com/2011/07/jumping-through-reasoning-hoops-with.html)