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94 SCIPAD - BIG IDEAS - BOOK 2
CIRCUITS AND MAGNETS
Parallel and Series Circuits
There are two main types of circuits we use in the laboratory:
2. Draw a circuit with three bulbs in parallel, with two switches placed so that one switch
controls all bulbs and the second switch controls only one of the bulbs. The circuit is
powered by a battery containing 2 cells.
1. Draw a circuit with three bulbs in series, with a switch placed so that it controls all the bulbs,
powered by a battery containing 2 cells.
A series circuit is one in which all the components (light
bulbs, etc.) are connected one after the other. This means
there is only one path for the current to take between
any two points in this circuit. The diagram above shows a
battery (consisting of four cells), connected to three bulbs
in series. If one of the bulbs in the circuit fails (breaks),
then the current through all of the bulbs will stop.
A parallel circuit is one in which the components in
the circuit are parallel to each other. The current has
different paths to take around the circuit. The diagram
above shows the same components as before, but this
time they are wired in parallel. If one of the bulbs fails
(breaks) in the parallel circuit, the other two will still have
a current through them, and will still glow.
Series Circuits Parallel Circuits
3. (a) Do you think the lights in your house are wired up in series or parallel? 

(b) How could you prove your answer to (a) without looking at the wiring? 


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