Ohms law

I = V / R ........... Ohm's Law

Two Resistors in Series

From Ohm's Law, we know that for a circuit with a resistance R and
voltage V:
I=V/R
Therefore rearranging the equation by multiplying both sides by R
V = IR

So for resistor R1
V1 = IR1

and for resistor R2

V2 = IR2

Kirchoff's Voltage Law

From Kirchoff's Voltage Law, we know that the sum of voltages around a
closed loop in a circuit add up to zero. We decide on a convention, so
voltage sources with arrows pointing clockwise from negative to positive
are considered positive and voltage drops across resistors are negative. So
in our example:

V - V1 - V2 = 0

Rearranging
V = V1 + V2
(I.e. the voltage V equals the sum of the drops across the resistors)

Substitute for V1 and V2 calculated earlier

V = IR1 + IR2 = I(R1 + R2)

Divide both sides by I

V / I = R1 + R2

But from Ohm's Law, we know V / I = total resistance of the circuit. Let's
call it Rtotal
Therefore
Rtotal = R1 + R2
In general if we have n resistors:
Rtotal = R1 + R2 + ...... Rn

Two Resistors in Parallel

Let the current through resistor R1 be I1 and the current through R2 be I2
The voltage drop across both R1 and R2 is equal to the supply voltage V

Therefore from Ohm's Law

I1 = V / R1

and

I2 = V / R2

But from Kirchoff's Current Law, we know the current entering a node
(connection point) is equal to the current leaving the node

Therefore
I = I1 + I2

Substituting the values derived for I1 and I2 gives us

I = V / R1 + V / R2
= V(1 / R1 + 1 / R2)

The lowest common denominator (LCD) of 1 / R1 and 1 / R2 is R1R2 so

we can replace the expression (1 / R1 + 1 / R2) by

R2 / R1R2 + R1 / R1R2

Switching around the two fractions

= R1 / R1R2 + R2 / R1R2

and since the denominator of both fractions is the same

= (R1 + R2) / R1R2

Therefore
 I = V(1 / R1 + 1 / R2) = V(R1 + R2) / R1R2

Rearranging gives us
V / I = R1R2 / (R1 + R2)

But from Ohm's Law, we know V / I = total resistance of the circuit. Let's
call it Rtotal

Therefore
Rtotal = R1R2 / (R1 + R2)

So for two resistors in parallel, the combined resistance is the product of

the individual resistances divided by the sum of the resistances.