Series and parallel circuits
Grade 11 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.
Resistors of 4 Ω, 6 Ω and 10 Ω are joined in series. What is the total resistance, Ari?
Resistors of 12 Ω, 3 Ω and 15 Ω are joined in series. What is the total resistance, Bo?
Resistors of 2.5 Ω, 7.5 Ω and 6 Ω are joined in series. What is the total resistance, Esme?
Read this first
Use this
Circuit schematics (example data), side by side. Series: a 6 V battery with a 2 Ω and a 4 Ω resistor in one loop; an ammeter reads 1 A. Parallel: a 6 V battery with a 2 Ω and a 4 Ω resistor on separate branches; the branch ammeters read 3 A and 1.5 A.
In the schematics, what current flows through the 4 Ω resistor in the series circuit, Jun?
- 1.5 A
- 1 A
- 3 A
In the schematics, what current flows through the 2 Ω branch of the parallel circuit, Kira?
- 3 A
- 1 A
- 1.5 A
Three bulbs are in series. One bulb is unscrewed. What happens to the other two, Milo?
- They go out
- They stay the same
- They get brighter
Why are the lamps in a house wired in parallel, Pia?
- Each gets full voltage and a switch
- So one switch turns the whole house off
- So they share the voltage
In a series circuit, how does the current through each resistor compare, Ren?
- It is shared out
- It is biggest in the first resistor
- It is the same
In a parallel circuit, how does the voltage across each branch compare with the battery's, Tala?
- It is zero
- It is split among the branches
- The same as the battery's
In a series circuit on a 9 V battery, what do the voltages across the parts add up to, Zee?
- 9 V
- 0 V
- 18 V