CURRENT IN SERIES & PARALLEL

=Series and Parallel Circuits= ==Series Circuits== A series circuit has electrical devices / components connected in a row (one after the other). In this case the bulbs are dimmer than in the parallel circuit below If one bulb blows or is removed the circuit is broken / no longer complete and all the bulbs will stop working [image:http://i.imgur.com/8slHTla.gif] The current never changes in a series circuit because the electrons are never used up; they just carry the energy through the circuit. The current will be the same at all points. ==Parallel Circuits== A parallel circuit has electrical devices / components connected around each other (piggy-backing each other) In this case the bulbs are brighter than in the series circuit above If one bulb blows or is removed the circuit is still complete and all the remaining bulbs keep working [image:http://i.imgur.com/3FdsAIm.gif] Current is never used up. However, a parallel circuit offers different pathways the electrons can take. The current will split as it travels down the different pathways, but ultimately joins back together. The total current coming out of the battery and returning to the battery will be the same. If the bulbs are identical, the current in each branch will split in half as it travel down each branch. If one bulb has a greater '''resistance''' than the other, a larger amount of current will take the path that is least resistive. *Note; modern Christmas tree lights tend to be parallel circuits because of the clear advantage that if one bulb stops working the rest keep going. Also the bulbs are much brighter in this arrangement.