Current and Voltage in Circuits

Question 1

What are the advantages and Disadvantages of using Series Circuits

Answer 1

Advantages:
+ All the components can be controlled using one Switch in the circuit.

+ Less wiring is needed, which reduces cost.

Disadvantages:
- If one component breaks or is removed, the entire circuit will not work

• You cannot control each component individually.

Question 2

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Parallel circuits

Answer 2

Advantages:
+ Each component can be controlled individually.
+ If one component is broken or is removed, the other component will still function.

Disadvantages:
- More number of cables are required, which increases the cost.

• More complex cable structure.

Question 3

What factors does the current in a series circuit depend on

Answer 3

1. The voltage of the power source.

2. The number of components and the type of components.

Question 4

What happens when you increase the number of components in a series circuit

Answer 4

This increases the resistance in the circuit, which reduces the amount of current that is flowing through the circuit.

Question 5

What is current

Answer 5

Current is the rate of flow of charge i.e the number of charges flowing per second.

Question 6

Equation for Charge

Answer 6

Charge = Current x Time

Question 7

Why is current conserved at junctions in the circuit

Answer 7

Because the electrons flowing around the circuit cannot be created or destroyed.

This means that the total number of electrons going around the circuit should remain the same.

When the electron reach the junction some electrons will go in one way and the rest of the electron will go on the other.

The number of electrons that go either way depend on the resistance of the component.

Question 8

What does 1 Amp equal to

Answer 8

1 Coulomb per second (6 million electrons flowing through per second)

Question 9

Which way does the current flow

Answer 9

Although electrons flow from negative to positive, the current flows from positive to negative.

Question 10

How does the voltage differ from a series and a parallel circuit

Answer 10

In a series circuit, the voltage is divided / shared between components of the circuit.

In a parallel circuit the voltage is the same for all components of the circuit.