DC Circuits Quiz Key

1. Where does a voltmeter go in a circuit? (How does a voltmeter connect to

measure voltage?)
a. In the circuit just after the power supply
b. Across the device to be measured
c. In the circuit just before the power supply
d. In series with the load

2. Where does an ammeter go in a circuit? (How does an ammeter connect to

measure current?)
a. Across the power supply
b. Across the load
c. Same as for voltage
d. In series with the load

3. Which of the following is a protection element?

a. Fuse
b. Switch
c. Wire
d. Ground

4. Which of the following is a control element?

a. Fuse
b. Switch
c. Wire
d. Ground

5. How are battery cells connected to make a battery?

a. Positive to positive
b. Negative to negative
c. In series with each other
d. In parallel with each other

1 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

6. Which of the following is the schematic symbol of a battery? (Answer is d.)

a. b. c. d.

7. What is usually done with the negative side of a battery?

a. Connect to the positive side of the battery
b. Connect to ground
c. Connect to a resistor
d. Connect to a fuse

8. Which of the following is not a physical device?

a. Fuse
b. Switch
c. Wire
d. Ground

9. Why is ground voltage defined to be zero volts?

a. To be a common reference for all voltage measurements
b. Because there is never any voltage on ground
c. To allow you to measure voltage and current the same way
d. Because ground is isolated from the rest of the circuit

10.Why is ground usually connected to the most negative point in a circuit?

a. To be a common reference for all voltage measurements
b. Because ground is isolated from the rest of the circuit
c. To make every voltage measured to ground a positive voltage
d. To make ground a protection element

11.Why is ground also called common?

a. Because it connects to both sides of the power supply
b. Because it is shared with many components
c. Because there is nothing special about ground
d. Because it only connects to one device

2 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

12.Which of the following is the symbol for ground? (Answer is a.)

a. b. c. d.

(alternate) Draw the schematic symbol for a ground.

13.What does a fuse protect?

a. People
b. Ground
c. Lawyers
d. The circuit

14.What do you do with a fuse once it blows?

a. Replace it with a bigger fuse
b. Replace it with the same size fuse
c. Replace it with a smaller fuse
d. Replace it with a wire

15.Which of the following is the symbol for a fuse? (Answer is b.)

a. b. c. d.

(alternate) Draw the schematic symbol for a fuse.

16. Which of the following is the most often used component in a circuit?

a. Power supply
b. Ground
c. Resistor
d. Fuse

3 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

17. How is resistance value of a resistor usually indicated?
a. A color band
b. The size of the resistor
c. The number of leads
d.
e. A
A small
sidenumber
small number of
of the
the side
side+/88888888866666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666
66666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666A
the small number of

18. What determines the power rating of a resistor?

a. A color band
b. The size of the resistor
c. The number of leads
d. A small number of the side

19. What does a resistor do?

a. Turns on or off a circuit
b. Protects a circuit from too much current
c. Provides a common return path for current
d. Used to limit or restrict current

20. Why doesn’t a voltmeter change circuit voltage values?

a. Because it is never connected directly to the circuit
b. Because it has almost infinite internal resistance
c. Because it has almost zero internal resistance
d. Because it uses its own internal voltage

21. Why doesn’t an ammeter change circuit current values?

a. Because it is never connected directly to the circuit
b. Because it has almost infinite internal resistance
c. Because it has almost zero internal resistance
d. Because it uses its own internal current

22. What two things must an electric circuit have?

a. A power supply and ground
b. A power supply and a load resistance
c. A switch and a fuse
d. A fuse and a load resistor

4 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

23. What direction does current flow?
a. Always out of the power supply
b. Always into the power supply
c. Positive to negative
d. Negative to positive

24. What formula shows the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance?
a. Ohm’s Law

b. Watts Law
c. Pascals Law
d. Newtons Law

(alternate) Draw the Ohm’s Law circle

25. VS = 25 V, R = 455 Ω. What is I?

.055 A or 55 mA

26. VS = 9 V, I = 13.6 mA. What is R?

660 Ω

5 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

27. I = 48 mA, R = 1125 Ω. What is VS ?

54 V

VS = 16 V, R1 = 250 Ω, R2 = 150 Ω, R3 = 400 Ω

28. What is RT?

800 Ω

29. What is IT?

20 mA

30. What is V1?

5V

6 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

 VS = 27 V, V1 = 7 V, V2 = 6 V, R3 = 600 Ω

31. What is R1?

300 Ω

32. VS = 18 V, V1 = 6 V, R3 = 600 Ω, IT = 6 mA

What is R2?

1400 Ω or 1.4 kΩ

7 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

33.

120 Ω

34. Solve the previous problem for IT.

1 A or 100 mA

35. Solve for I3.

.025 A or 25 mA

8 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

 Solution 1 - Problem 1 – Slide 21

1. What is total resistance?

RT = R1 + R2 + R3 = 250Ω + 150Ω + 500Ω = 900Ω

2. What is total current?

IT = = = .01333 A = 13.33 mA

3. What is V1?
V1 = I1 x R1 = 13.33 mA x 250Ω = 3.33 V

4. Work the problem with VS = 16 V, R1 = 400Ω, R2 = 600Ω, R3 = 1000Ω

Follow steps 1 – 3 above with these new values.

RT = 2000 Ω
IT = .008 A= 8 mA
V1 = 3.2 V

9 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

 Solution 2 - Problem 2 – Slide 22

5. Write the formula you need: R1 = You have V1, but you don’t have I1.

Current in a series circuit is the same everywhere, though, so if you can solve for any
current you will have I1.

6. The formula for current is voltage divided by resistance, and you don’t seem to have
both of those values. However, you have R3 and can solve for V3 using the formula

VT = V1 + V2 + V3 or V3 = VT – V1 – V2

V3 = 20 V – 6 V – 4 V = 10 V

7. I3 = = = .01667 A = IT = I1

8. R1 = = = 360 Ω

R1 = 360 Ω

10 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

 Solution 3 – Problem 3 – Slide 23

9. Write the formula you need: R2 = You don’t seem to have either V2 or

I 2.

In a series circuit, though, current is the same everywhere so I2 = I3 = IT = 6 mA

10. Now, you can solve for V3 using the formula V3 = I3 x R3, where IT = I3.

V3 = I3x R3= .006 A x 1500 Ω = 9 V

11. VT = V1 + V2 + V3 or V2 = VT – V1 – V3= 18 V – 3 V – 9 V = 6 V

12. R2 = = = 1000 Ω

R2 = 1000 Ω

11 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.

 Solution 4 – Problem 4 – Slide 28

1. Write down the equation for I3. I3 =

You don’t seem to have either of the unknowns you need.

2. However, you can solve for V1 (which is the same as VS which is the same as
V3). V1 = I1 X R1 = .064 A X 250 Ω = 16 V

3. You can also solve for R3 because you have R1, R2, and RT.

12 of 12

Copyright © Texas Education Agency, 2017. All rights reserved.