What is this?
What do the + and – symbols represent?
The positive and negative ends of the battery
What do the alternating short and longer parallel lines represent?
A battery
What do the zigzag lines represent?
Resistors
What do R1, R2, R3 and R4 represent?
R1, R2, R3 and R4 represent the values of the resistors.
What is the relationship between R1 and R2?
They are connected in series.
What is the relationship between R3 and R4?
They are in parallel.
What is the total resistance between the + and the green dot between R2 and R3?
The total resistance is R1 + R2.
What can be said about the resistance between the green dot and the purple dot?
The total resistance between these two dots is less than either R3 or R4.
The resistance of a parallel circuit is calculated using the reciprocals of the individual resistances. So, 1/Rt = 1/R3 + 1/R4.
What can be said about the total resistance of the entire circuit?
The total resistance is greater than R1 + R2 and less than R1 + R2 + (R3 or R4, whichever is less).
What important quantity can be calculated if the voltage of the battery and the values of the resistors are known?
The current
The three main values of a circuit are the voltage, resistance and current. These are related through the equation Voltage = Current x Resistance, commonly written as V = IR
Goals of this image:
- Recognize basic circuit symbols
- battery
- resistor
- Recognize series and parallel circuits
- The same current will run through resistors connected in series
- The current will be split and run through one of the resistors connected in parallel
- Understand how resistance in circuits combine
- Add in series
- Decrease in parallel
- Understand the three most important quantities of a circuit
- voltage
- resistance
- current
CoMo Science 
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