Series Circuits

A Series Circuit is a type of Circuit where there is only one path for electrons to flow.

In other words:

Quote

“Two circuit elements are in series when every charge must go through both circuit elements. (There are no other paths for the charges to “choose” to go through.)”

For example:

Every charge must go through Resistor 1, Resistor 2, and Resistor 3. The three resistors are in series.

Each resistor also causes a drop in voltage. Because the voltage at the positive terminal is and at the negative terminal it is we can say:

Additionally, the current is constant because there is only one path for the current to flow. So:

Using these two facts and Ohm’s Law, we can find the resistance:

In general for series components:

We can also calculate the total Capacitance in series circuits as:

In general for series circuits: