What a learner can do afterwards
- Use 'series' and 'parallel' correctly to describe two different circuit configurations and explain the key difference
- Apply 'current', 'voltage', and 'resistance' correctly in a written description of how a circuit works
- Name at least six standard circuit components and describe what each one does
The lesson
A circuit is a closed loop that lets electricity flow around and back to where it started. Every part of that loop, like a battery, wire, switch, or bulb, is called a component.
A cell or battery stores energy and pushes charge around the circuit. That push is called voltage. The flow of charge moving through the components is called current.
Resistance is whatever slows the current down, like a thin wire or a bulb's filament. Conductors, such as metal wires, let current pass through easily. Insulators, such as plastic or rubber, block current. A switch is a component that opens or closes the path, turning the current on or off.
In a parallel circuit, components sit on separate branches that all connect back to the battery. If one branch breaks, current keeps flowing through the others.
Series circuits share one path; parallel circuits give current more than one path to follow.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.