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The batteries are fine, so why isn't the remote working?

💡 About this story —
The remote control suddenly stops working! The batteries are fine, so why won’t it turn on?
Didi dives into the electrical circuits inside WAGZAK JUMP to discover the two ways to connect batteries (series and parallel) and the secrets of electromagnets.
Let’s take a look with Didi at how electricity flows through our home.

Did the remote control suddenly stop working?

Didi fumbles with the back of the remote that won't turn on, removing the batteries.

"Huh? Why won't it turn on?"

I’m all snuggled up on the couch, ready to watch a cartoon, but no matter how hard I press the remote, the TV stays pitch black and won’t budge.

Thinking the batteries might be dead, I clicked open the back cover and popped them out.

Huh, the batteries look fine?

The convex “+” and the flat “-”—nothing’s broken.

They look fine, so why isn’t it working? What the heck! How on earth does electricity flow?!

Didi pinches the battery with her fingers and looks at both poles.

It’s so amazing that electricity comes out of this little box.

I held it in my palm and stared at it for a long time, but I still couldn’t figure it out.

When I showed it to Banggu, he just mumbled, “Isn’t it just worn out?” while munching on snacks.

Grandma said something similar too. But I just can’t stand not knowing when I’m curious.

I looked up “Electricity in My Hand” on WAGZAK JUMP. Whoa, this is it!

An electric circuit floats right in the middle of the room

The scene where the AR electrical circuitry floats in the middle of the room, and Saerom and Popo appear.

An electric circuit floating right before my eyes.

The wires, light bulbs, and batteries are actually floating in the air!

Saerom shouts, “Zing-zing! Let’s go on an adventure into the world of electricity!”

Then Purum asked, “Does electricity have different levels of strength?”

That’s exactly what I was wondering!

Popo just smiles. “You’ll find out if you touch it yourself.”

We only took out one battery, but the whole circuit went dark

A circuit with two cells in series and a lighted bulb on the AR screen

First, we connected two batteries in a straight line.

They call this a series connection.

The light bulb flickered! It lit up really brightly.

Popo says, “Want to try taking out just one battery here?” Sure.

I did as he said and popped it out—

Yikes! The light went out instantly!!

Didi is surprised when the light goes out when she removes the cell from the series circuit.

“Why did that happen?” Purum’s eyes widened too.

Popo calmly explains, “In a series circuit, there’s only one path for the current to flow. If that path is broken in the middle, the whole thing stops dead.”

It’s really bright, but the battery drains quickly, so it doesn’t last long.

Aha! So that’s why my remote control stopped working when just one battery came out.

This time, it doesn’t turn off even when I take one out—it’s like magic!

A circuit with two cells connected in parallel side by side and a dimly lit bulb

Now try placing the batteries side by side.

This is called a parallel connection.

The light is a little dimmer and softer than before.

Popo asked the same thing. “Want to try taking out one battery?”

I thought it would go out again, so I closed my eyes tight.

Huh? It didn’t go out! It’s like magic!

Didi marvels that the light bulb stays on when one cell is removed from the parallel circuit.

Even after removing one battery, the light stays just as bright.

“Huh, how come it didn’t go out?” Saerom tilted her head in confusion too.

Popo smiled and explained, “With a parallel circuit, there are multiple paths, so even if one breaks, the current keeps flowing through the others. It’s a bit dimmer, but it lasts a really long time, and you can turn each one on and off separately.”

Series is bright but short-lived; parallel is dim but long-lasting.

They have completely different personalities! Hehe, so electricity has a personality too.

Even light bulbs change their personality when connected in a string

AR screen comparing bulb series and bulb parallel side-by-side

I think I get the gist of batteries now.

Next, let’s try connecting several light bulbs.

Since I’m connecting the light bulbs in series one after another, each one gets dimmer as I add more.

I guess that’s because they’re all sharing the light.

Light bulbs in a parallel circuit where one goes out but the rest stay lit brightly

But when connected in parallel, even if one is removed, the rest stay just as bright!

Plus, you can turn each light bulb on and off separately.

Apparently, that’s why we can turn on the lights separately in every room of our house.

Electricity turns into a magnet?

An AR screen showing an electromagnet created by wrapping a wire around a nail.

Popo’s going to show us something really amazing this time.

I wrapped a wire around a nail and ran electricity through it—

Electricity turns into a magnet?!

Didi is surprised to see a bunch of paperclips and nails sticking to the electromagnet.

Paperclips and little nails are sticking to the wire-wrapped nail one after another!

"Wow, the nail turned into a magnet!" Saerom jumps up and down.

This is called an electromagnet.

It only becomes a magnet when an electric current flows through it, and when the power is cut off, it goes back to being an ordinary nail.

Plus, the more wire you wrap around it, the stronger the magnetic force gets.

I tried winding it a bunch of times, and now the paperclips are sticking to it one after another.

Hehe, I made a magnet!

When I pedaled, the light bulb lit up

Didi excitedly pedaling her AR bike generator

And finally, a bicycle appeared.

A bike with a generator!

When you pedal, the connected light bulb lights up, right?

A light bulb that gets brighter the faster you pedal

If you pedal slowly, the light flickers dimly.

If you pedal really fast, it goes “flash!” and gets bright.

The bike’s speed and the brightness of the light are directly proportional.

The exercise from my legs turns into electricity!

I pedaled for a long time, sweating buckets.

I didn’t realize generating electricity was this hard.

From now on, I really have to remember to turn off the lights when I’m done.

The secret of the remote control has finally been solved.

Didi opens the back of the remote with the sphere to reveal the battery arrangement.

"Bang-gu, let's try this together!"

This time, I really wanted to check it out with our own stuff at home.

Open up the back of that broken remote again.

The batteries were lined up in a row.

"It’s wired in series!"

That’s why it wouldn’t turn on if even one was missing or worn out. Now I get it.

Didi pointing to the convex positive and flat negative poles of the battery

Take a look at the batteries and find the positive and negative terminals.

The rounded side is the positive (+), and the flat side is the negative (-).

Bang-gu put them in backwards and was surprised when it didn’t turn on, going “Poo!”

"You have to match the polarity!" I told him. Hehehe.

Didi looks up as a large electromagnet on a crane at a construction site lifts scrap metal.

Then I looked out the window at the construction site and saw a huge crane lifting chunks of scrap metal one after another.

That’s an electromagnet!

When electricity flows through it, it becomes a magnet and lifts the metal, and when the power cuts off, it drops the chunk of metal with a thud.

It’s the exact same principle as that little nail magnet I saw on the app!

My dead remote came back to life

With the battery poles properly aligned, Didi presses the remote and the TV turns on, smiling broadly.

Oh, that dead remote!

I put the batteries back in, making sure the + and - terminals lined up perfectly, and pressed down hard—

The screen lights up with a click!

Haha, it’s back to life!

I just pressed a single button, but now I can see right inside.

The electricity from that little box trickled along the wires and woke up the screen, didn’t it?

Some are bright and short, others dim and long. It turns into a magnet, then back into a nail.

Inside that tiny battery in my hand, electricity has been traveling every single day.

All this time, I was just pressing the button.

Now I think I understand a little bit of what’s going on inside. Hehe.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What’s the difference between series and parallel connections?

In a series connection, there’s only one path for electricity to flow, so it’s very bright, but if just one link breaks, the whole thing turns off and the battery drains quickly. In a parallel connection, there are multiple paths, so even if one breaks, the rest stay on and last longer, but they’re a little dimmer. We can turn the lights on and off separately in every room of our house thanks to parallel connections.

Q. Why does an electromagnet stop being magnetic when the power is turned off?

An electromagnet is a magnet that only generates magnetic force while an electric current is flowing through the wire. So, when the power is turned off, it returns to being ordinary iron. The reason construction site cranes can lift and lower scrap metal is because the power is turned on and off. The more wire you wind around the coil, the stronger the magnetic force becomes.

Q. What are some safe electrical activities to do at home?

It’s safe and fun to open the back of a remote control or toy to see if the batteries are connected in series or parallel, or to look for the rounded positive (+) and flat negative (-) terminals on a battery. However, you must never touch wall outlets or household electrical wiring. Batteries are dangerous if put in your mouth or swallowed, so never put them in your mouth, and always do experiments involving connecting light bulbs and batteries directly with an adult present.

I’ll be back soon with another fun lesson. Best regards, Didi.

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