If you build a circuit with lights and you put a number of lights in parallel and a number of lights in series with these parallel lights. Do the lights of the parallel circuit glow more brightly than those of the series since they draw current directly from the source, or do they all burn equally dimly because they are also in series with others?
Answer
No. The replacement resistance of the resistors connected in parallel will decrease, because the current now has multiple paths along which it can flow. (Resistance is resistance to current flow, so the easier current flow, the lower the resistance.)
The current through the parallel resistors is the same everywhere, because there is the same voltage across them (in volts), and is added up at the node where they meet. So less current flows through the parallel-connected resistors and more through the series-connected resistors. So the parallel ones will burn less brightly.
eg. Four in parallel with two in series of the same size: The voltage across the parallel-connected resistors is 4 times smaller, so is the current, so 4 times less light output.
(This is not completely correct, as the resistance is highly dependent on the current flowing through it).
Answered by
ing Dirk Van Merode
Electronics
http://www.thomasmore.be
.