Why does an ameter have the same reading wherever it isput in the series circuit?

Answer 1

Ahhh ... you've hit upon a very basic property of series circuits, and your ammeter is

proving it to you: The current is the same at every point in a series circuit.

Why ?

Current is the actual flow of real physical electrons. If there's only one path that

current can follow through the circuit ... a "series" circuit ... then every electron

that enters at one end of the circuit has to leave from the other end.

If you have different currents at different places in the circuit, then one of these things

must be happening:

-- electrons are falling off the wire at some point

-- electrons are going 'poof' and disappearing at some point

-- electrons are materializing out of nothingness at some point

-- somebody is adding extra electrons to the wire at some point

-- electrons are being created or destroyed somewhere in the circuit.

The Funhouse at the amusement park is a series circuit. People hand over their ticket

and walk into the front door, and people come out the back door. You could set up

a counter (an ammeter) anywhere in the funhouse, and regardless of where you

count, you'll count the same number of people passing by, because people are not

created or destroyed at any point inside the funhouse.

Wherever you measure the amount of watter passing you in a length of waterpipe,

you measure the same amount, because water is not created or destroyed anywhere

inside the pipe.

Wherever you sit on a section of highway between two exits, you count the same

number of cars passing you, because cars are not created or destroyed anywhere

on the highway.

etc.

Answer 2

This is a result of Kirchhoff's Current Law.