Snap Circuits Extreme 750

Siren

OBJECTIVE: To make a siren that slowly starts up and fades away.

Turn on the slide switch (S1), and then press the press switch (S2) for a few seconds and release. A siren starts up and then slowly fades away as the 10μF capacitor (C3) discharges.

Electronic Rain

OBJECTIVE: To make a low-frequency oscillator.

Build the circuit and turn on the slide switch (S1), you hear a sound like raindrops. The adjustable resistor (RV) controls the rain. Turn it to the left to make a drizzle and turn to the right to make the rain come pouring down.

You can replace the 10KΩ resistor (R4) with the 1KΩ (R2) or 5.1KΩ (R3) resistors to speed up the rain.

Leaky Faucet

OBJECTIVE: To make a low-frequency oscillator.

Build the circuit and set the adjustable resistor (RV) control all the way to the right. Turn on the slide switch (S1) and you hear a sound like a faucet dripping. You can speed up the dripping by moving the adjustable resistor control around.

Output Forms

OBJECTIVE: To show the different types of output from Snap Circuits..

Set the meter (M2) to the LOW (or 10mA) scale. This circuit uses all six forms of output available in Snap Circuits® - speaker (SP, sound), lamp (L1, light), LED (D1, light), motor (M1, motion), 7-segment display (D7, light), and meter (M2, motion of pointer).

Place the fan on the motor, turn on the slide switch (S1), and shine light on the solar cell (B2). There will be activity from all six forms of output. If the motor does not spin, then give it a push with your finger to start it, or remove the fan.

Adjustable Solar Power Meter

OBJECTIVE: To learn about solar power.

Set the adjustable resistor (RV) for mid-range and the meter (M2) for the LOW (or 10mA) setting. Turn on the slide switch (S1) and let light shine on the solar cell (B2). Move the solar cell around different light sources and adjust the adjustable resistor to change the reading on the meter.

Place your hand to cover half of the solar cell, the meter reading should drop by half. When you reduce the light to the solar cell, the current in the circuit is reduced.

Place a sheet of paper over the solar cell and see how much it changes the reading on the meter. Then add more sheets until the meter reads zero.

Machine Siren

OBJECTIVE: To see how the electromagnet can change the sound from the alarm IC.

Turn on the slide switch (S1), you hear a strange sound from the speaker (SP). Push the press switch (S2) and the sound changes to a high-pitch siren.

The alarm IC (U2) produces a smooth siren sound, but the electromagnet (M3) distorts the siren into the strange sound you hear. Adding the 0.1μF capacitor (C2) counters the electromagnet effects and restores the siren.

Diode Wonderland

OBJECTIVE: To learn more about diodes.

Cover the solar cell (B2) and turn on the slide switch (S1), there should be little or no light from the LED’s (results depend on your batteries). Shine a bright light on the solar cell and the red (D1) and green (D2) LED’s should be bright, along with one segment of the 7-segment display (D7).

This circuit shows how it takes a lot of voltage to turn on a bunch of diodes connected in a series. Since the transistors (Q1 & Q2) are used as diodes here, there are six diodes total (D1, D2, D3, D7, Q1, and Q2). The voltage from the batteries (B1) alone is not enough to turn them all on at the same time, but the extra voltage produced by the solar cell is enough to make them bright.

Now push the press switch (S2) and D7 will display “0.”, but it will be dim unless the light on the solar cell is very bright. With S2 off, all the current through D7 goes through segment B and makes it bright. With S2 on, the current through D7 divides evenly between several segments.

Solar Music

OBJECTIVE: To use the sun to make music.

Set the meter (M2) to the LOW (or 10mA) scale. With the slide switch (S1) off, make sure you have enough light on the solar cell (B2) for the meter to read 7 or higher. Now turn on the slide switch and listen to the music. When it stops, clap your hands and it should resume.

The meter is used to measure if the solar cell can supply enough current to operate the music IC (U1).

Mega Pulser and Flasher

OBJECTIVE: To power other devices using the alarm IC.

In this circuit, you will power many devices using the alarm IC (U2). Set the meter (M2) to LOW (or 10mA) and turn on the slide switch (S1). The LED’s (D1 & D2) and bulbs (L1 & L2) flash, the meter deflects, the whistle chip (WC) sounds, and the motor (M1) spins.

Crazy Music IC

OBJECTIVE: To change the sound of the music IC.

Set the adjustable resistor (RV) to the far left position and turn the slide switch (S1) on. The relay’s (S3) contacts open and close shorting U1 to ground, causing the sound level to change.