Simple+circuits

**Simple circuits**
The components in any electric circuit are basically the same; A battery or a power point in the wall (wall socket). This is the source of electrical potential energy that will push electric charges around a circuit, i.e. the power supply provides the energy to charges. || Metal wires that conduct electric current to allow the electrical energy to travel through the conductors to the load. These leads are very good conductors and only a very small amount of electrical energy is required to move charges through them. Usually made of copper metal. || This is the electrical device where the electrical energy is converted into another form of energy, e.g. lightbulb converts electrical energy into light and heat, an electric bell converts the electrical energy into sound. The load has a much higher resistance to the current and causes the moving charge to lose most of their energy as they pass through the device. || The switch opens and closes the circuit, i.e. breaks the conductive path when switched **OFF** (open) and makes an electric circuit when switched **ON** (closed). ||
 * [[image:http://www.photoshoponline.co.uk/ekmps/shops/thephotoshop/images/duracell_batteries_set(1).jpg width="104" height="137" align="left"]] || ===Power supply===
 * [[image:http://www.highschoolresource.energyaustralia.com.au/img/smleads.jpg width="176" height="88"]] || ===Conducting leads===
 * [[image:http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/H.M/UGLabs/images/resistor_packages.jpg width="164" height="167"]] || ===A Load (Resistance)===
 * [[image:http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/photofiles/list/2832/3761switch_socket.jpg width="273" height="111"]] || ===A switch===

Connected together in a circuit; This simple circuit shown below contains the common components of any electric circuit, i.e. the battery acts as the **power supply** to provide the energy to operate the circuit; the **conducting leads** allow the electric current to flow from the battery; the **switch** can complete the circuit when closed or break the circuit when open; the light globe is the **load** where the electrical energy is converted into other forms, e.g. light and heat.



**What are series and parallel circuits**
Circuits consisting of just one battery and one load resistance are very simple to analyze, but they are not often found in practical applications. Usually, we find circuits where more than two components are connected together. There are two basic ways in which to connect more than two circuit components: // series // and // parallel //. First, an example of a series circuit: Here, we have three resistors (labeled R1, R2, and R3), connected in a long chain from one terminal of the battery to the other. (It should be noted that the subscript labeling -- those little numbers to the lower-right of the letter "R" -- are unrelated to the resistor values in ohms. They serve only to identify one resistor from another.) The defining characteristic of a series circuit is that there is only one path for electrons to flow. In this circuit the electrons flow in a counter-clockwise direction, from point 4 to point 3 to point 2 to point 1 and back around to 4. Now, let's look at the other type of circuit, a parallel configuration: Again, we have three resistors, but this time they form more than one continuous path for electrons to flow. There's one path from 8 to 7 to 2 to 1 and back to 8 again. There's another from 8 to 7 to 6 to 3 to 2 to 1 and back to 8 again. And then there's a third path from 8 to 7 to 6 to 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 and back to 8 again. Each individual path (through R1, R2, and R3) is called a //branch//. The defining characteristic of a parallel circuit is that all components are connected between the same set of electrically common points. Looking at the schematic diagram, we see that points 1, 2, 3, and 4 are all electrically common. So are points 8, 7, 6, and 5. Note that all resistors as well as the battery are connected between these two sets of points. And, of course, the complexity doesn't stop at simple series and parallel either! We can have circuits that are a combination of series and parallel, too: In this circuit, we have two loops for electrons to flow through: one from 6 to 5 to 2 to 1 and back to 6 again, and another from 6 to 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 and back to 6 again. Notice how both current paths go through R1 (from point 2 to point 1). In this configuration, we'd say that R2 and R3 are in parallel with each other, while R1 is in series with the parallel combination of R2 and R3. This is just a preview of things to come. Don't worry! We'll explore all these circuit configurations in detail, one at a time!  The basic idea of a " series " connection is that components are connected end-to-end in a line to form a single path for electrons to flow:  The basic idea of a " parallel " connection, on the other hand, is that all components are connected across each other's leads. In a purely parallel circuit, there are never more than two sets of electrically common points, no matter how many components are connected. There are many paths for electrons to flow, but only one voltage across all components: Series and parallel resistor configurations have very different electrical properties. We'll explore the properties of each configuration in the sections to come.
 * **REVIEW:**
 * In a series circuit, all components are connected end-to-end, forming a single path for electrons to flow.
 * In a parallel circuit, all components are connected across each other, forming exactly two sets of electrically common points.
 * A "branch" in a parallel circuit is a path for electric current formed by one of the load components (such as a resistor).