Resistor Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Resistor - Lab Report Example Current is constant in a series circuit while voltage is constant in a parallel circuit (ANWAR, HALL, PRASAD and ROFFEY,1998). Voltage is defines as the measure of the potential difference between two terminals in an electric circuit or electric apparatus. Current is defined as the flowing charge in an electric circuit or electric apparatus. Resistance is the measure of the tendency of an electric apparatus to hinder electric charge from flowing through a given circuit (NAHVI and EDMINISTER 2004). A series circuit is one in which the positive terminal is connected to the negative terminal of the circuit. Any gap that is induced in a series circuit, by say the break-down of a given apparatus in the circuit hampers electric charge from flowing in the entire series circuit. A parallel circuit is one in which at some terminals of the circuit, positive terminals are connected to other positive terminals and negative terminals are connected to other negative terminals. In this regard, a gap introduced at a given point of the circuit does not get the electric flow of charge in the entire circuit to stop. In a series circuit, the current at any point of the circuit is the same for the whole circuit. This is unlike the case in a parallel circuit where the current at one point of the circuit is not necessarily the same as the current in the other points of the circuit (SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR CHILDREN, NATIONAL SCIENCE RESOURCES CENTER, NATIONAL ACADEMIES and SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 2004). The voltage in a parallel connection is limited to that of the smallest voltage source connected in the circuit. On the contrary, in a series connection, the voltage of the circuit is determined by the number of the individual voltage sources connected. The more they are connected, the higher the circuit voltage gets. Kirchhoff’s 1st law implies that the sum of all the current that is entering a given point or