Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to

the potential difference across the two points. Introducing the constant of proportionality,
the resistance,
[1]
one arrives at the usual mathematical equation that describes this relationship:
[2]


where I is the current through the conductor in units of amperes, V is the potential difference
measured across the conductor in units of volts, and R is the resistance of the conductor in units
of ohms. More specifically, Ohm's law states that the R in this relation is constant, independent of the
current.
[3]

The law was named after the German physicist Georg Ohm, who, in a treatise published in 1827,
described measurements of applied voltage and current through simple electrical circuits containing
various lengths of wire. He presented a slightly more complex equation than the one above
(seeHistory section below) to explain his experimental results. The above equation is the modern
form of Ohm's law.
















Combination Circuits
Previously in Lesson 4, it was mentioned that there are two different ways to connect two or more
electrical devices together in a circuit. They can be connected by means of series connections or by
means of parallel connections. When all the devices in a circuit are connected by series connections,
then the circuit is referred to as a series circuit. When all the devices
in a circuit are connected by parallel connections, then the circuit is
referred to as a parallel circuit. A third type of circuit involves the dual
use of series and parallel connections in a circuit; such circuits are
referred to as compound circuits or combination circuits. The circuit
depicted at the right is an example of the use of both series and
parallel connections within the same circuit. In this case, light bulbs A
and B are connected by parallel connections and light bulbs C and D
are connected by series connections. This is an example of
a combination circuit.
When analyzing combination circuits, it is critically important to have a solid understanding of the
concepts that pertain to both series circuits and parallel circuits. Since both types of connections are
used in combination circuits, the concepts associated with both types of circuits apply to the
respective parts of the circuit. The main concepts associated with series and parallel circuits are
organized in the table below.
Series Circuits
The current is the same in every
resistor; this current is equal to that in the
battery.
The sum of the voltage drops
across the individual resistors is equal to
the voltage rating of the battery.
The overall resistance of the
collection of resistors is equal to the sum
of the individual resistance values,
R
tot
= R
1
+ R
2
+ R
3
+ ...
Parallel Circuits
The voltage drop is the same
across each parallel branch.
The sum of the current in each
individual branch is equal to the
current outside the branches.
The equivalent or overall
resistance of the collection of resistors
is given by the equation
1/R
eq
= 1/R
1
+ 1/R
2
+ 1/R
3
...
Each of the above concepts has a mathematical expression. Combining the mathematical expressions
of the above concepts with the Ohm's law equation ( V = I R) allows one to conduct a complete
analysis of a combination circuit.