We invite interested students to take a short stride into the world of physics and explore the world of charges, electricity and magnetism, through a series of illustrative and explorative experiments followed by conceptual exercises in theory-building. 

Students will be encouraged to think, ‘play’ and engage in a healthy criticism of each other’s ideas and opinions related to the concepts involved. They will build, explore and theorize the observed cause and effect relationships. The course aims to conduct simple experiments that mark the turning points in the development of Conceptual Physics, be it the electroscope, the motor or the Tesla Coil! As the course progresses, the captivating story of electricity will unfold as it happened in history!

We begin with electrostatics (Tribology or what happens when you rub two different objects/materials together). Next, how such charges may be stored (batteries) or allowed to flow (currents) and how currents produce magnet-like fields (as seen by the deflecting needle of a magnetic-compass) will be discussed.  This will be followed by the illustrations of how magnets interact with current carrying conductors (motor/generator).

This course will attempt to bring the Textbook to Life with a healthy dose of hands-on-thinking and ‘not-to-be-forgotten’ historical drama! The acrimonious debate between Edison and Tesla, the life and times of Faraday, how his investigations inspired Maxwell’s work and Hertz’s ingenious experiments will help the young student to appreciate not just the wondrous phenomenon of electricity but also the process of development of scientific thought.