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1. Using what you know about resistance, current, and Ohm\'s Law, hypothesize ab

ID: 1731826 • Letter: 1

Question

1. Using what you know about resistance, current, and Ohm's Law, hypothesize about how series resistors would affect current flow. What would you expect the effect of the resistance of two equal resistors in series to be on the current flow, compared to the resistance of a single resistor?

2. Using what you know about resistance, current, and Ohm's Law, hypothesize about how parallel resistors would affect current flow. What would you expect the effect of the resistance of two equal resistors in parallel to be on the current flow, compared to the resistance of one alone?

3. What are the different advantages of a) the series vs. b) the parallel circuits? The resistors could be replaced with lightbulbs or any other household objects including switches and fuses. Can you imagine a real situation in which you would want c) a parallel circuit? Can you imagine a situation in which you would want d) a series circuit?

Explanation / Answer

1) When two equal resistance are connected in series, the equivalent resistance of the circuit increases. So current is reduced.

2) When two equal resistance are connected in parallel, the equivalent resistance of the circuit decreases. So current increases.

3)

(a) Advantages of series circuit:

1. Series circuits do not overheat easily. This makes them very useful in the case of something that might be around a potentially flammable source, like dry plants or cloth.

2. Series circuits are easy to learn and to make. Their simple design is easy to understand, and this means that it’s simple to conduct repairs .

3. we can add more power devices, they have a higher output in terms of voltage .

4. The current that flows in a series circuit has to flow through every component in the circuit. Therefore, all of the components in a series connection carry the same current.

(b) Advantages of parallel circuit:

1. Every unit that is connected in a parallel circuit gets equal amount of voltage.

2. It becomes easy to connect or disconnect a new element without affecting the working of other elements.

3. If any fault happened to the circuit, then also the current is able to pass through the circuit through different paths.

Disadvantages: 1. It requires the use of lot of wires.

2. We cannot increase or multiply the voltage in a parallel circuit.

3. Parallel connection fails at the time when it is required to pass exactly same amount of current through the units.

(c) Household connection.

(d) Switch