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Parallel circuit: The fact that the voltage is the same follows from Kirchoff's Voltage Law.

Series circuit: The voltages of the individual resistances must add up to the total voltage. This, too, follows from Kirchoff's Voltage Law. If the resistances have the same values, all of them will drop the same voltage (which, of course, will be less than the total resistance). But if they are different, Kirchoff's current law tells us that the same current must flow through each resistor in series - and the voltages will be different in this case, according to Ohm's law.

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Series circuit: Current must be the same by Kirchhoff's Current Law. Basically, if the current has nowhere else to go, then the current that passes through one element will continue through the next.

Parallel circuit: Voltage must be the same, by Kirchhoff's Voltage Law. This is related to the Law of Conservation of Energy - and the fact that electrical forces are conservative forces. Thus, the voltage between two points in a circuit is the same, no matter what path is taken. Voltage is energy per unit charge; and this behavior is the typical behavior for conservative forces.

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Q: Why id voltage different in series circuits and the same in parallel circuits?
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Related questions

How does voltage and resistance behave in a series and a parallel circuit?

The current through each resistor is equal to the voltage across it divided by its resistance for series and parallel circuits.


Are parallel circuits like series circuits?

They are not exactly the same. A series circuit is one complete circuit with not other pathways. A parallel circuit is a complete circuit with multiple pathways . The resistance of a parallel circuit is completely different from the resistance of a series circuit. Therefore, this affects the voltage and the current produced,


What are differences between series and parallel circuits?

In series circuits current will be the same through out the circuit. So whereever we connect the ammeter the same current is registered. But in parallel circuit current will be different in different lines. In parallel circuits the potential difference will be the same but in series pd will be different.


Series circuits and parallel circuits how do they differ?

Components connected in series are connected along a single path, so the same current flows through all of the components.Components connected in parallel are connected so the same voltage is applied to each component


What are the three basic different types of electrical circuits?

In electronics DC stands for direct current. There are three types of circuits in this current. They are the closed, open, and series circuits.


What are the type of circuits used in wiring installation?

The two main types are series and parallel circuits. From these two circuits comes combinations of different series parallel circuits depending on what end results you need.


What are the differences between parallel circuit and series circuit?

Parallel circuits can have more than one way around the circuit I.e. ______O______ |______O_____| |_____|-______| Series circuits only have one way around the circuit I.e. ______O______ |______|-_____| Key: __ or | = wire O = light |- = battery/cell


What are some types of electric circuits?

Some different types of circuits are:openclosedparallelseriesThere are two types of basic circuits, series and parallel.In series, current stays constant and voltage is divided amongst the resistors.In parallel the voltage stays constant, Every branch of the circuit gets the same voltage from the power supplier, but there is different current in every branch but current doesn't get lost. Current entering a junction(branches) must equal to current out of the junction. Iin =Iout.The third type could be the Series-Parallel Combination, which has some components wired in series and other components in parallel. Solving these circuits requires more complex analysis techniques. See related link.Another AnswerElectrical circuits are generally classified as being: (1) series, (2) parallel, (3) series-parallel, and (4) complex. The term, 'complex' is a category into which any circuit that doesn't fall into the first three categories, is placed.


What do parallel circuit NOT have in common with series circuit?

A parallel circuit is different in many ways from a series circuit: 1. In parallel, the voltage across all the devices connected is the same. 2. If a fault occurs in any device connected in parallel combo, then it has no effect on the operation of the other device. 3. In series circuit the current flowing through all the devices is the same while in case of the parallel one the voltage across all the devices is same.


What is a circuit with two or more pathways?

Generally, a circuit with multiple paths is called "parallel" because of the structure of the wiring involved. Parallel circuits have identical voltage on all paths, while current through each path is variable; whereas series circuits, having only one path, has constant current, but variable voltage.


How are series circuits and parallel circuits the same?

They are not. They are connected differently, and the voltages and currents behave in different ways.


How many paths do electrons have to follow?

In a series circuit all the components are connected in series, which means that the same current has to flow through all of them. In a parallel circuit with all the components in parallel, the same voltage is across each of them. Some circuits can be a mixture of series and parallel.