Current and Circuits Vocabulary

Flashcards for vocabulary review related to current electricity, series and parallel circuits, and their applications, based on the provided study guide pages.

Electric Circuit

A closed loop through which charges can flow.

Conventional Current

The flow of positive charge.

Potentiometer

A variable resistor or rheostat.

Electric Current

A flow of charged particles.

Resistance

The property that determines how much current is present.

Ampere

A flow of 1 C/s (Coulomb per second).

Schematic

A circuit diagram.

Ammeter

A device that measures current.

Battery

Several voltaic cells connected together.

Resistor

A device designed to have a specific resistance.

Series Connection

A connection that provides only one path for a current.

Voltmeter

A device that measures the potential difference of a circuit.

Parallel Connection

A connection of two or more electric devices that provides more than one current path.

Photovoltaic Cell

A device that converts light energy to electric energy.

Kilowatt-hour

1000 watts of electric energy delivered continuously and used for 1 h.

Electric Energy

Energy provided by batteries and generators.

Electric Circuit

A closed loop that consists of a charge pump connected to a device that reduces the potential energy of the flowing charges.

Charge Pump

A general term that refers to a battery, photovoltaic cell, or generator in a circuit.

Energy

Measures the rate at which charge is transferred.

Power

The potential difference across which energy moves.

Electric Current

Rate of flow of electric charge, measured in coulombs per second.

Ammeter

Used to measure current.

Power

Of an electric device is found by multiplying the potential difference by the current.

Watts

Power or energy delivered to the electric device per second.

Current

Reduced when resistance is increased.

Thermal Energy

Energy converted from electric energy by space heaters and hair dryers.

Resistors

Household appliances that convert electric energy into thermal energy act as resistors in a circuit.

Power

Dissipated in a resistor is proportional to the square of the current that passes through it and to the resistance.

Electric Energy

Energy converted to thermal energy by a resistor.

Fuse

Short piece of metal that melts if too large a current passes through it.

Short Circuit

Occurs when a circuit forms that has a very low resistance.

Parallel Cuircuit

Circuit in which there are several different paths for a current

Circuit Breaker

Automatic switch that opens a circuit when the current reaches some set value.

Combination series-parallel circuit

Circuit that has some resistors in parallel and some in series.

Equivalent Resistance

Value of a single resistor that could replace all resistors in a circuit without changing the current.

Ammeter

Device used to measure the current in part of a circuit.

Voltmeter

Device used to measure the potential drop across some part of a circuit.

Ground-Fault Interrupter

Detects small differences in current caused by an extra current path and opens the circuit.

Voltage Divider

Series circuit used to produce a voltage source from a higher-voltage battery.