Series Circuits
Series Circuit – a circuit that contains only
one current path
Circuit Diagram
Constructed Circuit
EGR 101
1
Total Series Resistance
From our Breadboarding Experiment, we found
that the total resistance of this circuit is 11.3 kΩ,
which happens to be equal to the sum of all of the
resistances in the series loop.
RT  R1  R2  ...  Rn
RT = the total circuit resistance
Rn = the highest-numbered
resistor in the circuit
EGR 101
2
Current in a Series Circuit
Current Characteristics – the current at any
point in a series circuit must equal the current
at every other point in the circuit
EGR 101
3
Voltage Characteristics of a Series Circuit
The voltages across the resistors “around the loop” add up
to the applied Power Supply voltage.
VS  V1  V2  ...  Vn
EGR 101
4
What About the Powers?
P
PT  Vs I  V1  V2  V3 I
Power delivered by the source
PT  V1 I  V2 I  V3 I
PT  PR1  PR2  PR3
Sum of the individual resistor powers
EGR 101
5
EGR 101
6