Electricity

Three incandescent bulbs of 100 W each are connected in series in an electric circuit. In another circuit, another set of three bulbs of the same wattage are connected in parallel to the same source.
(a) Will the bulb in the two circuits glow with the same brightness? Justify your answer.
(b) Now let one bulb in both the circuits get fused. Will the rest of the bulbs continue to glow in each circuit? Give reason.

Answer: a) In a series configuration, the resistance of the bulbs is three times greater than the resistance of a single bulb. As a result, when compared to the current in each bulb in the parallel...

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B1 , B2, and B3 are three identical bulbs connected as shown in Figure 12.8. When all the three bulbs glow, a current of 3A is recorded by ammeter A.
What happens to the glow of the other two bulbs when the bulb B1 gets fused?
What happens to the reading of A1 , A2 , A3 and A when the bulb B2 gets fused?

Solution: In a parallel circuit, the potential difference does not become divided. As a result, when bulb one is fused, the glowing of the other bulbs will not be affected. 3 Amperes are being...

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A current of 1 ampere flows in a series circuit containing an electric lamp and a conductor of 5 Ω when connected to a 10 V battery. Calculate the resistance of the electric lamp. Now if the resistance of 10 Ω is connected in parallel with this series combination, what change (if any) in current flowing through 5 Ω conductor and potential difference across the lamp will take place? Give reason.

Solution: Given: I= 1 A, V= 5 V 1) Let R be the resistance of the electric lamp. In series total resistance = 5 + R I = v/r 1 =  10/5+R R = 5 ohm 2) V across Lamp + conductor = 10 V V acoess Lamp =...

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Draw a circuit diagram of an electric circuit containing a cell, a key, an ammeter, a resistor of 2 Ω in series with a combination of two resistors (4 Ω each) in parallel and a voltmeter across the parallel combination. Will the potential difference across the 2 Ω resistor be the same as that across the parallel combination of 4Ω resistors? Give reason.

Solution: The circuit diagram is: The following equation can be used to calculate the total resistance of a parallel combination of 40 resistors: $\frac{1}{R}=\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{4}=\frac{1}{2}$$R...

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Two resistors of resistance 2 Ω and 4 Ω when connected to a battery will have
(a) same current flowing through them when connected in parallel
(b) same current flowing through them when connected in series
(c) the same potential difference across them when connected in series
(d) different p

Solution: The answer is (b) same current flowing through them when connected in series When using a series combination, the current is not divided into branches because the resistor receives a...

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In an electrical circuit, three incandescent bulbs A, B and C of rating 40 W, 60 W and 100 W respectively are connected in parallel to an electric source. Which of the following is likely to happen regarding their brightness?
(a) The brightness of all the bulbs will be the same
(b) The brightness of bulb A will be the maximum
(c) The brightness of bulb B will be more than that of A
(d) The brightness of bulb C will be less than that of B

Solution: Answer is (c) Brightness of bulb B will be more than that of A Due to the fact that the bulbs are connected in parallel, their combined resistance will be less than the arithmetic sum of...

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A student carries out an experiment and plots the V-I graph of three samples of nichrome wire with resistances R1, R2 and R3 respectively (Figure.12.5). Which of the following is true?
(a) R1 = R2 = R3
(b) R1 > R2 > R3
(c) R3 > R2 > R1
(d) R2 > R3 > R1

Solution: The answer is (c) R3 > R2 > R1 Resistance is inversely proportional to the amount of current flowing through it. Because the highest resistance will result in the least amount of current...

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