Saturday 30 March 2013

2.8 explain why a series or parallel circuit is more appropriate for particular applications, including domestic lighting

In a series circuit everything is connected on one line. This means that the voltage is shared out between every component: this makes it useful for supplying low power things like fairy lights.

In a parallel circuit different components are connected separately to the supply. This means that of one component breaks the others can continue being powered as the whole circuit is still functioning, this makes it practical to use. It is also good for charging higher power things as the potential difference is equal all over a parallel circuit so each component receives the full voltage.

4 comments:

  1. Can You Add Some [Photos] To Explain "In a series circuit everything is connected on one line."

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    1. Think of the lights on a christmas tree. The wire goes from the power source to a component, then out the component, then in the next, then out the component and so on until the last component where it goes out and reaches the other side of the power source.

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  2. I really want to just say thanks to you, Hannah. You really did help us a lot.

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  3. The voltage all over the circuit maybe the same but being connected in series or parallel surely doesn’t effect the power??? Remembering power=voltageXcurrent, yes in a parallel circuit the voltage is higher per component but this is cancelled out because the current is also reduced as it splits up to go down different paths. Therefore the power in a series circuit and the power in a parallel circuit must be the same???

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