Voltage Drop

[nothing123]

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Hi,

Quick question: what does it mean to effectively have a voltage drop in a circuit? When we say resistors produce voltage drops, does that mean its essentially reducing the voltage of the battery itself? For instance, if we have a simple one battery, one resistor circuit, the voltage drop across that single resistor will match the voltage of the battery. But if it drops all the voltage, how does the current make it to the negative terminal of the battery once it surpasses the resistor?

Thanks.

 

[sleepy425]

Hi,

Quick question: what does it mean to effectively have a voltage drop in a circuit? When we say resistors produce voltage drops, does that mean its essentially reducing the voltage of the battery itself? For instance, if we have a simple one battery, one resistor circuit, the voltage drop across that single resistor will match the voltage of the battery. But if it drops all the voltage, how does the current make it to the negative terminal of the battery once it surpasses the resistor?

Thanks.

The voltage across the battery terminals is constant (that's the definition of a battery actually). You can imagine the potential difference produced by a battery to be the same thing as two different floors in a building. A resistor is simply a drop that gets you from a higher floor to a lower floor.

So if you have one resistor in a circuit and one battery, then it's like having to jump from the higher floor to the lower floor with no steps in between (it's one resistor, so it's one drop). If you have two resistors in series, you drop part of the way with the first resistor, and the rest of the way with the second resistor. (If it's in parallel, it's like having two different holes in the top floor through which you can drop, but both holes are straight drops to the lower floor). In all cases the battery functions as an elevator to take you back up to the top floor. The current keeps flowing because imagine the path you're taking (so up the elevator, drop through the hole, back up the elevator, etc) is jam packed with electrons so when one electron gets on the elevator, the next electron takes its place and so on.

I hope that helps

 

[inaccensa]

👍

The voltage across the battery terminals is constant (that's the definition of a battery actually). You can imagine the potential difference produced by a battery to be the same thing as two different floors in a building. A resistor is simply a drop that gets you from a higher floor to a lower floor.

So if you have one resistor in a circuit and one battery, then it's like having to jump from the higher floor to the lower floor with no steps in between (it's one resistor, so it's one drop). If you have two resistors in series, you drop part of the way with the first resistor, and the rest of the way with the second resistor. (If it's in parallel, it's like having two different holes in the top floor through which you can drop, but both holes are straight drops to the lower floor). In all cases the battery functions as an elevator to take you back up to the top floor. The current keeps flowing because imagine the path you're taking (so up the elevator, drop through the hole, back up the elevator, etc) is jam packed with electrons so when one electron gets on the elevator, the next electron takes its place and so on.

I hope that helps

 

[mejorization]

The voltage across the battery terminals is constant (that's the definition of a battery actually). You can imagine the potential difference produced by a battery to be the same thing as two different floors in a building. A resistor is simply a drop that gets you from a higher floor to a lower floor.

So if you have one resistor in a circuit and one battery, then it's like having to jump from the higher floor to the lower floor with no steps in between (it's one resistor, so it's one drop). If you have two resistors in series, you drop part of the way with the first resistor, and the rest of the way with the second resistor. (If it's in parallel, it's like having two different holes in the top floor through which you can drop, but both holes are straight drops to the lower floor). In all cases the battery functions as an elevator to take you back up to the top floor. The current keeps flowing because imagine the path you're taking (so up the elevator, drop through the hole, back up the elevator, etc) is jam packed with electrons so when one electron gets on the elevator, the next electron takes its place and so on.

I hope that helps

Great analogy. What's an MD/PhD doing in an MCAT forum anyways? 🙄