Download Series vs. Parallel Circuit

Series vs. Parallel Circuit
(Exam is on 4/21)
Series Circuit
● One Path for electrons
● Current is same in all parts of the circuit
● Voltage of resistors add to voltage of battery
● Resistor with most resistance gets most voltage
● A break anywhere cuts off current everywhere.
● Fuses, resistors, and switches must be connected in
series to the components they are protecting or
regulating.
Parallel Circuit
● Multiple independent paths for electrons
● Total voltage is same in all branches of the circuit.
● Currents in each path add to current from the battery
● Path with the least resistance gets most current
● A break in one path has no effect on the other paths.
● Fuses, resistors and switches will do nothing if they are
connected in a path that does not contain the thing they
are intended to work with.
Based on your knowledge of series
circuits, what will be the current in
the current meter in the picture
below?
Based on your knowledge of series
circuits, what will be the current in
the current meter in the picture
below?
The meter reads 2A since the current is the same
everywhere in a series circuit.
Based on your knowledge of series
circuits, what will be the voltage
measured in the voltage meter in the
picture below?
Based on your knowledge of series
circuits, what will be the voltage
measured in the voltage meter in the
picture below?
The meter reads 70 V since all the resistors are
the same they each get 1/4th of the total voltage.
Based on your knowledge of parallel
circuits, what will be the voltage
measured by the voltage meter in
the picture below?
Based on your knowledge of parallel
circuits, what will be the voltage
measured by the voltage meter in
the picture below?
The meter reads 12 V since all branches of a
parallel circuit get full voltage
Based on your knowledge of parallel
circuits, what will be the current
measured by the current meter in the
picture below?
Based on your knowledge of parallel
circuits, what will be the current
measured by the current meter in the
picture below?
The meter reads 8A since the each path has the
same resistance, each path will get 2 A. For 4
paths we would have a total of 8 A.
Based on your knowledge of parallel
circuits, what will be the current
measured by the current meter in the
picture below?
Based on your knowledge of parallel
circuits, what will be the current
measured by the current meter in the
picture below?
The meter reads 7.5 A.
The 12 Ω resistor gets 1 A (half the
current of the 6 Ω)
The 24 Ω path gets 0.5 A. (half the
current of the 12 Ω path)
The 3 Ω path get 4 A. (double the
current of the 6 Ω path)
Total Current is 2 + 1 + 0.5 + 4
Example Problem for Parallel
Find the current, voltage and power in all parts
of the circuit shown below.
Example Problem for Parallel
Find the current, voltage and power in all parts
of the circuit shown below.
Each resistor gets 12 V.
The top path has 1.2 A
The middle path has 2.4 A
The bottom path has 0.6 A
The Powers will be 14.4 W, 28.8 W
and 7.2 W (from top to bottom)
The total current is 4.2 A
The total power is 50.4 W
Total Resistance is 2.86 Ω
Example Problem for Series
Find the current, voltage and power in all parts
of the circuit shown below.
Example Problem for Series
Find the current, voltage and power in all parts
of the circuit shown below.
The total resistance is 35 Ω
The total current and all the other
currents are 0.343 A
The voltages are 3.43 V, 1.71 V and
6.86 V (from left to right)
The powers are 1.18 W, 0.566 W,
and 2.35 W (from left to right)
The total power is 4.116 W
Example Problem for Combo Circuit
(Regents Physics Only)
Find the current, voltage and power in all parts
of the circuit shown below.
Q#5
Homework
Find the current, voltage and power in all parts
of the circuit shown below.