Math Playground
Physics

Electric circuits

Voltage pushes, resistance pushes back — Ohm's law ties them together.

A circuit is a closed loop of wire with sources (batteries) and components (resistors, lights, etc.).

Try this
2
Ohm's law: voltage V = I · R (here R = 10 Ω) = 20.0 V
Ohm's law

Volts = amps × ohms. Rearrange to find any one from the other two: I = V/R, R = V/I.

Series vs parallel

  • Series — one loop, same current everywhere; resistances add up; if one bulb dies, all go out.
  • Parallel — separate branches, same voltage across each; total resistance is *less* than the smallest branch; one bulb dying doesn't stop the others.
Your turn

A 12 V battery drives 0.5 A through a bulb. What's the bulb's resistance?

Ohm's law