From: Mark Lawton (markslawton@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Nov 14 2003 - 09:44:59 PST
From: "Mark Lawton" <markslawton@hotmail.com> Subject: parallel circuits Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 09:44:59 -0800 Message-ID: <BAY7-F13fDc5DYge2Qw00007cac@hotmail.com>
Parallel circuits work as follows:
1) As additional devices (lights, resistors, mp3 players, walkmans, etc) are
connected the total resistance goes DOWN. Conceptually, one can understand
this by saying that the electric current has more paths which it can follow
so it flows more easily (less resistance). The power company is capable of
maintaining a constant voltage (120volts) to the circuit. So each device
"sees" 120v across it and acts as if it was the only device connected. That
is, the individual devices are not effected by the total number of devices
being powered by the power company. No conservation law is being violated
because the power company is in fact sending more current as additional
devices are added.
The total power delivered = I^2R =V^2/R = IV. All three of these equations
will increase as the current (I) increases which happens when the resistance
(R) drops as additional devices are added in parallel.
-Mark Lawton
Portland, Oregon
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