Plan for Today (AP Physics I) Inquiry questions on circuits Lecture on Series and Parallel Circuits
Parallel and Series Circuits Parallel Series
Instructions Create a series and parallel circuit with three capacitors and charge them with 6 V Measure the voltage across each capacitor Discharge the circuit with a light bulb noting the length of time. Sketch your set up and label the voltages Describe the differences between the two circuits (include V and q)
Series and Parallel Circuits
Series Circuit Steps Single path around 1. An electron is pushed out of the negative end of the battery and deposited on the 1st plate This pushes an electron off the opposite plate on to the next plate This repeats with the next capacitor down the line until one electron reaches the battery The whole process repeats until the energy of the battery (voltage) is completely used Single path around
In a series circuit What is the same? q for each the same What is different? voltage
Energy of the battery is spread out over all the capacitors
Series Circuits We would like to collapse capacitors down to one equivalent capacitor It would help us solve for values
Ceq is what the 3 capacitors in series act like So what is the same? q on each qeq = q1 = q2 = q3
VB = V1 + V2 + V3 C = q/V So V = q/C – can sub in Because voltage is distributed across C = q/V So V = q/C – can sub in
But all the q’s are the same Series Circuit equation
Example Solve the following circuit. Find q1, q2, q3 and v1, v2, and v3.
Parallel Circuit Has multiple paths
Parallel Circuits Diagram Flow of electrons 1. Look at C1 first. An electron is pulled off and deposited until all the energy of the battery is used 2. This repeats with the 2nd and 3rd capacitors. What is the same for each capacitor? Voltage
Parallel Circuits
Parallel Circuits - Calculations
Example Problem – Parallel Circuits Analyze the following circuit and find V1, V2, and V3 and q1, q2, and q3.
Example Problem – Parallel Circuits Analyze the following circuit and find V1, V2, and V3 and q1, q2, and q3.