1. Series-Parallel Combination Circuits
October 26, 2017
Series-Parallel Combination Circuits

2. Drill
Compare the brightness of bulb A in circuit 1 with bulb A in circuit 2. Which bulb is brighter?
Bulb A in circuit 1
Bulb B in circuit 2
Neither, they are the same

3. Practice – Calculate these values for the series circuit and parallel circuit on the board
R­eq=_____ P1=______W IT=______A V1=______V P2=______W I1=______A V2=______V P3=______W I2=______A V3=______V P4=______W I3=______A V4=______V PT=______W I4=______A **From here on, let’s round all values to the hundredth place!

4. What if we have a circuit with series and parallel components???
How do we calculate the voltages, currents and equivalent resistance for the circuit?

5. Steps for Series-Parallel Combination
Determine whether circuit has more series characteristics or more parallel characteristics to decide how to simplify circuit.
Simplify circuit into a regular series or regular parallel circuit:
Calculate Req of the resistors you are simplifying.
Replace these resistors with a resistor equal to the Req.
Now resistors should either be all in series or all in parallel.
Calculate Req of the resistors = Req of the entire circuit.
Calculate total current for the circuit using Req and total voltage from the battery.
Calculate voltage and current for the simplified circuit, using the proper rules for that type of circuit.
Return to the original circuit.
Calculate the missing voltage and current values using Ohm’s Law.
Calculate the power values using P=IV.
Check your answer!

6. Draw a diagram of the following circuit:
Four resistors, R1, R2, R3 and R4, are connected in a circuit. R1 is in series with the battery and also in series with the combination of R2, R3 and R4 which are all parallel to each other. An ammeter is connected to measure the current across R3. A voltmeter is connected to measure the potential difference across R4.