Electric Circuits - Mission EC8 Detailed Help

As more and more resistors are added in parallel to a circuit, the equivalent resistance of the circuit ____ and the total current of the circuit ____.


 
Definition of Equivalent Resistance:
The equivalent resistance of a circuit is the amount of resistance that a single resistor would need in order to equal the overall effect of the collection of resistors that are present in the circuit.


 
Equivalent Resistance in Parallel Circuits:
Parallel circuits are characterized by multiple pathways or branches through which charge flows. When additional resistors are placed within separate branches of a parallel circuit, additional pathways for charge flow are provided. Thus, the addition of more resistors (which also means additional pathways) has the effect of decreasing the overall resistance and increasing the overall current.


 
For parallel circuits, the mathematical formula for computing the equivalent resistance (Req) from the resistance values of the individual resistors (R1, R2, R3, ...) is
 
1 / Req= 1 / R1 + 1 / R2 + 1 / R3+ ... .