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Rules Of Series Circuits

Current flow is the same everywhere in a series circuit regardless of the number of load devices.

 

Voltage must be used up as it pushes current through the resistance of the circuit. 

 

The sum of all of the voltage drops will always be equal to the voltage of the power supply. 

 

The greatest amount of voltage drop will occur across the greatest amount of resistance

 

When more than one load is wired in series, the voltage used up “or dropped” across each device in series is directly proportional to the amount of resistance offered by each load.

 

To find the total resistance, simply add all of the individual resistance values in the circuit.  R_t = R₁ + R₂ + R₃

 

To find voltage drop values across any load in series, simply multiply the current flow through the circuit times the resistance offered by that part of the circuit.

E = ( I ) * ( R₁ )  or   E = ( I ) * ( R₂ )  or E = ( I ) * ( R₃ )

 

To find current flow through a series circuit, simply divide the voltage by the total resistance offered by the circuit.   I = E / R_t

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