Chapter 5

Series Circuits
 Series Circuits
• Electric circuit
– Combination of sources and loads in manner that
allows charge to flow
– Obtains energy from either ac or dc source
• Elements in series
– Connect at a single point
• No other current-carrying connections at that point
 Series Circuits (cont’d.)

• Series circuit
– Combines elements in series
• Current is the same
everywhere in a series
circuit
 SERIES/PARALLEL RESISTOR
Resistors in series:

I R1 R2 RN

 V1   V2   VN 

VS


 Resistance equivalent
VS
 Req Req = R1 + R2 + ……….+ RN
CURRENT IN SERIES CIRCUIT
• Current in series circuit is same at all circuit
elements

I  I1  I 2  I N
VOLTAGE IN SERIES CIRCUIT
• Voltage (VT) in series circuit is the total of
voltage for each elements.

VT  V1  V2  ..  VN
 The Voltage Polarity Convention
Revisited

• Voltage exists between points

• How to interpret labeling
– Plus sign at one point and minus sign at another
point means:
• We are looking at the voltage at the plus point with
respect to the minus point
 Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law
• The sum of voltage rises and voltage drops
around a closed loop equals zero

Equation 5-1

Equation 5-2
Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (cont’d.)
 Resistors in Series
• Complicated circuits
– Almost all can be simplified
• Resistors shown in Figure 5-10 can be replaced
with equivalent total resistance
Equation 5-4
 Resistors in Series (cont’d.)
• Power dissipated by each resistor

Equation 5-7

• Power delivered by voltage source

Equation 5-8
 Resistors in Series (cont’d.)
• Conservation of energy
– Power delivered equals power dissipated

Equation 5-9
 Voltage Sources in Series
• Multiple voltage sources in series
– Add or subtract individual sources
• Consider polarities of voltage sources
– If all are voltage rises in a given direction:
• Resultant source determined by addition
– If not:
• Compare rises in one direction to rises in other
direction
 Voltage Sources in Series (cont’d.)

• Example:

Figure 5-17
 Interchanging Series Components

• The order of series components may be

changed without affecting circuit operation
– Circuits shown are equivalent

Figure 5-18
 The Voltage Divider Rule
• Voltage drop across any series resistor
– Proportional to magnitude of the resistance
• Total voltage drop across all resistors
– Equal to applied voltage source(s)
 The Voltage Divider Rule (cont’d.)

• Example:

Equation 5-10

Equation 5-11

Figure 5-21
• Problem: determine voltages across each
resistor
Figure 5-22

• Solution:
𝑅𝑇 = 6Ω + 12Ω + 7Ω = 25.0Ω
6Ω
𝑉1 = ∗ 18𝑉 = 4.32 𝑉
25Ω
12Ω
𝑉2 = ∗ 18𝑉 = 8.64 𝑉
25Ω
7Ω
𝑉3 = ∗ 18𝑉 = 5.04 𝑉
25Ω
 The Voltage Divider Rule (cont’d.)

• General rule
– If series resistor is more than 100 times larger
than another series resistor:
• Effect of smaller resistor may be neglected
 Circuit Ground
• Circuit ground
– Arbitrary electrical point of reference
• Chassis ground
– Metal chassis of an appliance often connected to
circuit ground
• Earth ground
– Connection bonded to the earth
 Voltage Subscripts

• Double subscripts
– Voltage between two points expressed as Vab
• a: point of interest
• b: point of reference

𝑉𝑎𝑏 = −𝑉𝑏𝑎

Figure 5-28
 Single Subscripts
• For a circuit with a reference point (or ground
point):
– A single subscript may be used
– Ground point is implied as the reference
• If voltage at various points is known with
respect to ground:

Equation 5-12
 Point Sources

• Voltage source given with respect to ground:

– May be simplified as a point source

Figure 5-35
 Point Sources (cont’d.)

• Example: determine the current and direction

in the circuit shown

• Solution:
Internal Resistance of Voltage Sources

• All voltage sources contain some internal

resistance
– Reduces source’s efficiency
• Terminal voltage
– Voltage that appears between positive and
negative terminals
– Depends on value of applied load
Internal Resistance of Voltage Sources
(cont’d.)

• Current in the circuit

– Limited by internal resistance and load resistance
• If no load:
– No current in the circuit
– Terminal voltage is equal to ideal voltage
Internal Resistance of Voltage Sources
(cont’d.)

• If output terminals shorted together:

– Current is a maximum
– Terminal voltage is approximately equal to zero
 Ammeter Loading Effect
• Meter loading
– Ammeter uses the current in a circuit to provide a
reading
• Affects the circuit under measurement
• Amount of loading
– Depends on instrument and circuit

Equation 5-13
 exercises
• For each of the following series circuits, find the total
resistance, the total current and the total power use. Then
find the voltage drop across and the power used by each
individual resistor.