Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV

School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

LIGHT ME UP!
Electricity has revolutionized the world. Many practical applications are based on the principles
and concepts of electron movement in conductors. The ignition of engines in automobiles, the coolants
in air conditioning systems and even the robots that explores the surface of Mars.
In this chapter, we are going to understand and analyze the factors that contributes to the flow of
electrons in the circuit – also known as resistance. Further, by the end of this chapter you should be able
to:

1. Define circuits;
2. Articulate the different types of circuits;
3. Solve problems involving series-parallel circuits using Kirchoff’s Rule.

POWERED TO LEARN!
Let us have a review of the terms that will be used in this chapter.

1. RESISTANCE is an electrical quantity that measures how the device or material reduces the electric
current flow through it. The resistance is measured in units of ohms (Ω).

2. ELECTRIC CURRENT is defined as the flow of electrons through the conducting system or the flow of
charge. The direction of current is the opposite direction of electron flow current in terms of time and
charge. Ampere is the unit of electric current equal to 1 coulomb per second.

3. ELECTRIC POTENTIAL is the amount of work needed to move a unit positive charge from a reference
point to a specific point inside the field without producing any acceleration. This is expressed in voltage.

The relationship of these quantities has been established by the Ohm’s law which states that the current
flowing in a circuit is directly proportional to the potential difference and inversely proportional to the
resistance in the closed system. To further OHM’S LAW
understand this concept, watch the link provided https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rSHqvjDksg
on the right.

RESISTIVITY
→ a property of a conductor by virtue of which the passage of current is opposed, causing electrical
energy to be transformed into heat: equal to the voltage across the conductor divided by the current flowing
in the conductor.

A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a

circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to
divide voltages, bias active elements, and terminate transmission lines, among other uses.

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 Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV
School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

Types of Resistors

1. Fixed resistors are designed to have a nearly constant amount of resistance

regardless of voltage, current, age, heat, or time. They have a stable value
within a tolerance. The narrower the tolerance, the more expensive.

2. Variable resistors can change resistance value. They are adjustable.

Examples: potentiometers and rheostats.

Electrical Symbols

Fixed Type Resistor Variable Resistors

CIRCUITS

A circuit is a path for electrons to flow through. The path is from a power sources negative terminal,
through the various components and on to the positive terminal (Electron Theory). Think of it as a circle.
The paths may split off here and there but they always form a line from negative to positive.

NOTE: Negatively charged electrons in a conductor are attracted to the positive side of the power source.

If we break a circuit down to its elementary blocks we get:

• A Power Source — eg: battery
• A Path — eg: wire
• A Load — eg: lamp
• A Control — eg: switch
• An indicator — eg: Meter (Optional)

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 Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV
School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

Note that in this course, we will only focus on direct current circuits. Direct current (DC) is the flow of
electric charge in only one direction. It is the steady state of a constant-voltage circuit. Most well-known
applications, however, use a time-varying voltage source. Alternating current (AC) is the flow of electric
charge that periodically reverses direction.

TWO TYPES OF CONNECTIONS

When there are two or more electrical devices present in a circuit with an energy source, there are
a couple of basic means by which to connect them. They can be connected in series or connected in
parallel.

Series Circuit

A series circuit is a closed circuit in which the current follows one

path, as opposed to a parallel circuit where the circuit is divided into two or
more paths. In this circuit, the current through each load is the same and the
total voltage across the circuit is the sum of the voltages across each load.

A series circuit is one with all the loads in a row. There is only ONE
path for the electricity to flow. If this circuit was a string of light bulbs, and
one blew out, the remaining bulbs would turn off.

THINGS TO REMEMBER!
1. The same current flows through each part of a series circuit.
IT = I1 = I 2 = IN
2. The total resistance of a series circuit is equal to the sum of individual resistances.
RT = R1 + R2 + … + RN
3. Voltage applied to a series circuit is equal to the sum of the individual voltage drops.
VT = V1 + V2 + … + VN
4. The voltage drop across a resistor in a series circuit is directly proportional to the size of the
resistor.
V1 = I x R1 ; V2 = I x R2 ; VN = I x RN
5. If the circuit is broken at any point, no current will flow.

Sample Problem:
Determine the total resistance, total current and voltage drop across each resistor shown in the
figure.
Given: Find:
V = 12 V RT, IT, V1 & V2
R1 = 6Ω; R2 = 6Ω

Solution:
RT = R1 + R2 = 6Ω + 6Ω = 12Ω
V 12 V
IT = = = 𝟏. 𝟎 𝐀𝐦𝐩
RT 12 Ω
V1 = I x R1 = 1.0 A x 6 Ω = 6 v,
V2 = I x R2 = 1.0 A x 6 Ω = 6 V

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 Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV
School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

PARALLEL CIRCUIT
A parallel circuit is a closed circuit in which the current divides into
two or more paths before recombining to complete the circuit. Each load
connected in a separate path receives the full circuit voltage, and the
total circuit current is equal to the sum of the individual branch currents.
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.
THINGS TO REMEMBER!

1. A parallel circuit has two or more paths for current to flow through.
𝐕 𝐕 𝐕
𝐈𝟏 = ; 𝐈𝟐 = ; 𝐈𝐍 =
𝐑𝟏 𝐑𝟐 𝐑𝐍
2. Voltage is the same across each component of the parallel circuit.
VT = V1 = V2 = VN
3. The sum of the currents through each path is equal to the total current that flows from the source.
IT = I1 + I2 + … + I N
4. You can find TOTAL RESISTANCE in a Parallel circuit with the following formula:
𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= + + ⋯+
𝐑𝐓 𝐑𝟏 𝐑𝟐 𝐑𝐍
5. If one of the parallel paths is broken, current will continue to flow in all the other paths.

Sample Problem:

Determine the total resistance, total current and amperage of each resistor shown in the figure.

Given: Find:
V = 12 V RT,
R1 = 12Ω IT,
R2 = 24Ω I1 & I2

Solution:

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
= + = + = 𝛀 ; RT = 8 Ω
𝐑𝐓 𝐑𝟏 𝐑𝟐 𝟏𝟐 𝛀 𝟐𝟒 𝛀 𝟖
𝐕 𝟏𝟐 𝐕 𝐕 𝟏𝟐 𝐕
𝐈𝟏 = 𝐑 = 𝟏𝟐 𝛀
= 𝟏. 𝟎 𝐀𝐦𝐩 ; 𝐈𝟐 = 𝐑 = 𝟐𝟒 𝛀
= 𝟎. 𝟓 𝐀𝐦𝐩
𝟏 𝟐
IT = I1 + I2 = 1.0 + 0.5 = 1.5 Amp; By Ohm's law

V = I x R = 1.5 Amp x 8 Ω = 12 V

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 Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV
School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

Practice Exercises
Direction: Draw the diagrams of the following resistances with a supply of 12 V for each problem. Solve for
the total resistance and the current for each resistor.

1. Two resistors of 1K Ohm Value for each.

2. Three Resistors in parallel to each other with a value of 330 ohms each.
3. Two resistors in parallel. Resistor 1 has a value of 330 K ohm and Resistor 2 has a value of 500 ohms.
4. Three resistors are in series to each other and to the power supply. They have the same value and with a
color strand of the following: Red, Red, Yellow and Gold.

SERIES-PARALLEL CIRCUITS
A third type of circuit involves the dual use of series and parallel
connections in a circuit; such circuits are referred to as compound circuits
or combination circuits. The circuit depicted at the right is an example of
the use of both series and parallel connections within the same circuit. In
this case, light bulbs A and B are connected by parallel connections and
light bulbs C and D are connected by series connections. This is an example
of a combination circuit.

Sample Problem:

Determine the current in and the voltage drop across each resistor, the total resistance and total current.

Given: Find:
V = 60 RT
R1 = 5 Ω IT
R2 = 8 Ω I1 , I 2 , I 3 , I4
R3 = 8 Ω V1 , V2 , V3 , V4
R4 = 6 Ω

Solution:

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏+𝟏 𝟐
𝑹𝑨
=𝟖+ 𝟖
= 𝟖
= 𝟖

𝑹𝑨 = 𝟒 𝜴
𝑹𝑻 = 𝑹𝟏 + 𝑹𝑨 + 𝑹𝟒 1
𝑹𝑻 = 𝟓 𝜴 + 𝟒 𝜴 + 𝟔 𝜴
𝑹𝑻 = 𝟏𝟓 𝜴

𝑽 𝟔𝟎 𝑽
𝑰𝑻 = 𝑹𝑻 = 𝟏𝟓 𝜴
= 𝟒 𝑨𝒎𝒑.
𝑻

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 Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV
School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

Series Parallel
𝐼𝑇 = 𝐼1 = 𝐼4 = 4 𝐴𝑚𝑝. 𝐼2 = 𝐼3 = 2 𝐴𝑚𝑝.

V1 = I1 x R1 = 4 A x 5 Ω V2 = I2 x R 2 = 2 A x 8 Ω
𝑉1 = 20 𝑉 𝑉2 = 16 𝑉

V3 = I3 x R 3 = 2 A x 8 Ω V4 = I4 x R 4 = 4 A x 6 Ω
𝑉3 = 16 𝑉 𝑉4 = 24 𝑉

KIRCHOFF’S LAW
Kirchoff’s law are fundamental to circuit theory. They quantify how the current flows through a circuit
and how voltage varies around a loop in a circuit. A powerful set of relations which enable one to analyze
complex circuits other than series and parallel circuits that can able to reduce but not composed
exclusively of such combinations.
Now let us understand the different principles that we need for circuit analysis.

KIRCHOFF’S RULES:
1. First Law or Junction Rule: for a given junction or node in a
circuit, the sum of the current entering equals the sum of the
currents leaving. This law is a statement of charge
conservation.
Where: I1 = I2 + I3 + I4

2. Second Law or Loop Rule: around any closed loop circuit, the
sum of the potential differences across all elements is zero.
This law is a statement of energy conservation, in that any
charge that starts and ends up at the same point with the same
velocity must have gained as much energy as it lost. This is
known as Kirchoff’s Voltage Law.
Where: V1 – IR1 – IR2 – V2 – IR3 = 0
Sample Problem:

Determine the amount of current ( I ) in the circuit segment shown

in the figure on the left.
Solution: IIN = IOUT
5A + I = 3A + 4A + 2A
5A + I = 9A
I = 9A ‒ 5A
I = 4A

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 Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV
School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

For the circuit diagram below, use Kirchoff’s

Voltage Law to find VA and VB.

Solution:
Consider loop 1: ADEFA
9V ‒ 2V ‒ VA ‒ 1V = 0
VA = 6 V
Consider loop 2: ABCDA
VA ‒ 3V ‒ VB ‒ 2V = 0
6 V ‒3V ‒ VB ‒ 2V = 0
VB = 1 V

Let’s Experiment & Empower!

Directions: Solve the following problems on a clean sheet of paper. Copy the problems and provide
complete solution.

1. Determine the resistance of an electrical circuit that has voltage supply of 120 Volts and current of
15A.

2. The current flowing in a circuit containing four resistors connected in series is I = 1.0 A. The potential
drops across the first, second and third resistors are, respectively: V = 5 V, V = 8 V and V = 7 V. The
equivalent resistance of the circuit is R = 30 Ω. Find the total voltage supplied by the battery, and also
current, voltage drop, and resistance of each in the circuit.

3. Given on the schematic diagram, find the total current, I.

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Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV
School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

4. Determine the values of the total resistance, total current, and the current at and the voltage drops
across each individual resistor.

5. Determine the current and voltage drop given in the circuit.

6. Two cells having emf of 10V and 8V, and internal resistance of 1 Ω (each) are connected as shown
with an external resistance of 8 Ω. Find the current flowing through the circuit.

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Marinduque State College CHAPTER IV
School of Industrial Technology DC Current Circuits

7. Kirchoff’s Voltage Law states that ______________________________________________.

a. entering and leaving any point equals zero
b. around any closed path equals the total voltage
c. leaving any point equals zero
d. around any closed path equals zero

8. Kirchoff’s Current Law states that ______________________________________________.

a. entering and leaving any point equals zero
b. around any closed path equals the total voltage
c. leaving any point equals zero
d. around any closed path equals zero

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