ELECTRIC CIRCUIT list of circuit components, their symbols and some of their

The drift or movement of electrons in a conductor is possible uses.

if there is a complete path through which they can pass. N
Electric circuit is the continuous and complete path
through which electrons flow.
Simple electric circuit
A simple electric circuit consists of a cell or battery (a battery
is a collection of cells). A cell is made up of a source of energy
to move electrons, a load (a lamp or a resistor), a switch and
connecting wires which serve as the conducting path for the
electrons. A simple electric circuit may be closed or open.
Figure 1 shows simple closed and simple open circuits.

Figure 1. Closed and open circuits

The circuit is closed if the switch is closed and there is no
break or cut along the connecting wires. The conducting path
comprises the cell, the switch, the connecting wire and the
lamp. Electric current can move round the circuit since it is
Table 1.1 Circuit components, symbol and uses
complete and continuous. A circuit is open if there is a break
Series and parallel circuits
along its conducting path or if the switch is open. The
Two or more components are connected in series if they are
conducting path is not continuous; therefore, electric current
connected end to end such that they form a complete loop.
cannot flow.
Along the conducting path, there is no diversion of current
passing through a series circuit. A series circuit is shown in
Figure 2.

Figure 1a Current passes through the lamp

Figure 2. Series circuit. Lamps A and B are in series

Measurement of current in a series circuit
An ammeter is the instrument used to measure electric
Figure 1b No current passes through the lamp current passing through a circuit. Ammeters are low
Short circuit resistance moving coil instrument because we do not want
When a conductor of very low resistance is connected across their resistance to change the size of current being measured.
a lamp, electric current flowing through the circuit is diverted When two or more ammeters are connected to different parts
away from the lamp through the low resistance wire. We say of a series circuit, they all indicate the same reading. The
that the lamp is short-circuited. ammeters I1, I2 and I3 in Figure 2 show the same reading,
The low resistance wire stops the current from passing therefore, the same current passes through all the
through the lamp because it gives the easiest path for the components connected in series.
current to flow. Short circuit is very dangerous and should be I = I1 = I2 = I3
avoided for the following reasons: Measurement of potential difference (voltage) in a series
• it increases the total current passing through the circuit
circuit but reduces the current through the lamp to Potential difference and e.m.f. are measured with a
zero. voltmeter. A voltmeter is a high resistance moving coil
power loss along the connecting wires is increased, although instrument, therefore, it is connected in parallel to a
the potential difference across the lamp is zero. component to measure the p.d. or voltage across it. A
Circuit elements or components voltmeter is not supposed to draw any current from the
A circuit can be either simple or complex, it may have two or circuit; its resistance must be infinitely high to ensure that no
more components. To draw an electric circuit, we use current is diverted through the voltmeter.
symbols to represent the components. Table 1.1 shows the The positive terminals of the voltmeters are connected to the
positive terminals of the cells.
The voltmeter V1 measures the p.d. across the points BC and I = I 1 = I 2= I 3
the voltmeter V2 measures the p.d. across the points DE. The • The total voltage is the sum of the voltages across
voltmeter V measures the total p.d. across the lamps. each component in a series circuit.
The lamps share the total p.d. across AF such that the p.d • The total current is shared among the components
between A and F is the sum of the p.d. across BC and DE. connected in parallel.
V = V1 + V 2 • Kirchhoff’s law states that the sum of currents
moving towards a junction is equal to the sum of the
currents moving out of the same junction.
• The voltage measured across the components
connected in parallel is the same and equal to the
Figure 3. Measurement of p.d. supplied voltage.
Parallel circuit ARRANGEMENT OF RESISTORS
Two or more components are connected in parallel if they (a) Resistors in series
share a common point with the terminal of the cell or battery.
From fig. 4, note that the current delivered by the battery
splits at one junction J such that I1 passes through the
ammeter A1 and I2 passes through the ammeter A2. The
currents I1 and I2 reunite at the second junction X.
Figure 6. Resistors in series
Two or more resistors are connected in series if they are
connected end to end, forming a complete loop. Figure 6
shows two resistors connected in series.
• The same current flows through the resistors.
• The supply voltage is shared between the two
Figure 4. Parallel circuit lamps A and B are in parallel. resistors. The voltage across each resistor is
The sum of current passing through the components proportional to the size of the resistance of the
connected in parallel is equal to the current delivered by the resistor. V = V1 + V2
battery. Kirchhoff summarized this as follows: the sum of
currents moving towards a junction is equal to the sum of the
currents moving out of the same junction.
At junction J: I = I1 + I2, at the junction X: I1 + I2 = I
Measurement of voltage or p.d. in a parallel circuit
Voltmeter used to measure voltage or p.d. is connected
across the components. The positive (red) terminal of the A single resistance can replace two or more resistances
connected in series and still has the same effect as the
voltmeter and that of the battery are joined together to one
resistances it replaced. The single resistance which replaces
terminal of the component. The negative terminal (black) of
the voltmeter and that of the battery are joined to the other the resistances connected in series, is called the total or
terminal of the component. See Figure 5. effective resistance. The effective resistance of a series is the
arithmetic sum of all the resistances. This is true for any
The voltage measured across the components connected in
number of resistances connected in series.
parallel is the same because all the components are
connected across the same points with the same p.d.
Worked examples
1 Two resistors 2 Ω and 4 Ω are connected in series with an
ammeter and a battery. Two voltmeters are connected across
the resistors to measure the voltage across the resistors.
(a) Sketch the circuit diagram and calculate the effective
Figure 5. Voltage across parallel components are the same resistance of the circuit.
V = V1 = V2 (b) Calculate the voltage across each resistor when a current
Summary of 1.5 A is flowing through the circuit.
• The continuous and complete path through which Solution
electrons flow is called electric circuit.
• Series circuit forms a complete loop with no junction
where the current is diverted.
• The same current passes through all the components
connected in series.
Note: The same current passes through the resistors
connected in series.

The effective resistance in parallel is less than the

smallest resistance in a parallel circuit. The equation for
resistances in parallel can be extended to any number of
resistances connected in parallel.

2. Three resistors 6 Ω, 8 Ω and 10 Ω are connected in series

to a supply voltage of 12 V. Calculate the:
(a) effective resistance of the circuit
(b) total current flowing through the circuit
(c) voltage across each resistor.
Solution
Worked examples
1. A voltage of 6 V is connected across two resistors of 3 Ω
and 6 Ω connected in parallel. Calculate the:
(a) effective resistance of the circuit;
(b) total current flowing through the circuit;
(c) current passing through the 3 Ω resistor.
Solution

a) Resistors in parallel
Two or more resistors are connected in parallel if they are
connected side by side as shown in Figure 7. For resistors
connected in parallel:
• the same voltage is applied across the resistors. V =
V 1 = V2
• the current from the battery splits at the junction J
such that the sum of currents moving towards the
junction is equal to the sum of currents moving away
from the same junction. 2. The circuit diagram below shows a 12 V battery connected
I = I1 + I2 across three resistances 12 Ω, 18 Ω and 36 Ω respectively.
Use the diagram to calculate the:
(a) effective resistance of the circuit;
(b) total current in the circuit;
(c) current passing through each resistor.

Figure 7. Resistances in parallel

From Ohm’s law; Solution
 Calculate the:
(a) combined resistance of the circuit.
(b) total current flowing through the circuit.
(c) voltage across each resistor.
(d) current passing through each resistor.
Combining resistors in both series and parallel Solution
In designing electrical and electronic circuits, standard
resistors may be combined to get the required value of
resistance needed. This may be achieved by connecting the
resistors in series, parallel or a combination of series and
parallel.
Parallel combination in series with a third resistor
When two or more resistors arranged in parallel are
connected in series to another resistor as shown in Figure 8,
• the supply voltage is shared between the series (a)
resistor and the parallel combination.
• the current through the series resistor is the same as
the total current flowing in the circuit.
• the current splits at the junction of the parallel
combination such that the total current flowing Therefore, 4 Ω resistor can replace the parallel network of 6 Ω
towards the junction is equal to the total current and 12 Ω.
flowing away from the junction.

Figure 8. Resistors arranged in series parallel

Series combination in parallel with a third resistor
Two or more resistors connected in series can be arranged in
parallel with another resistor as shown in Figure 9.
• The voltage across R3 is equal to the supply voltage.
• The supply voltage is shared between R1 and R2.
• The same current passes through R1 and R2 but the
current through R3 is different. These points must be
remembered as we solve problems on electric
circuits.
Summary
When resistors are connected in series the same current
flows through the resistors and the supply voltage is shared
between the resistors.
R = R1 + R2 + R3 + … + Rn
Figure 9. Resistors arranged in series and parallel
Worked examples
1. The circuit below shows three resistors arranged in both For resistors connected in parallel, the same voltage is
series and parallel. applied across the resistors and the current from the battery
splits at the junction J such that the sum of currents moving
towards the junction is equal to the sum of currents moving
away from the same junction.