Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) Strings of holiday lights can be designed in one of two ways. In so
me strings of lights, each light is connected to the others along a single wire (in series). In others, each light is attached to its own wire (in parallel). Suppose a single light bulb burns out. How do you think this will affect lights that are strung along a single wire
This is because, in a series connection, the same current passes through each light. Since the current is the same, if one light burns out, it cuts off the rest of the other lights and thus, no current flows in the string again.
Whereas, in a parallel connection, each light is attached to its own wire and thus has a different current flowing through it than the rest of the other wires. If one of the lights goes out, current stops flowing through it but, it doesn't affect the other lights.