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Electricity

Current in a Parallel Circuit (continued).

The current A3 flowing through the 3 Ohm resistor is

I = V ¸ R

   = 12 ¸ 3

      = 4 Amps.

The current A4 flowing through the 4 Ohm resistor is

I = V ¸ R

   = 12 ¸ 4

      = 3 Amps.

Notice that the bigger the resistance, the smaller the current.


The total current A1 or A5 is found by adding up the current in each branch.

A1 = A2 + A3 + A4

= 6 + 4 + 3

= 13 Amps.

This is much larger than the current of 1·333 Amps
 which flows through a series circuit
 with the same resistors and supply voltage
 (see Resistance in parallel circuits).

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