Julian Hernandez

Period 4
4-29-14
Circuits

Title: Series and Parallels

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to see just how the circuitry works in circuits. The
simulator will give me a hand-on feeling of it all.

Equipment Needed:
Computer
PheT Simulator
Link: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/circuit-construction-kit-dc

Procedure:
1. Click on the link given to you on the materials section
(http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/circuit-construction-kit-dc)
2. Press Run Now
3. Let the installer install the program.
4. Start simulating!

Data:


Calculations:

Results:
The lab went very well after a few tries in trying to get the circuit to work. At first I really didnt
know how the simulator worked but after some reading, I got the hang of it. The only problem
with the lab was that at first it wasnt clear enough at all so it was really confusing at first. In the
near future, a set of instructions in the simulator would be great. Even the Help button didnt
help.
Conclusion:
A series circuit is a circuit in which resistors are arranged in a chain, so the current has only one
path to take. The current is the same through each resistor. The total resistance of the circuit is
found by simply adding up the resistance values of the individual resistors. A parallel circuit is a
circuit in which the resistors are arranged with their heads connected together, and their tails
connected together. The current in a parallel circuit breaks up, with some flowing along each
parallel branch and re-combining when the branches meet again. The voltage across each resistor
in parallel is the same.If the resistors in parallel are identical, it can be very easy to work out the
equivalent resistance.