Series & Parallel Circuits

Question 1

A Series Circuit

Answer 1

a circuit that has only one path for current to travel through
(ex. Christmas lights)

Question 2

Parallel Circuit

Answer 2

a circuit that has more than one path for current to travel through (ex. house lights)

Question 3

pathways in a series circuit

Answer 3

electrons must travel through all components of the circuit
- if one part of a circuit is not connected (eg. a switch is open), all electrons are blocked and the current stops

Question 4

voltage and current in a series circuit

Answer 4

in an electric circuit, the charge that leaves a battery “loses” all its voltage before it returns to the battery
- each load in a series circuit loses a portion of the total voltage supplied by the battery
- in a series circuit total voltage of the circuit = sum of the voltages lost on the loads
- the current in each part of a series circuit is equal

Question 5

Resistors in a series circuit

Answer 5

Resistors in a series a circuit increase the total resistance of the circuit
- if you increase the total resistance of the circuit, the total current throughout the circuit decreases

Question 6

pathways in a parallel circuit

Answer 6

a closed pathway that has several different paths for electrons to travel in order to return to the battery

Question 7

Voltage and current in a parallel circuit

Answer 7

in an electric circuit, the charge that leaves a battery loses all its voltage before it returns to the batter
since the pathways of a parallel circuit all connect at the same location, the voltage lost on each of these pathways is identical
- loads that are in PARALLEL have the same voltage
Junction point —————————
where a circuit divides into multiple paths, or where multiple paths join
- no current is created or destroyed, it is only split into different pathways
- current entering must divide among the possible paths
- the amount of current through each of these pathways is dependent on the resistance of the path
- the total current entering a junction point must equal the sum of the current leaving the junction point

Question 8

Resistors in a parallel circuit

Answer 8

When you place a resistor in parallel with another resistor, you create another pathway so the total resistance must decrease (there are more paths for the electrons to flow so less backup)
- more current will travel through a path of lower resistance than a path of higher resistance