An electric circuit is a closed path that has electrical components or elements responsible for the flow of electricity inside that loop of the circuit. Or, you can say that the closed loop is a network that produces electricity due to a source battery placed inside it. According to your need for the experiment, you can place one or more loads i.e. resistors, inductors, capacitors, diodes, etc, or any elements, and find the value of any electric quantity as required. Now many of you may wonder about what are the types of circuit or how are basic circuits defined. Well, let us get to know the different kinds of circuit together!
1. Why is it called a Circuit?
A circuit is a closed loop that electrons can journey in. A supply of electricity, which includes a battery, generates a specific amount of electric power withinside the circuit. Unless the circuit is complete, that is, creating a complete circle going back to the electric supply, no electricity gets generated. The reason why it is called a circuit is because of this circular path of electricity that is created. (See Who Discovered Electricity?)
2. What are the Types of Circuit?
Now that we are aware of the reason why it is called a circuit, let us now understand what are the types of circuit. There are 5 types of circuits:
- Closed Circuit: When the load in a circuit functions on its own in a circuit then it’s termed a closed circuit. Here the electrical loop is complete thereby allowing the flow of current thus helping electrical energy flow and move easily.
- Open Circuit: When there may be a defective electric cord or digital component in a circuit or the transfer is OFF, then it’s far referred to as an open circuit. These circuits do not contain a return channel for the flow to get transferred which in turn means that the circuit is not complete. Here, the electrical path is broken thereby not allowing the current to pass through thus not allowing the electrical energy to flow or move at all across the circuit.
- Short Circuit: Among the different kinds of circuits, it is a condition in an electrical loop where the current flows accidentally and takes a shorter path instead of the whole electrical circuit path. Normal short circuits and ground fault short circuits are the two types of short circuits.
- Series Circuit: When all parts in a circuit(including the inductors, wires, etc.) are connected in a chain or series, then it is termed a series circuit. The flow of the current happens in a single path. Here the current of all the series-connected loads is the same whereas the voltage drops are different.
- Parallel Circuit: When all parts are linked in parallel, i.e. there are numerous channels for the electricity to flow, then it is termed a parallel circuit. In a parallel circuit, if one load or bulb gets broken, the remaining bulbs will nevertheless get strength delivered and could glow. It happens so because the parallel connected loads experience the same voltage drop whereas the current that passes through the parallel connections is different and gets divided when it comes from the source.
3. What are Basic Circuits?
A simple circuit is a circuit that contains the three basic components needed for an electric circuit to function i.e. a source of voltage, a conductive path, and a resistor. (See What are the Uses of Electromagnets in Daily Life?)
4. What is Parallel Wiring?
After gaining knowledge about what are the types of circuit, let us now understand parallel wiring. Parallel wiring often refers to a circuit that connects all parts of the circuit in parallel, i.e. containing multiple branches for the current to flow through. This circuit ensures that voltage drops across all the parallel resistors are similar, and the source current gets divided according to the position of the switch placed on any branch of the circuit. (Also read What are Some Parallel Circuit Appliances at Home?)
5. What is the Unit of Current?
The ampere, symbol A, is the widely used SI unit of electrical current. and it is actually one of the 7 SI units that are present for the current. It measures the current at one coulomb per second. Some other known units are volts, watts, Ohm, etc. (See What is a bad conductor of electricity?)
6. What is Series vs Parallel?
While discussing what are the types of circuits, additionally note the difference between a series circuit and a parallel circuit connection. In a chain series circuit where all the components are connected next to one other, the same amount of current flows all the time unless we add any more components in a different connection. On the other hand, in parallel circuits, the additives are located in parallel having the same voltage drop (if we are keeping the switch on), and will have different branch currents.
Moreover, as an electric switch, we can place a diode in order to change the direction of current flow in the circuit or in any parallel branches. A diode is a two-terminal semiconductor device made and its types are rectifier, Schottky, Zener, thyristor, TRIAC, etc. Hence in a circuit, you can add one of these elements according to your need and make full use of the parallel and series connection. (Also read What are 7 Electric Motor Parts?)
