This is because there is continuity in the charge flowing. There is no accumulation of charge anywhere in the circuit. Hence, since, the electric charge flowing in the series circuit has to remain constant, the electric charge flowing per second in the circuit also has to remain constant.

AC receptacles are always wired in parallel. If they were wired in series, no current would pass through unless something was plugged into every outlet to complete the circuit and the combined resistance of more than one device would drop the voltage below what most anything would require to operate, anyway!

Electricity. Wiring electrical elements in parallel means that each will have its own distinct loop. Therefore, there are multiple paths through which current can flow.

In summary, a series circuit is defined as having only one path through which current can flow. From this definition, three rules of series circuits follow: all components share the same current; resistances add to equal a larger, total resistance; and voltage drops add to equal a larger, total voltage.

UNDERSTANDING & CALCULATING SERIES CIRCUITS BASIC RULES The same current flows through each part of a series circuit. The total resistance of a series circuit is equal to the sum of individual resistances. Voltage applied to a series circuit is equal to the sum of the individual voltage drops.

The current is the same everywhere in a series circuit. It does not matter where you put the ammeter, it will give you the same reading.

The sum of the voltages across components in series is equal to the voltage of the supply. The voltages across each of the components in series is in the same proportion as their resistances . This means that if two identical components are connected in series, the supply voltage divides equally across them.

The voltage is the same in all parallel components because by definition you have connected them together with wires that are assumed to have negligible resistance. The voltage at each end of a wire is the same (ideally), So all the components have to have the same voltage.

Voltage. In a series circuit, the voltage is the sum of the voltage drops of the individual components (resistance units).

When capacitors are connected in series and a voltage is applied across this connection, the voltages across each capacitor are generally not equal, but depend on the capacitance values.

In a parallel combination of capacitors potential difference across each capacitor is same but each capacitor will store different charge.

Combine capacitors in parallel When you connect capacitors in parallel, you’re essentially connecting the plates of the individual capacitors. So connecting two identical capacitors in parallel essentially doubles the size of the plates, which effectively doubles the capacitance.

As the energy-storing depends upon the capacitance value and voltage, the capacitor will store much more energy in parallel connection than the series connection for the same applied voltage level because in parallel connection capacitance value is more.

If each capacitor has BOTH terminals connected to BOTH terminals of the others, then they are in parallel. If each capacitor has only one terminal connected to one terminal of another capacitor, they are in series. If the capacitors are connected like train coaches one after another, it is in series.

If two or more capacitors are connected in series, the overall effect is that of a single (equivalent) capacitor having the sum total of the plate spacings of the individual capacitors. With resistors, series connections result in additive values while parallel connections result in diminished values.

Two resistor are in parallel if the nodes at both ends of the resistors are the same. If only one node is the same, they are in series. So, R1 and R2 are in parallel and R3 is in series with R1||R2.