Each electrical component is connected so that there’s only one option for the current to flow. There’s no branches or alternate routes for the electricity… it’s only got one way to move through the circuit. When you add more electrical components, like motors or LEDs to this circuit, the overall resistance in the circuit decreases since there’s only one path for the current.


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2 Responses to “Series Circuits”

  1. Hi Juliette! Great question. Actually in the video at 2:01, I stated that it doesn’t work in series but it does work in parallel.

    To answer your question specifically, yes, electricity runs through both paths, however if one electrical component needs more current, it may hog it up and not leave enough for the other components. For example, if you connect a motor and one buzzer in parallel to one 3V battery case (with 2 AA), what happens?

    (Depending on the type of motor, you may have just one work OR neither one work, because not enough current is available for the circuit.)

    In the case with the LEDs in the video, I think those were 2.2V LEDs so they do not work in series with each other (at 3:27 in the video). The voltage across each LED in parallel is 3V, so it works. The voltage across each LED in series is only 1.5V, which is less than the needed 2.2V, so it doesn’t work.

  2. Corrinna Smith says:

    Hi Aurora!

    You said in the video that the electricity can’t run through both paths in parallel. Well, I tried hooking up LEDs in parallel, and both the LEDs lit up! We also tried hooking two pond lights in parallel, which worked too! If electricity can’t run through both paths at the same time, then why did both the LEDs light up?

    Thanks!
    Juliette (13)