# 2.1.3: The Series Connection


The word circuit comes from the Latin root circ, meaning “ring” or “around”. An electrical circuit consists of at least one ring or loop through which current flows. For example, if we have a battery attached to a lamp as in Figure 3.3.1 , the current exits the battery, flows through the lamp, and then returns to the other side of the battery creating a loop or completed circuit. Without a path back to the battery, current will not flow. Thus, if we cut one of the wires connecting the battery and lamp, there is no path for current and no current flows. This is referred to as an open circuit and is a common fault that occurs when electronic systems are dropped or struck forcefully. Obviously, this will tend to render the circuit unusable. In this example, the lamp will not illuminate. The opposite of the open circuit is the short circuit. In a short circuit, an unintended alternate path for current flow exists and this also can create a malfunction. In the case of our battery and lamp, a short circuit can occur if a piece of wire or metal accidentally fell across the terminals of the lamp. The current would then have a high conductance (i.e., low resistance) path around the lamp. The vast majority of the current would take this low resistance path instead of the higher resistance path presented by the lamp. The result would be that the lamp would not light. In either the open or short case, the light does not function but there is an important difference: for the short circuit, excessive current will flow out of the battery because there is little to resist the flow of current. Thus, the battery will be drained very quickly. For the open, no current flows and thus the battery is not drained.

Figure 3.3.1 : Battery and lamp circuit.

Figure 3.3.2 : A generic series configuration.

Series connections are not limited to just two components. In general, a series connection is any connection of components configured such that the current through each component must be the same. This is illustrated in Figure 3.3.2 . Inside each of the lettered boxes would be a component such as a resistor or a voltage source. Note that for each component, there is one entrance point and one exit point. No matter which box you pick, the current flowing through it must be the same as the current flowing into the next box or out of the preceding box, and it doesn't matter if you follow this path in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion. Thus, this entire configuration is a series connection. The idea that current is consistent throughout should be selfevident. After all, the only way the current through, say, item B could be different from that flowing through item C or D is if some of it somehow “disappeared” along the way by magic. It is important to remember that consistent current is the hallmark feature defining a series connection:

$\text{The current is the same everywhere in a series connection.} \label{2.1}$

It is possible that only a portion of a circuit exhibits a series connection. Consider the more complex diagram presented in Figure 3.3.3 . Some of these items are in series and some are not. For example, items A and B are in series with each other but not in series with the remaining items. Why? Because if we imagine the current flowing through A and then through B they must be the same, however, once beyond B, the current could split and flow down other branches: a portion entering C, a portion entering D and the remainder flowing into E. On the other hand, items C and F are in series with each other because whatever current is flowing through one of them must be flowing through the other. Thus, items A and B are in series with each other and items C and F are in series with each other, although all four are not in series as a group.

3.3.3 : A more complex configuration.

It is possible that no two items in a circuit are strictly in series. We will see examples of this in upcoming chapters. Further, just because the currents through two items happen to be the same, that does not necessarily mean they are in series. Identical currents could be just a by-product of the component values chosen. For example, even if items D and E in Figure 3.3.3 have the same numeric value for current, we would not say that they are in series, anymore than we would say that any two people with the same last name would have to be siblings.

This page titled 2.1.3: The Series Connection is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by James M. Fiore.