Electric Circuits Practice Test Name: _______________________

I. VOCABULARY
Date: ___________ Period: _____
If the underlined word is used incorrectly, cross it out and replace it with the correct word.

1. The rate of flow of electric charge is called resistance and it is measured with the unit joule.

2. Current is the electric potential energy per charge. It comes from the wires. The unit is the ohm.

3. Resistors in a circuit increase the flow of charge. This obstruction is called voltage.

4. Resistors dissipate mechanical energy into heat. The rate at which this occurs is called load.

5. In a series circuit each resistor has the same voltage.

II. SERIES AND PARALLEL

6. Two resistors are connected in series. 7. Two resistors are connected in parallel.
9V 𝑉2 10 V
What is: 𝐼1 What is:
(a) 𝐼1 ? ________ (a) 𝐼1 ? ________
𝑉2
𝐼1 2A (b) 𝑉2? ________ 2A (b) 𝑉2? ________

(c) 𝑃? ________ 6A (c) 𝑃? ________

12 V

III. MULTIPLE CHOICE

10 V 2Ω 6Ω 100 V 200 Ω

8. In the circuit shown above, what is the 9. How much power is dissipated by the resistor
current through the 2-ohm resistor? in the circuit shown above?
A 0.2 A C 0.8 A A 25 watts C 50 watts
B 5.0 A D 8.0 A B 100 watts D 800 watts

IV. SOLVING CIRCUITS

10. A 4 Ω and a 6 Ω resistor are connected in series, the current is measured to be 4 A.
(a) Draw a diagram of this circuit. (b) What is the voltage drop (c) What is the voltage drop
across the 4 Ω resistor? across the 6 Ω resistor?

(d) What is the total voltage of (e) What is the total power
the power source? dissipated by the circuit?

Fremont Physics ©Kepple 2013

Electric Circuits – Page#8
Electric Circuits Study Guide 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑅 𝑃 = 𝐼𝑉
Ohm’s Law Joule’s Law

Voltage (𝑽) Current (𝑰) Resistance (𝑹) Power (𝑷)

unit: volt (V) unit: ampere (A) unit: ohm () unit: watt (W)
The electric potential The amount of charge A measure of the The rate at which energy
energy per charge. that passes by a point obstruction to the flow is transformed in an
each second. of electric charge. electric circuit.

SERIES CIRCUIT PARALLEL CIRCUIT

𝑅1
𝑉 𝑅2 𝑉 𝑅1 𝑅2

Resistors are connected on the same path. Resistors are connected across the same points.

There are no breaks in the wire, so each Each R is connected across the same points, so
resistor receives an equal current. each resistor receives an equal voltage.

𝐼 = 𝐼1 = 𝐼2 𝑉 = 𝑉1 = 𝑉2
The electrons have to pass through BOTH The wire branches into separate paths, so the
resistors, so the voltage is split between each. current is split between each path.

𝑉 = 𝑉1 + 𝑉2 𝐼 = 𝐼1 + 𝐼2
Additional resistors increase total resistance. Additional resistors decrease total resistance.
1 1 1
𝑅 = 𝑅1 + 𝑅2 = +
𝑅 𝑅1 𝑅2
SIMPLE CIRCUIT EQUIVALENT RESISTANCE
A circuit with one battery and one resistor. The value of a single resistor which would
replace a combination of multiple resistors.
𝐼
8 8 16 
𝑉 𝑅
series combination 𝑅 ↑ and 𝐼 ↓
8
Voltage (𝑉) is provided by the battery. 4
Current (𝐼) flows from the positive to the 8
negative terminal of the battery.
Resistance (𝑅) is determined by the resistor. parallel combination 𝑅 ↓ and 𝐼 ↑

1) current, ampere; 2) voltage, battery, volt; 3) decrease, resistance; 4) electrical, power;

5) series, current; 6) 2 A, 3 V, 24 W; 7) 4 A, 10 V, 60 W;