Tutorial TinkerCAD Electrical Series Circuit

By: Matthew Jourden

Brighton High School
Brighton, MI

1. Navigate to TinkerCAD.com > Click Sign In Icon (Top Left Side of Screen > Select Students, Join your Classroom >
Classroom CODE: See Teacher for Code > Nickname: Student First Name (all lower case)

2. Select Circuits > Select Create New Circuit

Select New > Select Circuit

3. Change Name of Circuit to Electrical Circuit 1: Series Circuit

Select Default File name in the Top Left Corner

4. Adding Electrical Components. TinkerCAD is a Drag and Drop interface

 Series Circuit

A series circuit is a closed circuit in which the current follows one path, as opposed to a
parallel circuit where the circuit is divided into two or more paths. In a series circuit, the current through
each load is the same and the total voltage across the circuit is the sum of the voltages across each load.

NOTE: TinkerCAD has an Autosave system. There is NO save button; system will update the save file every few minutes

1. From the Toolbox locate the 9V Battery > Hold Left Mouse Button to Drag and Drop in work area > Use the Rotate
tool to have the Battery Terminals facing to the right (Be sure to have the component selected by left clicking on
it; Component info will appear in the top right corner of work area
Component Info

Rotate

Hold Left Mouse

Button Down from
the Toolbox >
Drag and Drop in
Work Area

Battery Basics

+ = Red Wire

Rotated Battery - = Black Wire

Note: Components
Moving: within the workspace by selecting the component > Hold Left Mouse Button Down Drag Component.
Delete: Press the Delete Key to remove the component from the workspace
2. Drag and Drop a Resistor in the shown location > Rotate the Resistor (Note: It does not matter the orientation of
the color bands does not matter; the color band are used as a means read the size of the resistor when in the
field) > Change the Rating on the resistor to 220Ω (Ohm)

Rating 220 Unit Ω (Ohm)

3. Connecting Components is simply placing the cursor on the end of a component (Red Square will Appear) > Hold
Left Mouse Key Down > Drag to the end of the connecting Component > Let go of Left Mouse Button.
Note: Circuits run from the red wire (+; positive) of the battery connecting the components within the circuit back
to the black wire (-; Negative) side of the battery.

Place cursor on end

of the component

Reference Line to show

Vertical or Horizontal

To Make a Bend in the Wire Left Click the

place where you wish to bend then Left Click. Red Square to show
The Wire will not spot being drawn until the connection > Left
user reaches the end of another component Click to connect
4. Light Emitting Diode (LED) in leyman’s terms it is a simple light bulb. Almost all electronic/machine devices have
signal LED’s show the user what the machine is doing or if there is any errors (i.e Green = On; Red = something bad
is happening; Orange = Off or Caution, etc.) The LED has two sides the Anode (Bent Wire) and the Cathode (Flat
Wire)
NOTE: The Anode (Bent Wire) Should ALWAYS be on the side where the + (Positive Side of the battery) is coming
from and Cathode should be on the preceding side leading to the – (Negative Side of the battery). If the LED is
placed in reverse then the LED will not light up; in the real world the user risks breaking the LED. In the Simulation
Nothing will happen.

Place LED in the given location

GOOD

Cathode Leading to Anode being

– Side of Battery connecting from to
the + side of the
battery

BAD

Cathode connecting
Anode Leading to from to + Side of
the - side of the Battery
battery
5. Adjusting LED Color: Select LED > Select desired color from Drop Down Menu on LED Properties Menu; located in
the Top Right Hand of Workspace

Change to
Desired Color

Select LED

6. Connect the Wires as shown

7. Adjusting the wire and/or Change Color of Wire.
a. Adjusting Wire Angle, Length, Direction, etc.: Left Click on the wire to adjust > Place the cursor on the wire
or one of the end points (shown has green dots) > Hold Left Mouse Key Down > Drag to Desired Location

b. Default color of wires is Green > User can change the color of the wire by selecting wire (Selecting
Multiple Wires: Hold Shift and Click) changing the color wire from the wire properties menu in the top of
the screen

Select Wire
Wire Color

Wire Colors help define connections to

various part of the circuit.
8. Testing Circuit or Code
A. Press Start Simulation Button in the Top Right of Screen to apply an electrical load to the circuit.

Press Start Simulation

b. Simulation will run showing the LED light up and provide information about the LED and the electrical load that is
placed on the LED (Hover cursor over the Circle ! next to the LED.

If Circuit was wired incorrectly then nothing would happen as shown below
c. End Simulation: Press Stop Simulation (Same location as Start Simulation)
d. Adjust the size of the Resistor to 2200 Ω (Ohm) > Run Simulation to see what happens > Set the LED back to 220 Ω
(Ohm)
HINT: The bulb should be dimmer because of more resistance.

9. Adding a Press Button

a. Delete the First Wire > Drag and Drop a Push Button in the shown location
NOTE: The Push button has four posts. We will be using two of the four posts for passing the electricity
through or stopping it. The other two non-used posts can be used to hook other wires to send signals
back a controller (i.e. Arduino) to tell the program if the button has been pushed or not; we will examine
this later in the Arduino Tutorials.

b. Connect the Wires as shown (Adjust components or wires as needed)

c. Run Simulation > Notice the Light does not illuminate > Left Click on the Button > The Light Should Turn
On.

d. Experiment and adjust the Circuit to see what happens

 10. Component List: To see all of the components within your circuit select Component List in the Top Right Corner of
the Browser Screen (next to the Users profile)
Component View

Circuit View

User Profile

11. Select TinkerCAD Loge in the Top Left Side of the Browser Screen to Return to User Profile Hub

Select TinkerCAD
Icon to return to
User Profile Hub
 12. To Edit Existing File from User Hub > Select Circuit to Edit > Preview/File Information Pop Up Menu will Appear >
Select Tinker This to edit file or Select Simulation to run the simulation from the Preview Window

Select Tinker This to

Edit File

Simulate allows user to

test the circuit without
going into the file

Submission: To Submit TinkerCAD Tutorials and Assignments: Select Share Icon (Top Right
Corner) > Select Invite People > Copy URL > Navigate to Student Email Account > Compose a
New Email > To: jourdem@brightonk12.com > Fill Subject Heading TinkerCAD "Tutorial or
Assignment" "Tutorial/Assignment Name" > Send