What is an Electrical Circuit?
An electrical circuit is a closed loop formed by a power source, wires, a fuse, a load, and a switch. When the switch is turned on, the electrical circuit is complete and current flows from the negative terminal of the power source, through the wire to the load, to the positive terminal. Any device that consumes the energy flowing through a circuit and converts that energy into work is called a load. A light bulb is one example of a load. It consumes the electricity from a circuit and converts it into work — heat and light. There are three types of circuits: series circuits, parallel circuits, and series-parallel circuits. A series circuit is the simplest because it has only one possible path that the electrical current may flow. If the electrical circuit is broken, none of the load devices will work. A parallel circuit has more than one path, so if one of the paths is broken, the other paths will continue to work. A series-parallel circuit attaches some of the loads to a series circui
Readers of this article should also see ELECTRICAL DEFINITIONS. This website provides information about a variety of electrical hazards in buildings, with articles focused on the inspection, detection, and reporting of electrical hazards and on proper electrical repair methods for unsafe electrical conditions. Critique and content suggestions are invited. Credit is given to content editors and contributors. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website. Sketch at page top courtesy of Carson Dunlop.
