Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
Region I
Division of Ilocos Sur

ELECTRONICS 10
LESSON TITLE:

CIRCUIT

Name of Teacher: KELVIN JAY S. VILLAFLOR, T1

School: SAN JUAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
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1-3

To the Students:
In this Self Learning Kit, you will learn more about understanding & calculating
circuits and basic rules from series circuit, parallel circuit, and series – parallel circuit
(combination circuit).

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

• Explain how circuits run or work.

• Define the term, three different types of circuits and describe.
• Understanding and calculating circuits.

One example that can describe a circuit is a rail way of a train that
serves as its passage to the destination of the train. But once the
rail way is broken the train cannot pass through to its destination.
The same as a circuit, once the wire is broken the power will not
pass through to the positive terminal.
 An electrical circuit is composed of source of electrical power, two
wires that can carry electrical current, and a light bulb. One end of
both wires is attached to terminal of a cell while their free ends are
connected to the light bulb. The electrical circuit is broken when the
light bulb is switched off.

❖ Circuits
A circuit is a path for electrons to flow through. The path is from a power sources negative
terminal, through the various components and on to the positive terminal.

If we break a circuit down to it's elementary blocks we get:

• A Power Source — eg: battery
• A Path — eg: wire
• A Load — eg: lamp
• A Control — eg: switch
• An indicator — eg: Meter (Optional)

Types of Electrical Circuit

A. Series Circuit
- A series circuit is one with all the loads in a row. There
is only ONE path for the electricity to flow.

UNDERSTANDING & CALCULATING SERIES CIRCUITS BASIC RULES

"1. The same current flows through each part of a series circuit."
 In a series circuit, the amperage at any point in the circuit is the same. This will help
in calculating circuit values using Ohm's Law.
  You will notice from the diagram that 1 amp continually flows
through the circuit. We will get to the calculations in a
moment.
“I” is the current or the amperage.
I Total = I1 = I2 = I3…
I Total = 1A

"2. The total resistance of a series circuit is equal to the sum of

individual resistances."
 In a series circuit you will need to calculate the total
resistance of the circuit in order to figure out the amperage.
This is done by adding up the individual values of each
component in series.
RT = R1 + R2 + R3…
RT = 2Ω + 2 Ω + 3 Ω
=7Ω
 Resistance total is 7 Ohms

In computing amperage, voltage and

Resistance, we will use the Ohm’s Law
Formula.

V= voltage
I= amperage
R= Resistance
When V is missing:
V= IR
When I is missing:
I= V/R
When R is missing:
R=V/I
Example No. 1 try to compute.
Given VT= 12v
R1= 2 Ω
R2= 2 Ω
R3= 3 Ω

Find R Total and I Total

RT = r1 + r2 + r3
= 2Ω + 2Ω + 3Ω
= 7Ω
IT = I1 = I2 = I3… or IT= VT/RT
In this equation we will use IT=VT/RT because we can’t use
the other formula when “I” is missing in every load.
IT = VT/RT
=12v/7Ω
=1.7 amp

"Voltage Drops"
 A voltage drop is the amount of voltage lowers when
crossing a component from the negative side to the
positive side in a series circuit.
 To get the voltage drop in every load or component:
In the example IT is missing the same as the “I” in every
load (I1 & I2). So, get the IT, I1, or I2 to get the voltage
drop in series circuit.
Given: VT= 12V Missing: IT, I1 & I2
R1= 5 Ω V1 & V2 (for example)
R2= 5 Ω RT
RT=R1+R2 IT= VT/RT
=5 Ω+5 Ω = 12v/10 Ω
=10 Ω is RT =1.2 amp is the I total also I1&I2

V1= I1xR1 V2=I2xR2

= 1.2 amp x 5 Ω = 1.2 amp x 5 Ω
= 6v is the voltage drop of V1 = 6v is also voltage drop of V2

"3. Voltage applied to a series circuit is equal to the sum of the individual voltage
drops."
 This simply means that the voltage drops have to add up to the voltage coming from
the battery or batteries.
 V total = V1 + V2 + V3 ...

"4. The voltage drop across a resistor in a series circuit is directly proportional to the
size of the resistor."
 This is what we described in the Voltage Drop section.
 Voltage drop = Current times Resistor size. (V=I x R)

"5. If the circuit is broken at any point, no current will flow."

 The best way to illustrate this is with a string of light bulbs. If one is burnt out, the
whole thing stops working.
Parallel Circuits
 A parallel circuit is one that has two or more paths for the
electricity to flow, the loads are parallel to each other.

A Parallel circuit has certain characteristics and basic rules

1. "A parallel circuit has two or more paths for current to

flow through."
 Simply remember that PARALLEL means two paths up
to thousands of paths. The flow of electricity is divided
between each according to the resistance along each
route.

2. "Voltage is the same across each component of the

parallel circuit."
 The voltage will be the same anywhere in the
circuit.
 VT = V1 = V2 = V3…

3. "The sum of the currents through each path is

equal to the total current that flows from the
source.”
 If one path is drawing 1 amp and the other is
drawing 1 amp then the total is 2 amps at the
source. If there are 4 branches in this same 2
amp circuit, then one path may draw 1/4A
(.25A), the next 1/4A (.25), the next 1/2A (.5A)
and the last 1A.
 IT = I1 + I2 + I3…

4. "You can find TOTAL RESISTANCE in a Parallel circuit with the following
formula: 1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 + ... "
 Let's summarize this EXAMPLE:
• Voltage Total(VT)= 12v
• Resistance 1(R1)= 4 Ω
• Resistance 2 (R2)= 4 Ω
• Resistance 3 (R3)= 2 Ω
 RT and IT(amperage) are missing.

To get the RT:

1/RT= 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3
1/RT= 1/4 Ω+1/4 Ω+1/2 Ω
1/RT= 0.25 Ω+0.25 Ω+0.5
 1/RT=1 Ω
RT= 1/1 Ω RT=1 Ω

1
 1 1 1 1
𝑅𝑇=𝑅1+𝑅2+𝑅3+𝑅4
 Let's try a more complex one
• Voltage Total = 12 Volts
• R1 = 10 Ohms
• R2 = 20 Ohms
• R3 = 10 Ohms
• R4 = 1 Ohms
• Find the Total Resistance
1
• 1 1 1 1
𝑅𝑇=10Ω+20Ω+10Ω+1Ω
1
•
𝑅𝑇=0.1Ω+0.05Ω+0.1Ω+1Ω
1
•
𝑅𝑇=1.25Ω
• 𝑅𝑇 = 0.8Ω
 Figuring out the amperage(I) in Parallel Circuit.
Do you still remember the formula in getting the
Voltage total, Resistance total, and Amperage Total
in Parallel Circuit and also the Ohm’s Law
Formula? Try to compute what is missing with me.
VT= V1= V2 = V3…
IT= I1 + I2 + I3…
1
1 1 1 1
𝑅𝑇 = 𝑅1 + 𝑅2 + 𝑅3 + 𝑅4

• Given: VT= 12V V1= 12V V2 = 12V

R1= 12 Ω
R2= 24 Ω
• Find: RT= ?
IT= ?
I1= ?
I2= ?
 1
Find RT: 1 1
𝑅𝑇= +
𝑅1 𝑅2
1
1 1
𝑅𝑇 = 12Ω + 24Ω

1
𝑅𝑇 = 0.0833 + 0.0416

1
𝑅𝑇 = 0.1249

RT= 8.006 Ω

𝑉1 𝑉2
Find I1: 𝐼1 = 𝑅1 Find I2: 𝐼2 = 𝑅2

12𝑉 12𝑣
𝐼1 = 12Ω 𝐼2 = 24Ω

𝐼1 = 1𝐴 𝐼2 =0.5A
Find IT: IT= I1 + I2
IT= 1A + 0.5A
IT= 1.5A

5. "If one of the parallel paths is broken, current will continue to flow in all the
other paths."

Combination Circuit

 A combination circuit is one that has a

"combination" of series and parallel paths for the
electricity to flow.
 In computing Resistance Total in combination circuit,
figure out the parallel circuit from right to left. In this
example, the R2 and R3 is in a parallel circuit.
 We need to compute the Resistance total from R2 and
R3 (use parallel circuit formula in getting the resistance
total of R2&R3):
1
1 1
𝑅2𝑅3=𝑅2+𝑅3

1
1 1
𝑅2𝑅3 = 4Ω + 4Ω

1
𝑅2𝑅3 = 0.25Ω + 0.25Ω

1
𝑅2𝑅3 = 0.5Ω

𝑅2𝑅3 = 2Ω

 Now we have computed the Resistance total from R2 and R3 which is 2Ω.
 We can now continue to compute the resistance total of the combination circuit using
the series circuit formula because R2 & R3 already combined (the resistance total
from R2 and R3 which is 2Ω).
From R1 to R2R3:
RT = R1 + R2R3
= 8Ω + 2 Ω
= 10 Ω Resistance Total of the combination circuit

 As we computed the RT of the circuit, we can now compute the amperage total(IT)
because in this example the Voltage total(VT) is given 12v.
𝑉𝑇
𝐼𝑇 =
𝑅𝑇
12𝑣
𝐼𝑇 =
10Ω
𝐼𝑇 = 1.2𝐴

Are you done? This time you will do another

set of pre- assessment which could give you a
better understanding of what this self-learning
kit is all about. Are you ready? Let’s begin!
Exercise 1:
Directions: Complete the table.

1.

Principles 1 2 3 Total
Voltage(V) 45v
Amperage (I)
Resistance (Ω) 5k Ω 10k Ω 7.5k Ω

2.

Principles 1 2 3 Total
Voltage(V) 9v
Amperage (I)
Resistance (Ω) 10k Ω 2k Ω 1k Ω

3.
 Principle 1 2 3 4 Total
Voltage (V) ???????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? 10v
Amperage (I) ???????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????
Resistance (Ω) 20 Ω 30 Ω 50 Ω 40 Ω

*Find the IT and the RT only.

To be able to compute every circuit, we must differentiate what

circuit is given. Series Circuit and Parallel Circuit have their
difference formula in computing their resistance, voltage, and
amperage. That’s why we need to know the different formula in
each circuit. In computing Series-Parallel Circuit, we should
start computing it from the right to left or start away from the
power source.

Let’s do another checking of your understanding.

Try to answer the following questions in order to
assess how much did we learn.

Direction: Write the formula.

1. Ohm’s law formula –

2. In Series circuit, what is the formula in getting RT?
3. In series circuit, what is the formula in getting the VT?
4. In parallel circuit, what is the formula in getting the IT?
5. In parallel circuit, what is the formula in getting RT?
 Direction: Draw a table and compute what is missing in the table.

1.

2.

I3=?

3.

100Ω 50Ω 110Ω

ET= 12v R9= 0.5kΩ

RT= ? 40Ω
IT= ?

R7= 15Ω
(E=Voltage or V=Voltage)