Series Circuit
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| Figure (A) series circuit. The same current flows through all the resistors. |
- An electric circuit can be arranged in several ways, as long as the path for the electric current is closed. The simplest arrangement is the so-called series circuit. The series circuit has all the elements of the circuit connected onto each other, end to end, as illustrated in Figure (A) The same current from the battery flows through all the resistors.
Parallel Circuit
- Another arrangement is the so-called parallel or multiple connection. Each resistor is individually connected across the battery, as shown in Figure (B), instead of all the resistors being connected onto each other, end to end, and then onto the battery. The resistors are now said to be in parallel with each other.
Series Parallel Circuit
- A third arrangement is the combination of the series and the parallel circuits. Part of the circuit is in series and part in parallel, as shown in Figure (C) The same current flows through each element of the series portion of the circuit. The current in the parallel part of the circuit divides, and only a portion of the current flows through each of the parallel paths.