13.1 Circuit rules

Question 1

kirchhoffs first law

Answer 1

at any junction in a circuit the total current leaving the junction is equal to the total current entering the junction

Question 2

why does the junction law work

Answer 2

because the rates of charge flowing into and out of the junction are always equal

Question 3

current =

Answer 3

the charge of flow along a wire per second

Question 4

what is the current entering a component the same as

Answer 4

the current leaving the component

the charge per second is equal

components don’t use up charge

Question 5

what is the current passing through components in series

Answer 5

the current is the same through every component
because the rate if flow of charge though all the components is the same

Question 6

what is the pd between any two points in a circuit defined as

Answer 6

the energy transfer per coulomb of charge that flows from one point to the other

Question 7

what happens if charge carriers lose energy

Answer 7

the potential difference is a potential drop

Question 8

what happens if charge carriers pass through a battery or cell

Answer 8

they gain energy
the pd is a potential rise equal to the pd across the battery or cells terminals

Question 9

for two or more components in series the total pd across all the components is equal to

Answer 9

the sum of pd across all of the components

this is because the pd of each resistor os the energy delivered per coloumb of charge to that resistor

so the sum of pd across the resistors is the total energy delivered through them which is the pd across the battery terminals

Question 10

what is the pd of components in parallel

Answer 10

the same

charge can pass through either of the resistors
the same amount of energy is delivered by a charge carrier regardless

Question 11

kirchoffs second law

Answer 11

for any complete loop of a circuit the sum of emts around the loop is equal to the sum of pd drops around the loop