Name _______ KEY __________________________________ Date _________ Period ______
Series Circuits
1.
What happens to the current in a series circuit as more light bulbs are added? What
happens to the brightness of each bulb? Why?

2.
The current and brightness decrease with more bulbs. Everything shares the
current, so the current will decrease with more resistors.
Is the current at every point in a series circuit the same?

Yes, the current at every point in a series circuit is the same.
3.
Draw a circuit diagram for a circuit containing a battery and two
bulbs in series.
4.
Use the series circuit pictured to the right to answer the following questions.
a. What is the total voltage across the bulbs?
The total voltage is 6 V.
b. What is the total resistance of the circuit?
RT = R1 +R2 = 1 Ω + 1 Ω = 2 Ω
c. What is the current in the circuit?
=
=
=
d. What is the voltage drop across each light bulb?
=
= (3 A)(1 Ω) = 3 V
e. Draw the path of the current on the diagram.
5.
Use the series circuit pictured to the right to answer the following questions.
a. What is the total voltage across the bulbs?
The total voltage is 6 V.
b. What is the total resistance of the circuit?
RT = R1 +R2 + R3 = 1 Ω + 1 Ω + 1 Ω = Ω
c. What is the current in the circuit?
=
=2
3
d. What is the voltage drop across each light bulb?
=
=
= ( A)(1 Ω) = 2 V
I