5/3/2023 0 Comments Parallel circuit examplesAt each node (branching location), the water takes two or more separate pathways. Consider the diagrams below in which the flow of water in pipes becomes divided into separate branches. The flow of charge in wires is analogous to the flow of water in pipes. Once more, we will return to the analogy to illustrate how the sum of the current values in the branches is equal to the amount outside of the branches. Throughout this unit, there has been an extensive reliance upon the analogy between charge flow and water flow. Where I total is the total amount of current outside the branches (and in the battery) and I 1, I 2, and I 3 represent the current in the individual branches of the circuit. In equation form, this principle can be written as I total = I 1 + I 2 + I 3 +. It is still the same amount of current, only split up into more than one pathway. The current outside the branches is the same as the sum of the current in the individual branches. The rule that current is everywhere the same still works, only with a twist. Nonetheless, when taken as a whole, the total amount of current in all the branches when added together is the same as the amount of current at locations outside the branches. In a parallel circuit, charge divides up into separate branches such that there can be more current in one branch than there is in another. Charge does NOT become used up by resistors in such a manner that there is less current at one location compared to another. Charge does NOT pile up and begin to accumulate at any given location such that the current at one location is more than at other locations. The rate at which charge flows through a circuit is known as the current. These additional tollbooths will decrease the overall resistance to car flow and increase the rate at which they flow. Adding additional tollbooths within their own branch on a tollway will provide more pathways for cars to flow through the toll station. A tollbooth is the main location of resistance to car flow on a tollway. In an effort to make this rather unexpected result more reasonable, a tollway analogy was introduced. This decreased resistance resulting from increasing the number of branches will have the effect of increasing the rate at which charge flows (also known as the current). Since there are multiple pathways by which charge can flow, adding another resistor in a separate branch provides another pathway by which to direct charge through the main area of resistance within the circuit. In that section, it was emphasized that the act of adding more resistors to a parallel circuit results in the rather unexpected result of having less overall resistance. When arriving at the branching location or node, a charge makes a choice as to which branch to travel through on its journey back to the low potential terminal.Ī short comparison and contrast between series and parallel circuits was made in an earlier section of Lesson 4. Each charge passing through the loop of the external circuit will pass through a single resistor present in a single branch. The presence of branch lines means that there are multiple pathways by which charge can traverse the external circuit. In a parallel circuit, each device is placed in its own separate branch. When all the devices are connected using parallel connections, the circuit is referred to as a parallel circuit. As mentioned in a previous section of Lesson 4, two or more electrical devices in a circuit can be connected by series connections or by parallel connections.
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