Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Circuits
- Circuit devices
- Current only flows in one direction through a diode
- Is a device made from a semiconductor such as silicon
- It is used to regulate the potential difference of a circuit
- Light emitting diodes are very useful
- They emit light when a current flows through it in the forward direction
- Indicate the presence of a current
- Used in appliances to show they are switched on
- Light Dependent Resistor or LDR
- Its dependent on the intensity of the light
- In bright light the resistance falls
- In darkness the resistance is the highest
- Used for burglar detectors
- The resistance of a Thermistor as temperature increases
- A temperature dependent resistor
- In hot conditions the resistance drops
- In cool conditions the resistance goes up
- Used for temperature detectors e.g. thermostat
- Series Circuit
- In a series circuit the different components are
connected in a line if you remove or disconnect
one component the circuit is broken and they all
stop
- Potential difference is shared
- In series circuits the total P.D. of the
supply is shared between the various
components. So the voltage always adds
up to equal the source voltage
- V = V1 + V2 ...
- Current is the same everywhere
- The same current flows through all parts of the circuit
- A1 = A2
- The size of the current is determined
by the total P.D. of the cells and the
total resistance of the circuit
- I = V / R
- Resistance adds up
- The total resistance is the sum of all the resistances
- R = R1 + R2 + R3..
- Cell voltage adds up
- There is a bigger
potential difference when
more cells are in series
provided the cells are all
connected
- Parallel Circuit
- Each component is
separately connected to
the supply. If you remove
or disconnect one of
them it will hardly affect
the others. Used more
- P.D is the same across all components
- This means identical bulbs
connected in parallel will all be
at the same brightness
- Current is shared between branches
- In parallel circuits the total current
flowing around the circuit is equal to the
total of all the currents through the
separate components
- There are junctions where the circuit
either splits or rejoins. The total
current going into a junction has to
equal the total leaving
- Voltmeters and Ammeters are exceptions
- Ammeters are always connected in series
- Voltmeters are always connected in parallel with a component