Series and Parallel Circuits

what is a series circuit?

a circuit's that components are connected one after the other in series in a loop

what happens if a component breaks in a series circuit?

the whole circuit stops, as every component is connected one after the other in a loop so it stops current flow

what is the current rule in a series circuit?

current is the same everywhere in the circuit

what is the voltage rule in series circuits?

Vtotal= V1+V2+V3 the voltage of the battery is shared across all of the components and they will add up to the voltage of the cell/battery

what is the resistance rule in a series circuit?

total resistance= sum of individual resistances of each component

will components with a higher resistance have a lower or higher share of the voltage and why?

higher, as more force will be required to push the flow of current through the component

what is a parallel circuit?

a circuit that is arranged in loops so, it has more than one path for electric current to flow called branches

what happens if a component breaks in a parallel circuit?

only the components on that branch stop working

what is the rule for voltage in a parallel circuit?

voltage is the same on each branch and equal to the voltage of the cell/battery however if there's more than one component on a branch voltage is shared

what is the rule for current in a parallel circuit?

current is shared between all the branches then adds again where the branches meet, it’s equal to the total current of the battery loops with a greater resistance take a lower share of current

what happens to the resistance of the circuit as you add more loops in a parallel circuit?

the more loops we add in parallel the lower the overall resistance, as adding more components in parallel increases options for current to flow increasing the amount of current flowing overall