This past week in physics we learned more about electricity, more specifically about schematics (how to draw circuits in a fashion understandable by the general people). We learned that jagged lines stand for resistors, straight lines for wires and a long line and a parallel short line for batteries. The long line tells the viewer that that is the positive side and the short line is the negative side. This is important because we can figure out which way the current flows. Using these three parts we can figure out how to correctly connect everything so that the end product works correctly. This week we also learned that there are different kinds of circuits. The first type of circuit is a series circuit. In this case the batteries or resistors are lined up touching head to tail just like how elephants walk in trunk to tail lines. In a parallel circuit the batteries or resistors are side by side and each are their own path. The difference between the two is that series has only 1 path and a parallel circuit has multiple paths and all its paths are equal. The last type of circuit is a combination circuit. This circuit is a mix between a series and a parallel circuit.
http://www.nelsonthornes.com/secondary/science/scinet/scinet/electric/circuits/types.htm this website has an interesting interactive image that allows you to see and understand the difference between a circuit in series or in parallel.
The picture below shows a combination circuit.
