The Relay
December 10, 2025 • EPISODE 290
How does a simple relay help us understand electricity and circuits? In this episode of Science LIVE, Roger Billings breaks down the science behind the relay—the clever electromagnetic switch that makes it possible to control circuits with precision. Learn how relays work, why they’re essential in everyday electronics, and how this simple idea became a building block for modern technology. A clear, hands-on look at one of engineering’s most important tools.
About DrB
Dr. Roger Billings is a visionary innovator whose work has touched the lives of millions of students and transformed the landscape of education. Widely known as “DrB” to the countless kids who benefit from his groundbreaking Acellus learning system, Dr. Billings has dedicated his life to advancing education through technology.
As part of DrB’s lifelong commitment to supporting education, Science LIVE was launched as a way to “give back” by mentoring students in conjunction with the Roger Billings Scholarship Program.
Read more about DrB »
About the Roger Billings Scholarship Program »
R 51 is hilarious😂😂😂
Ive been really liking the episodes on radio waves. This lesson on relays was really good. I cant wait for the next science live.
So much fun learning about DNA thank you!
I never knew it to 40 try’s to make WD40!! I liked learning about the DNA facts as well. Dr. Billings is so smart. 😀
That’s so cool to learn about WD40!
I liked hearing about how WD-40 was invented and proving to never give up!
This episode is great. Thanks, Acellus!
Science live episodes are so interesting!
whoa! I didn’t know that we found a way to store data in dna.
WD-40 is actually something that cool to use!!!
I will be trying wd 40 on lego!
I really liked to learn about WD40!
I love science live!!!
I told my dad I was learning about WD-40. He thought that was pretty cool.
Thank you very much for making these videos. I love Science Live!
This was great I did not know that it took 40 try’s to make WD40!
Thank you Dr Billings! I loved learning about the DNA and WD40!! 🙂
Are radio waves the same thing as WiFi?
The story about coating the NASA rockets was interesting.
It’s neat how those little balls make electricity.
watching from Ohio! theres so many things you can do with WD40!
its crazy how they came up with WD40!
Thank you for another week of education
Thank you for this video Mr. Billings!
Science live is so interesting!!!!!!!!
I can’t believe how small DNA is.
I never knew what WD-40 stood for, or how it was invented. That’s so interesting.
That’s so cool to learn about how WD-40 was created!
I love Acellus!
DNA for storage? Wow that’s certainly something. With that kind of storage I can collect memes ‘till my heart’s content.
I love the WD 40 story!!
Being able to spot something so far away is truly amazing
Wd40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wow! my family uses WD40 all the time! I didn’t know that was its original name!
Thank you for the weekly science live Mr. Blillings!
Dr. billings so cool and smart😁
I love r51 he is so funny
I didn’t know that you could use DNA to store data.
My dad uses WD40 a lot.
I like what they said that if you want to succeed try one more time*
i like R51. I didnt know all the uses for WD40 like learning about it. Thank you.
I didn’t know that WD-40 was that useful!
I didn’t know that wd 40 was originally made for NASA or that it can be used for so many things. Super cool. I’m going to try using it to get the marker stains off my dry erase board. Thanks!
Wow super cool about the WD-40!
I can’t wait for graduation at Acellus World!
Enjoyed learning about the relay!
I loved how in depth the relay demonstrations were! Awesome!
That was awesome!
Science live was amazing i enjoyed learning about the relay
Science is so cool!
Thank you for the live! R-51 was funny as always. Can’t wait for the next one!
Always wondered where WD40 came from, great science live!
Poor r-51 that had to hurt ( take it from a guy who tazed himself)
r51 is hilarious!
DNA is one of my favorite things about biology! It’d be interesting to use for elec storage
R-51 always cracks me up. 🤣
I learned how a relay can control a circuit by switching it on and off which was cool since it helped me understand how simple electrical parts are used in everyday machines.
I really enjoyed learning about WD-40!!!!!!
This was a great video. I love how you can tell how passionate Dr. Billings is about what he teaches.
Haha my dad will use WD40 to fix everything around here! I’m going to show him the video
One last thing, I feel a little bad for poor R-51, ( the poor soul got shocked) tell him that I said get well soon!
That bell would make a GREAT ALARM CLOCK, Also I feel like R-51 is’nt a big fan of coffee…
One more thing for DR. Billings, That is such a cool invention! I love how you made it using a house hold item like a spoon!!! <3
R51 is funny!
Mr. billings is cool
I really liked the part about being able to laugh at your own mistakes and rebound from them.
This was great I did not know that it took 40 try’s to make WD40!
I love science live!!!!!!!!!!!!
I had no idea that WD-40 was originally a project for NASA.
my dad uses WD-40!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a lot
Great episode! R-51 is gonna get it this time lol! Thank you, have a nice day everyone, Happy Hanukkah!
I am astounded it took 40 tries to create WD-40. I had no idea it began as a project for NASA.
Thanks for the great video, loved it so much. Roger Billings is such a smart guy! Love listening to everyone each week.
Acellus World looks like so much fun, I’m excited to go one day!
R51 is my favorite part of Science Live.
Loving the science lives Dr.B
R-51 is my fav
Science Live always teaches me the coolest facts and I loved learning about WD40!
wensdays are the best day because of science live. r 51 is so funny
This was a awesome Science Live!
DR. Billings is the best! I love Science live.
WD40 is actually insane! Your so cool. Thank you Mr. Billings!!
This was so fascinating. It’s astonishing to me not know that it took 40 try’s simply to make WD40.
I never knew all of this about WD40!
Interesting to hear the story of WD-40!
Thank you, I really enjoy science live!
Thank you for this weeks show. I appreciate what you do!
Dr. Billings sure explained the Wd-40 well. So interestings.
Amazing! Love learning about DNA.
R51 really knows how to carol
I love WD40! I’m a Diver and we use it on the divingboard to make it easier it adjust!
Such an amazing science live!
I didn’t know cassette tapes were still around. Wonder what people use them for now. My mom said she use to record music from the radio.
I thought the segment on WD40 was very interesting, and I did NOT know it had so many uses!
Why would you need to store DNA?
I live science live! I learn so much!
R 51 is the funniest scientest ever.
wow that’s so cool I didn’t know that Dr billings was this smart!
WD 40 is crazy!
Science is so cool!!
Area 51 is my favorite part. It always makes me laugh
I always love learning something new every Wednesday
Science live is the best!!!!!!!
We take Marconi so for granted every day. Can you imagine a world without his discoveries?
Who knew the name WD-40 implied 40 tries. That’s so funny.
this is so COOL this is what I look forward to watching this every week
Really excited about the graduation ceremony
Thank you Dr. Billings! I hope R51 is okay! 😂
learned a lots about WD40
I love science live!
Don’t magnetic fields have a negative affect on tape (like cassette) storage?
mr billings is super smart and cool
WD40 has so many uses, I had fun learning about this with my mom!
R 51 is so funny.
I never know how W-D40 was invented or why they called it that! This was very interesting and educational.
i like the way they demonstrate everything in the video!
Thank you very much, Mr. Billings. I find science really interesting.
It’s so cool when you do the experiments live for us to see it in action
This video was very interesting. Learning that it took 40 tries to make WD40 is the highlight of the video.
MY dad used WD-40 on my bike this summer because the chain was rusted.
I love how much you all know!!
Love learning new things!
Science Live was great and I’ll have to use some WD-40 for my legos!
History really does repeat itself. It’s fascinating to me that somehow after all this progress, somewhere in the world people are using cassette tapes again.
Science live is always so informing and educating I love this extra knowledge every week!!
R-51 is a very funny guy, I hope he feels better
I LOVED the story about WD40!!!!!!!!!
I love building circuits. I have an Arduino kit I build with my dad, and I built a delivery robot last week from a kit I get every month.
Science Live has taught me so many random things that I probably wouldn’t have researched, so I’m grateful
I loved this weeks video!
It’s awesome that they built a bigger building to accommodate the amount of acellus graduates per year!
Wow Dr.Billings is the smartest I think.
I love science LIVE
Did Mr. Marconi invent other things too
Acellus is the best
My dad loves WD 40.
Hello from Illinois!!
r 51 is so funny he made my day with that hair comment he is soo fun
The DNA helix looks really complex but amazing at the same time.
R-51 is absolutely hilarious every time.
I had no idea that’s how WD40 was invented and that it was used for rockets first! That was a really cool and interesting fact.
I love R5 10 and Roger Billings, Happy Holidays to everyone 🙂
Thank you Acellus for science lives!
40 tries is insane!
Thank you for the lectures, I really enjoyed Dr. Johns lecture on the Atlas Eon 100 and the storage memory it has. Im looking foward to the next lectures that will be on the science live.
Thank you Mr.Billings!
Part of me can’t believe R51 got shocked but the other part of me is like “well that’s totally believable”.
Dr. Billings is so inspiring.
I always learn some interesting facts when I watch Science Live.
The relay was very interesting to learn about, and I am enjoying learning about inventions.
Edison’s quote is amazing! Try one more time!!!!
Acellus World looks like fun
I enjoyed this week science live. I really enjoyed this week‘s demonstration in the lab. It was very informative. Thank you so much!
I’m glad to be warm and cozy watching Science Live, its so cold outside!
Thank you Mr. Bilings!!!
My son love the academy acellus it’s awesome.
Cool,
I did not know that about WD-40, I just new it help stop my door hinges from squeaking..LOL!
Loved this episode! So interesting!
The WD40 information was interesting. Thank you and happy holidays. *
I love watching Tobias talk about science in the past!
My dad uses WD40 for everything! Now I can teach him something about it!
I love watching scince live!
I love learning about DNA!
i didn’t know WD-40 was used for rockets that’s really cool!
I enjoyed the live! Very educational!
Happy Holidays everyone!!
Thank you Dr Billings for making science fun!
science live is really fun!!
I love r51
I would have never imagined using DNA as a way to store data. Crazy that it could be stored for a thousand years. Really makes me wonder what technology will be like when I’m my Mom’s age!
The way they built the bell was very smart.
Science live has a lot of information
Always enjoy watching from Houston!
Thank you Mr billings!! I always look forward to the lives!
My dad uses WD40 all the time I didn’t know it took 40 tries to make.
I really enjoy getting to learn about science with Dr. Billings. I really learn a lot from it. Thank you for making these.