Series and Parallel Circuits

Ammeter

A _____ always has low resistance and is connected in series

Same

Current is __________ in a series circuit

Ammeter

If you want to measure the current in a branch or part of a circuit, use a ______

Voltage

This is the same throughout in a parallel circuit

Current

This is the same throughout in a series circuit

Parallel Circuit

a circuit in which there are several different paths for a current

Series Circuit

a circuit in which there is only one current path

Combination Series-Parallel Circuit

a circuit that has some branches in parallel and some in series

Ground-Fault Interrupter

a device that detects small differences in current caused by an extra current path and opens the circuit

Ammeter

a device used to measure the current in part of a circuit

Voltmeter

a device used to measure the potential difference between two points

Voltage Divider

a series circuit used to produce a voltage source from a higher-voltage battery

Fuse

a short piece of metal that melts if a current that is too large passes through it

High, parallel

a voltmeter has a ______ resistance and is connected in _____ with the part of the the circuit being measured

parallel

a voltmeter should be connected in _______ with a resistor to measure the potential difference across that resistor

series

an ammeter is places in ________ with the resistor if you want to measure the current through the resistor

Circuit Breaker

an automatic switch that opens a circuit when the current some set value, stopping electric charge flow

Ammeter

measures current

Voltmeter

measures the potential difference across a resistor

low

resistance of ammeter should be as ________ as possible so that it will change the current as little as possible

Resistance

the higher the _____ of a voltmeter, the smaller the voltage change

Short Circuit

the occurrence when a circuit forms that has a very low resistance

high

the resistance of a voltmeter should be as _______ as possible so that it will change the current as little as possible

Voltmeter

the result of connecting a _____ across a resistor is to lower the potential difference across it

Equivalent

the value of a single resistor that could replace all resistors in a circuit without changing the current