Wed. Week 8, April 16: Resistors and Circuit analysis

On this day, the class went into further detail of electric circuits by focusing on the subject of circuit analysis. Particularly, we spent a large portion of time discussing the various ways in which a number of resistors could be connected together and how the various combination of ways to connect resistors can affect the overall resistance of the total circuit.

At the start of class, we were tasked with repeating the steps we took in the previous quiz where we had to connect two bulbs in a way to get either both bulbs dim or both bright.
After this was accomplished, we treated the bulbs as resistors and started taking voltage readings at points on both circuit configurations. We then solved for current at these points in both circuits. The values were then compared and a pattern was discovered regarding the configuration in which the bulbs were hooked up the the circuit.

This observation led to a discussion on equivalent resistance of resistors in parallel and series. The overall resistance of resistors in series is simply the summed up resistances of each resistor and the overall resistance of resistors in parallel are summed inversely.
With this knowledge, circuits made up of parallel and series combinations could now be reduced to a simpler circuit made up of equivalent resistances.


To demonstrate this property of resistors, the class first calculated the equivalent resistance of a given parallel-series circuit and then compared that value to the measured resistance of the built circuit. The two resistances proved to be equal to each other within the range of the resistors' tolerances.