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An electrical circuit is a path that allows electrical current to flow in a closed loop. It contains a power source, conductors to carry the current, and a load that uses the power. Circuits can be open or closed - in a closed circuit current can flow, while in an open circuit the path is broken. Basic circuit diagrams use symbols to represent components like batteries, switches, bulbs, and wires. Circuits can be connected in series, with one continuous path, or parallel, with multiple branches providing alternative paths for current. Short circuits bypass the intended load and components, allowing excessive current to flow and potentially cause overheating or fires. Fuses and circuit breakers protect circuits by interrupting the current if it exceeds

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1K views

TLE

An electrical circuit is a path that allows electrical current to flow in a closed loop. It contains a power source, conductors to carry the current, and a load that uses the power. Circuits can be open or closed - in a closed circuit current can flow, while in an open circuit the path is broken. Basic circuit diagrams use symbols to represent components like batteries, switches, bulbs, and wires. Circuits can be connected in series, with one continuous path, or parallel, with multiple branches providing alternative paths for current. Short circuits bypass the intended load and components, allowing excessive current to flow and potentially cause overheating or fires. Fuses and circuit breakers protect circuits by interrupting the current if it exceeds

Uploaded by

Poseidon Nip
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is an electrical circuit?

An electrical circuit is a path or line through which an electrical current flows. The path may be closed
(joined at both ends), making it a loop. A closed circuit makes electrical current flow possible. It may also be
an open circuit where the electron flow is cut short because the path is broken. An open circuit does not
allow electrical current to flow.

Below is a basic set of symbols that you may find on circuit diagrams.

It is very important to know the basic parts of a simple circuit and the symbols that relate to them. A simple
circuit has conductors, a switch, a load and a power source. Here are the functions of each part:

Conductors:
These are usually copper wires with no insulation. They make the path through which the electricity
flows. One piece of the wire connects the current from the power source (cell) to the load. The other
piece connects the load back to the power source.

Switch:
The switch is simply a small gap in the conductor where you can close or open the circuit. When the
switch is closed, the circuit is closed and electricity flows.

The Load:
The load is a small light bulb or buzzer that lights when the circuit is turned on. The load is also
known as a resistor.

Cell:
The power source is a cell. (Note that more than one cell put together is known as a battery)

The diagram below shows how a basic circuit looks like.


It is important to draw circuits with clean straight lines, as shown in diagram B. Avoid realistic
sketches. It is important to know that a circuit can have more than the basic components in the
diagram. It can have two or more batteries or two or more bulbs.

There are two types of circuits namely Series Circuit and Parallel Circuit. Click on each to learn more.

Series circuits

A series circuit is one that has more than one resistor, but only one path through which the electricity
(electrons) flows. From one end of the cell (battery), the electrons move along one path with NO branches,
through the resistors, to the other end of the cell. All the components in a series circuit are connected end-
to-end.

A resistor in a circuit is anything that uses some of the power from the cell. In the example below, the
resistors are the bulbs. In a series circuit, the components are arranged in a line, one after the other.

Take a look at the diagram below:


The schematic drawing is a better way to draw a series circuit.
Each time there is damage (break) in any one of the resistors the entire circuit will not
function. For example, if one light bulb goes out, all the other lights will go off because
the electricity path in the broken bulb is cut off.

Do you put Christmas lights on the trees at home during Christmas? If the lights are in a
series circuit, one burned out bulb will keep all the lights off. That is one disadvantage of
series circuits. One advantage though is that you will always know if there is a break in a
series circuit.

If there are many bulbs in a circuit with a battery (cell), it is very likely that the light will
be dimmer because many resistors are acting on the same voltage of power from the
battery.

Now let us take a look at Parallel Circuits.

Parallel circuits
In a parallel circuit, there is more than one resistor (bulb) and they are arranged on
many paths. This means electricity (electrons) can travel from one end of the cell through
many branches to the other end of the cell.

Look at the illustration below involving two resistors in a parallel circuit:


You will notice from the above that there is more than one path:
PATH 1: A-B-C-D-E-F and back to A.
PATH 2: A-B-C-G-H-D-E-F and back to A.

From the above, it is clear that electricity from the cell can take either path A or Path B to
return to the cell. The great thing about parallel circuits is that, even when one resistor
(bulb) burns out, the other bulbs will work because the electricity is not flowing through
one path.

Think of all the light bulbs in your home. If one bulb burns out, the other bulbs in the
rooms still work.

Another great thing is that the bulbs in a parallel circuit do not dim out like the case in
series circuits. This is because the voltage across one branch is the same as the voltage
across all other branches.

What is a short circuit?


A simple, well-designed circuit, as discussed earlier, has
a cell providing current along a path (wire), to a load
(resistor) and back to the other end of the cell as shown
in this diagram.

As the voltage gets to the resistor (load), there is a


power drop, because the resistor uses some of the
electricity up to produce heat and light. This means that
the voltage that ends up at the other side of the cell is
reduced.

In a short circuit, there is no load. For many reasons,


the wires in a circuit can find a short-cut, bypassing the
load (and other components). This causes the same
voltage from the cell to flow to the other end of the cell. When this happens the high
voltage causes the wires to heat up and catch fire.
Can you think of some reasons why there could be a short circuit?
Here are a few:

Wires may loose their insulation and touch each other in the circuit
There could be a fault (improper wiring) in a device
Intentionally connecting both ends of a cell / battery with wires. This causes a
massive drain of electricity and the battery looses its power in a very short time.

A short circuit can cause heating, melting of wires, harmful smoke and smell, and
blinding light (like what you see during welding)

Circuit protection
It is very important that electrical devices in homes, cars, aeroplanes and other complex
machines are protected from higher voltage than the wires are designed to take —
otherwise, the devices can break and even catch fire.

In real life electrical circuits, it is possible that wires (conductors) loose their insulation
and come into contact with the ground or other conductors. If that happens, the voltage
in the wire will have no resistor (load) and the same high voltage will be returned to the
source of power.

This can result in overheating, as there is way too much voltage than the wires can take.
Overheating will then cause melting and eventually a break (open) in the circuit.

One way to protect a circuit is to add a fuse, circuit breaker or thermal breaker to the
circuit.

A Fuse
A fuse is simply a strip of alloy wire (made of bismuth and tin), which is connected to the
circuit. The fuse is usually designed to take specific volumes of electricity (voltage). For
example is a 3amp fuse is fixed into a circuit — it cannot take any more than 3amps of
electricity. If for any reason, there is a surge or increase in the voltage, the fuse will melt
immediately and break. This will stop the flow of high voltage and prevent any potential
damage to the circuit or device.

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