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Parallel Circuits Worksheet - Electric Circuits, Exercises of Electrical Circuit Analysis

When the water flow (or charge flow) is divided into two or more separate pathways the sum of the current in each individual pathway equals the total current.

Typology: Exercises

2020/2021

Uploaded on 04/20/2021

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Electric Circuits Name:
Page 1
Parallel Circuits
Read from Lesson 4 of the Current Electricity chapter at The Physics Classroom:
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circuits/u9l4a.html
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circuits/u9l4c.html
MOP Connection: Electric Circuits: sublevels 8, 10 and 11
Review:
1. A circuit in which all charge follows a single pathway is a ____ circuit; a circuit in which charge
follows multiple pathways is a ____ circuit.
a. series, parallel b. parallel, series
2. For a parallel circuit: as the number of resistors being used within the same parallel circuit increases,
the overall resistance value _____________________________ (increases, decreases) and the overall
current value _____________________________ (increases, decreases).
3. Household circuits are connected in parallel so that _____. Select all that apply.
a. houses get the same effect with less current and thus save on energy costs
b. the turning off of one appliance does not result in the shut down of others
c. the hazard of electrocution and overheating of circuits is avoided
Water Analogy:
4. When the water flow (or charge flow) is divided into two or more separate pathways (as in a parallel
circuit) the sum of the current in each individual pathway equals the total current. Utilize this
principle to fill in the blanks in the following two diagrams. The meters in the diagram are
measuring water flow rates in gallons per minute ("gpm").
5. Apply the same principle to fill in the blanks in the following diagrams for charge flow (i.e., current)
through a parallel circuit.
pf3
pf4

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Download Parallel Circuits Worksheet - Electric Circuits and more Exercises Electrical Circuit Analysis in PDF only on Docsity!

Electric Circuits Name:

Parallel Circuits

Read from Lesson 4 of the Current Electricity chapter at The Physics Classroom :

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circuits/u9l4a.html

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circuits/u9l4c.html

MOP Connection: Electric Circuits: sublevels 8, 10 and 11

Review:

  1. A circuit in which all charge follows a single pathway is a ____ circuit; a circuit in which charge

follows multiple pathways is a ____ circuit.

a. series, parallel b. parallel, series

  1. For a parallel circuit: as the number of resistors being used within the same parallel circuit increases,

the overall resistance value _____________________________ (increases, decreases) and the overall

current value _____________________________ (increases, decreases).

  1. Household circuits are connected in parallel so that _____. Select all that apply.

a. houses get the same effect with less current and thus save on energy costs

b. the turning off of one appliance does not result in the shut down of others

c. the hazard of electrocution and overheating of circuits is avoided

Water Analogy:

  1. When the water flow (or charge flow) is divided into two or more separate pathways (as in a parallel

circuit) the sum of the current in each individual pathway equals the total current. Utilize this

principle to fill in the blanks in the following two diagrams. The meters in the diagram are

measuring water flow rates in gallons per minute ("gpm").

  1. Apply the same principle to fill in the blanks in the following diagrams for charge flow (i.e., current)

through a parallel circuit.

Electric Circuits

The Staircase Analogy

Electric charge dividing into multiple pathways in a parallel circuit is analogous to people walking

down stairs which divide up into separate paths.

Imagine being at a large shopping mall; you are descending a rather wide stairway when all of a

sudden it breaks up into several smaller stairways. Being in a hurry, you scan the different

pathways down the stairs to see which path is least crowded. You finally decide that the left

stairway is least crowded and make a "dash" towards it. You know that your "flow rate" will be

greatest along the stairway with the least resistance. When the "people flow" divides up into

multiple pathways, each pathway has the same change in height (or same gravitational potential

drop); yet, the pathway that offers the least resistance will have the greatest flow rate.

In an analogous manner, as charge flow divides up into multiple pathways in a parallel circuit, each

pathway has the same electric potential drop; yet, the pathway with the least resistance will have

the greatest rate of charge flow (i.e., current).

  1. In the following circuits, fill in the blanks to indicate the current through the different pathways.

Calculate the resistance of each resistor. Then rank the resistance of the resistors (labeled A , B , and

C ) in order from smallest to largest.

Ranking of Resistance Ranking of Resistance

____ < ____ < ____ ____ < ____ < ____

  1. A three-resistor parallel circuit is created. The resistances of the resistors are 3 Ω, 6 Ω, and 9 Ω.

Suppose that one observes the current through the 3 Ω resistor to be 6 Amperes. The voltage drop

across this 3 Ω resistor must be _______ V. This provides sufficient evidence to conclude that the

voltage drop across the 6 Ω resistor is _______ V and the voltage drop across the 9 Ω resistor is

_________ V. Therefore, the current in the 6 Ω resistor is ________ Amperes and the current in the 9

Ω resistor is _________ Amperes. When these three branch currents combine, one would observe

that the current in the ___________ V battery is _________ Amperes. In summary:

R

1

= 3 Ω R

2

= 6 Ω R

3

I

1

= 6 Amps I

2

= _____ Amps I

1

= _____ Amps

ΔV

1

= _____ V ΔV

2

= _____ V ΔV

3

= _____ V

I

battery

= _____ Amps ΔV

battery

= _____ V ΔV

battery

/ I

battery

= ________

  1. Consider the circuit at the right.

a. There is a voltage drop of _____V across each 2-Ω resistor.

b. By Ohm's law, the current in each 2-Ω resistor is _____ amps.

c. The current through the battery is ______ amps.

d. The resistors in parallel offer a combined resistance of _______ Ω

to the charge being pumped by the battery.

Electric Circuits

  1. For each of the following branched systems, determine the equivalent resistance.

a.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

b.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

c.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

d.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

e.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

f.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

g.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

h.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

i.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

j.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

k.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

l.

is equivalent to

_______ Ω

  1. Four resistors are connected in a parallel circuit. Three of the resistance values are known - 3 Ω, 4 Ω

and 6 Ω. The overall or equivalent resistance of the four resistors must be ____ Ω. (Choose the one

answer that is most informative.)

a. greater than 3 b. greater than 6 c. greater than 13

d. less than 13 e. less than 3 f. ... it is impossible to tell.