2c P1 circuits

Question 1

what is the current in series like?

Answer 1

the current is the same value at any point

Question 2

what does the amount of current around a series depend on?

Answer 2

the voltage of the power source

the number and type of components in the circuit

Question 3

what is the current in parallel like?

Answer 3

at a junction the current in conserved

Question 4

what does conserved mean?

Answer 4

the amount of the current flowing into the junction is equal to the amount of current flowing out of it, it doesn’t split equally though

Question 5

why is the current like that in parallel circuits?

Answer 5

because of the flow of electrons

- when the electrons reach a junction some will go one way and the rest will go the other

Question 6

which way is the current flow?

Answer 6

flows from the positive to the negative

Question 7

what is current?

Answer 7

rate of flow charge

so the size of an electric current is amount of charge passing through a component per second

Question 8

what is resistance?

Answer 8

opposition to current

Question 9

what does it mean in a circuit when there is a low current?

Answer 9

there is a high resistance

Question 10

what do good conductors have?

Answer 10

low resistance

Question 11

what is potential difference?

Answer 11

a measure of how much energy is transferred between two points in a circuit

Question 12

what can be used to indicate the presence of current in a circuit?

Answer 12

lamps or led lights

Question 13

what is the electric current in solid metal conductors?

Answer 13

a flow of negatively charged electrons

Question 14

what is the voltage like in a parallel circuit?

Answer 14

its the same

Question 15

what is voltage?

Answer 15

energy transferred per unit charge passed

Question 16

what is a volt?

Answer 16

a joule per coulomb

Question 17

advantages of a series circuit?

Answer 17

All of the components can be controlled by a single switch
uses less power
Fewer wires are required

Question 18

advantages of a parallel circuit?

Answer 18

The components can be individually controlled, using their own switches
If one component breaks, then the others will continue to function
bulbs maintain a similar brightness

Question 19

disadvantages of a series circuit?

Answer 19

The components cannot be controlled separately

If one component breaks, they will all stop working as well

Question 20

disadvantages of a parallel circuit?

Answer 20

Many more wires involved so much more complicated to set up

All components have the same voltage as the supply, so harder to control if components need to have different voltages

Question 21

what is the effect of changing resistance in a circuit on the current?

Answer 21

since V = IR as you increase the resistance the current will decrease

Question 22

what do LDRs do?

Answer 22

they are light dependent resistors, so they change. resistance depending on the light

Question 23

what is the effect on resistance as illumination increases? (LDR)

Answer 23

as illumination increases, resistance decreases

Question 24

what is the effect on resistance as temperature increases? (thermistor)

Answer 24

as temperate increases, resistance decreases

Question 25

what is a thermistor?

Answer 25

changes the resistance depending on the temp