electrical energy Flashcards
series circuit
in a series circuit, the power supply can only be in one pathway
parallel circuit
in a parallel circuit, the power supply can go into more than one pathway
conventional current
current flows from the POSITIVE terminal of a power supply to the negative terminal
electric current, I.
electric current is a flow of moving charged particles
measuring current, I.
to measure the current(I) an ammeter is connected directly to the circuit at the point of interest- where you want to measure the flow of particles. It’s measured in Amps (A)
current in series
the current is the same at any point as there is one pathway for the current to flow
current in parallel
current has a ‘choice of routes’ it will split at each branch it reaches, usually in half each time.
voltage, V.
voltage represents the ENERGY CARRIED by the charges flowing around the circuit
measuring voltage, V.
voltage is measured with a voltmeter connected in parallel between two points in a circuit. It measures the energy difference between the two points in the circuit
voltage in series
in with identical lamps the voltage is shared equally because the energy is used as they pass through the components
voltage in parallel
in parallel the voltage across all branches is equal to the supply voltage because each branch has a connection to the power supply, as more branches are added more currents can be flowing in the circuit
resistance, R.
all objects in an electrical circuit resist the movements of electrons through them. Its measured in OHMS
Ohm’s law
it’s the mathematical relationship between the resistance of an object, the current passing through, and the voltage across the object …
Voltage = current x resistance
power, P.
power is the rate at which energy is used.
a power rating of 1 means 1 joule of energy is being converted per second to another energy
calculating power
current defines how many electrons are moving past a point per second, voltage is electrons per second times the energy per electron. so we multiply these together to find the power, energy flow per unit of time.
