University of Technology, Jamaica

Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies

TVET Industrial Technology

Electrical Principles

Mr. Lewis

Lab # 5 Report

Understanding of Parallel Circuit

Rushanda Buchanan

1803538

October 22, 2019

Lab # 5

Title: Understanding of Parallel Circuits

Objectives/Purpose: To further understanding of a series circuit.

Equipment: resistors, digital multimeter, meg ohmmeter

Procedure:

1. For the circuit shown in Figure 1:

a) Calculate RT, V1, V2, V3, I1, I2, I3, It and Ia for the circuit and place values in Table 1.

2. Construct the circuit shown in figure 1 using given resistors and measure RT, V1, V2, V3,

I1, I2, I3, It and Ia. Enter the values in Table 1.

3. Determine the percent difference and record in Table 1.

4. Use the measured values from step 2 to:

a) Verify the characteristics of parallel circuits (RT, VR1 = VR2 etc)

b) Verify KCL

c) Verify the current divider principle.

Discussion:

A parallel circuit is one that has two or more paths for the electricity to flow, the loads are

parallel to each other. If the loads in this circuit were light bulbs and one blew out, there is still

current flowing to the others because they are still in a direct path from the negative to positive

terminals of the battery. The parallel circuit has very different characteristics than a series circuit.

For one, the total resistance of a Parallel Circuit is NOT equal to the sum of the resistors (like in

a series circuit). The total resistance in a parallel circuit is always less than any of the branch
resistances. Adding more parallel resistances to the paths causes the total resistance in the circuit

to decrease. As you add more and more branches to the circuit the total current will increase

because Ohm's Law states that the lower the resistance, the higher the current. Some basis

characteristics of a parallel circuit are:

1. A parallel circuit has two or more paths for current to flow through.

2. Voltage is the same across each component of the parallel circuit.

3. The sum of the currents through each path is equal to the total current that flows from the

source.

4. You can find total resistance in a Parallel circuit with the following formula:

1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 +...

Rt = R total

5. If one of the parallel paths is broken, current will continue to flow in all the other paths.

Kirchhoff’s Current law (KCL)

Gustav Kirchhoff’s current law is one of the fundamental laws used for circuit analysis. His

current law states that for a parallel path the total current entering a circuits junction is exactly

equal to the total current leaving the same junction. This is because it has no other place to go as

no charge is lost. In other words, the algebraic sum of all the current entering and leaving a

junction must be equal to zero as: ∑lin = ∑lout. This idea by Kirchhoff is commonly known as the

conservation of charge, as the is conserved around the junction with no loss of current.

Current Divider Principle

In electronics, a current divider is a simple linear circuit that produces an output current (IX) that

is a fraction of its input current (IT). Current division refers to the splitting of current between the

branches of the divider. The currents in the various branches of such a circuit will always divide

in such a way as to minimize the total energy expended. The formula describing a current divider

is similar in form to that for the voltage divider. However, the ratio describing current division

places the impedance of the considered branches in the denominator, unlike voltage division

where the considered impedance is in the numerator. This is because in current dividers, total

energy expended is minimized, resulting in currents that go through paths of least impedance,

hence the inverse relationship with impedance. Comparatively, voltage divider is used to satisfy

Kirchhoff's Voltage Law. The voltage around a loop must sum up to zero, so the voltage drops

must be divided evenly in a direct relationship with the impedance.

To be specific, if two or more impedances are in parallel, the current that enters the combination

will be split between them in inverse proportion to their impedances according to Ohm's law, It

also follows that if the impedances have the same value the current is split equally.

Data Tables:

PARAMETER CALCULATED MEASURED % DIFFERENCE

RT 106.38 Ω 107 Ω 0.583

IT 0.1402 A 147.42 mA 6.929

V1 15 V 14.79 V -1.4

V2 15V 14.79 V -1.4

V3 15V 14. 78 V -1.467

 I1 0.032 A 37.08 mA 15.875

I2 0.0325 A 32.84 mA 1.046

I3 0.0757 A 77.5 mA 2.378

Ia 0.109 A 109.5 mA 0.459

Data Analysis:

Verifying the characteristics of a Parallel Circuit.

1. A parallel circuit has two or more paths for current to flow through.

Simply remember that PARALLEL means two paths up to thousands of paths. The flow

of electricity is divided between each according to the resistance along each route. As

shown in figure 1 and the table above it is shown that the current is flowing among the

three paths of resistance. I1 = 37.08 mA, I2 = 32.84mA, I3 =77.5mA.

2. Voltage is the same across each component of the parallel circuit.

You may remember from the last lab that the voltage drops across a resistor in series. Not

so with a parallel circuit. The voltage will be the same anywhere in the circuit. This is

because the resistors are not in series where the voltage drops across each resistor, the

voltage remain the same because both the negatively and positively charged part of the

battery is connected to both the resistors not allowing any voltage to drop. This is in the

table where the calculated voltage in each resistor is 15 V and in the measured value they

are entirely the same except V3 its point one (.1) less than V1 and V2. V1 = 14.79 V, V2 =

14.79 V and V3 = 14.78 V.

3. The sum of the currents through each path is equal to the total current that flows from the

source.

If one path is drawing 1 amp and the other is drawing 1 amp, then the total is 2 amps at

the source. If there are 4 branches in this same 2-amp circuit, then one path may draw

1/4A (.25A), the next 1/4A (.25), the next 1/2A (.5A) and the last 1A. while in our circuit

the current total is 0.141 A and the sum I1 37.08 mA + I2 32.84 mA + I3 77.5 mA is equal

to 147.42 mA.

4. You can find total resistance in a Parallel circuit with the following formula:

1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 +...

Rt = R total

1/467.7 + 1/461.7 + 1/198.1 = 107Ω

5. If one of the parallel paths is broken, current will continue to flow in all the other paths.

If one is burnt out, the others stay lit. The best way to illustrate this is also with a string of

light bulbs in parallel.

Verifying KCL

Kirchhoff’s current law states that for a parallel path the total current entering a circuits junction

is exactly equal to the total current leaving the same junction. This can be verified if you minus Ia

from IT, however it will show a current loss of I1 because the resistors were burnt out and wasn’t

working so properly.

IT = 147.42 mA

IT = I1 + I2 + I3

= 37.08 mA + 32.84 mA + 77.5 mA

= 147.42 mA

Verifying the Current Divider Principle

Current division refers to the splitting of current between the branches of the divider. The

currents in the various branches of such a circuit will always divide in such a way as to minimize

the total energy expended. This can be seen in Table 1 above and in the circuit shown in Figure 1

below.

I2 = IT x (R1 + R3)

R1 + R2 + R3

= 147.42 X (467.7Ω + 198.1Ω) = 32. 84 mA

467.7Ω + 461.7Ω + 198.1 Ω

Errors
 1. Testers wasn’t giving off correct readings.

2. Calculation errors when working out the theoretical values.

3. Incorrect use of prefix’s from digital multi-meter.

Conclusion:

The purpose of this lab was to get a full understanding a parallel circuit. A parallel circuit is one

that has two or more paths for the electricity to flow, the loads are parallel to each other. This can

be shown in figure 1 below where there is sketch of a parallel circuit. The characteristic of a

parallel circuit was proven along with verifying KCL and the current divider principle/rule.

These can be seen in the data analysis above.