Circuits

Kirchhoff’s Laws 1. The sum of the voltage sources and voltage drops in a closed circuit must equal zero 2. The sum of the currents entering and leaving a point must equal zero

Series Circuits This type of circuit only has one path for current The current is the same at any pt The amount of current needed to push through a resistor is known as voltage drop In a series circuit, the sum of all the voltages drops must equal the voltage applied

Calculating Series Circuit Values 3 rules used w/ Ohm’s law for finding voltage, amps, resistance, and power in series circuits 1. The current is the same at any pt in circuit 2. The total resistance is the sum of the individual resistors 3. The applied voltage is equal to the sum of the voltage drop across all the resistors

Parallel Circuits Circuits that have more than 1 path for the current to flow. Most common type of circuit in homes 3 Rules of Parallel Circuits 1. The voltage drop across any branch of a parallel circuit is the same as the applied voltage 2. The total current flow in the circuit is equal to the sum of the currents through all the branches

3. The total resistance is equal to the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the branch resistances The total resistance of a parallel circuit is always less than the resistance of the lowest-value resistor, or branch, in the circuit

Combination Circuits A circuit that contains both series and parallel elements To solve the unknown values in a combo circuit use the rules for the series and parallel circuits