Summary Table – Series and Parallel Circuits



Summary Table – Series and Parallel Circuits

| |Series |Parallel |

| | | |

| | | |

|Circuit Diagram | | |

|Draw a diagram of two light bulbs (in series and in parallel) | | |

|with a 3 cell battery. | | |

|Number of paths for electrons to follow |One path |2 or more paths |

|Is electrical energy (voltage) from the source shared between |Yes, voltage is shared between loads |No, voltage at each load equals voltage at|

|loads? | |battery |

|Is the amount of current (amperage) from the source shared |No, current is the same throughout circuit|Yes, current splits between paths. |

|between loads? | | |

|If one load is turned off, will the other loads stay on? |No, all loads turn off. |Yes, other loads stay on. |

|If more loads are added, what happens to the voltage drop across|Voltage drop decreases (more sharing). |Voltage drop stays the same. |

|each load? | | |

|If more loads are added, what happens to the total resistance in|Total resistance increases. |Total resistance decreases. |

|the circuit? | | |

|If more loads are added, what happens to the total current |Current decreases as more loads are added.|Current will increase as more loads are |

|coming out of the source? | |added. |

|If more loads are added, what happens to the brightness of the |Lights become dimmer (less voltage and |Lights stay bright. |

|bulbs? |current) | |

Draw the following circuit diagrams on another piece of paper:

1. A battery (two cells), one open switch, and one light bulb.

2. One cell, two motors, and one light bulb, all wired in parallel. A switch is connected in series with the light bulb so that it can be turned on and off without affecting the rest of the circuit.

3. A battery (three cells), one closed switch, a motor, a light bulb, and a resistor wired in series. A voltmeter is connected to the battery to measure its voltage.

4. One cell is connected to two lights in series. A third light is connected in parallel with the other two. One closed switch controls all three lights.

5. A three cell battery connected to two resistors in series. A motor is connected in parallel with the resistors. Include a voltmeter to measure the voltage of the source and an ammeter to measure the current leaving the source.

6. A 2 cell battery is connected to two resistors in parallel. A third resistor is in series with both other resistors.

7. A circuit contains two light bulbs, a motor, and one switch, and is powered by a 3 cell battery. The motor must stay on at all times. The two light bulbs can be turned on and off together by the same switch. Include a voltmeter to measure the voltage of the source, and an ammeter to measure the current going through the motor.

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