• What is a series circuit?
• Elements of a series circuit
• Differences between a series circuit and a parallel circuit
• Series circuit examples

We explain what a series circuit is and the elements that compose it. Also, differences with a parallel circuit and examples.

A series circuit has only one path for current.

What is a series circuit?

A type of electrical circuit provided with a single path for the series circuit is called a series circuit. current, which must reach all the terminals or terminals connected in the network in succession, that is, one after the other, connecting their output points with the input points of the next.

If we explain it with a hydraulic metaphor, we will have two or more deposits of Water arranged in such a way that the outlet pipe of one is the inlet of the next, and so on.

Series circuits supply the terminals with the same amount of current at the same identical intensity, and provide the circuit with an equivalent resistance equal to the sum of the resistances of each connected terminal, but always higher than the largest of them; this means that as we add terminals, the resistance increases (instead of decreasing, as in parallel circuits).

Series circuits are useful because they allow the sum of the voltage, especially with regard to generators; that is, they allow the accumulation of network power. For this reason, certain devices use a certain number of batteries to feed: because only then can they reach the required voltage. Otherwise we would require a single more powerful and expensive battery.

Elements of a series circuit

The conductors are made of metallic material, such as copper.

The elements that make up a series circuit are not essentially different from those of a circuit of another type. The substantial difference is how they are arranged. Thus, we have that a parallel circuit is made up of:

• An electrical source. Where does the Energy that is transmitted by the conductor.
• A driver. Usually made of a metallic material (copper, etc.) that goes from the source to the terminals and back, allowing the electronic flow that is the electricity.
• Terminals or receivers. What are each of the devices connected to the electrical network, which receive the current and transform it into another type of energy: light if they are light bulbs, kinetics if they are motors, etc.

Differences between a series circuit and a parallel circuit

In a parallel circuit, each terminal has its own electrical flow.

A series circuit and a parallel circuit constitute opposite models. Their values, in fact, are calculated using the opposite equations. However, the great and substantial difference between the two has to do with the sustained flow of electrical current.

While a parallel circuit allows each terminal to enjoy its own electrical flow, that is, allowing it to function separately from the rest and therefore not lose current if the neighboring terminal is damaged or interrupted, series circuits, on the other hand, depend on of the correct operation of the neighbor to continue operating, since the output of the former is the input of the latter. So if a terminal is damaged in the series circuit, the entire network from that terminal onwards will lose access to power.

Series circuit examples

Before, Christmas lights came in series circuits.

Formerly, the lights of Christmas with which the tree is adorned, they came in series circuits, which made their production more economical, since the sum of the voltages of the series sustained the electrical voltage to make them shine, but it meant that when one of the small bulbs melted, the entire from then on the network was interrupted.

Another common application of these circuits is found in certain risk, which have an emergency button to turn them off. How it works depends on the interruption of a normally closed series circuit, which opens at one point and strips the entire chain of electricity, stopping the machine.