Charge And Current

Question 1

What does adding cells in series mean for the charge carriers?
What if the cell has an opposite configuration to the other cells? (I.e. is facing the other way with the longer side on the right)

Answer 1

An increase in energy per charge of the charge carriers in the circuit. More cells = higher EMF

Total EMF in series
= E1 + E2 +E3

If the configuration is opposite, the EMF becomes negative, so subtract the EMF

Question 3

What does adding cells in parallel mean for the charge of a charge carrier? What if one cell has a higher EMF?

Answer 3

Adding cells in parallel does not change the energy per charge of the charge carriers as they still only pass through one cell.

In parallel E total
= E1 = E2

A short circuit is created and will flow from the higher cell to the lower cell until they reach the same EMF level. The value is roughly halfway between the 2 values. However, cells can become hot and explode with 2 different EMFs.