Circuits

CIRCUITS

Most circuits will have more than one component, called a resistor, that limits the flow of charge in a circuit. The limit on the charge’s flow is called the resistance. Resistance, like capacitance, can be done in series and in parallel. This is shown in figure 124:

Figure 124.

Resistors in series have the flow of current passing through each resistor in sequence. The voltage drop in such a case will be additive so the total resistance will be the sum of all of the resistances. Each resistor will dissipate its own amount of energy; however, the total energy will be conserved in the system because of the conservation of energy laws. The same current will flow through each resistor in series but the individual resistors don’t get the total source voltage. Instead, they divide the voltage.

Resistors in parallel have a different ability to resist the current. Each resistor will have the full voltage of the source applied to it. This is the case of the resistors for different