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here are two classifications of circuits, series and parallel.
All circuits ranging from household appliances to cars use series or parallel
circuits or a combination of the two. For electricity to flow through
a circuit there has to be a complete path, or a path with no holes or breaks.
If there is any spot in a circuit where there is a gap the circuit will
not work until the path is completed.
Symbols | Series
| Parallel | Ohm's
Law & Power Formula
**Electrical Symbols. The only two symbols that are shown on this page that deal with circuits are the power supply and resistor symbols. Below is an example of each. On the power supply symbol notice the way the arrow is pointing and the size of the lines. The way the arrow points is the direction of current flow coming out of the battery.
The Rules of a Series Circuit 1) Voltage drops around the circuit are divided in proportion to the ohmic value of each component. 2) Resistances add directly. (i.e. R1 + R2) 3) All current flows through all parts. Therefore the amperage
on any part of the circuit is the same as the total amperage.
Parallel Circuit -- Parallel circuits are circuits with many branches which actually creates "seperate circuits" where electricity flows through each branch. The Rules of a Parallel Circuit 1) Voltage across parallel components is equal. 2) Current splits between parallel elements depending on the ratio of the currency. 3) Total resistance is always smaller than the smallest resistor. There are two ways to find the total resistance in a parallel circuit. If there are only two resistors, the product of the two resistors over the sum of the two resistors will give the correct resistance. .((R1 * R2)/(R1 + R2)) But in all situations the following equation works;
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Power Formula (P=IE)
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