circuits

• series circuit:

  will be set up as one continuous loop

  there are no branches in a series circuit

  for the components to work the circuit must be complete
• bulbs in a series circuit:

  the more bulbs the dimmer they will be

  the more cells you add the brighter the bulbs will be

  if there are two or more bulbs in a series circuit and one bulb breaks the current will not flow and the circuit will be broken
• current in a series circuit remains the same everywhere in the circuit
• potential difference is shared with all the components in the series circuit
• the total potential difference of all the components will equal that of the cell or battery
• if a circuit is set up as a parallel circuit it will be set up with branches
• the branches in parallel circuit form loops in which the current can go
• bulb in parallel circuits:

  if one bulb breaks in a parallel circuit the others will still be on

  if you add more bulbs to different branches the other bulbs will not get dimmer
• current in parallel circuits:

  the current is split among the circuits branches

  if there were two branches each with a bulb they would each share half the current that was originally in the circuit
• potential difference in parallel circuits:

  the potential difference across the different components is equal to that of the cell or battery

  if there were two branches each with a bulb they would each have the same potential difference as the battery or cell