Activity 3 - Bulbs in parallel

Circuit Construction Kit (DC Only)
Click to Run


You may use the applet given above to answer the following questions

(A)Set up a two-bulb circuit with identical bulbs as shown.



  1. What is the relative brightness of the bulbs in this circuit?
  2. Based on the applet, what can be observed about the amount of current flowing through each bulb?
  3. Using the ammeter, measure the current at points 1, 2, 3 and 4. Based on your observations, how can you relate current flow between points 1, 2, 3 and 4? Justify your answer. 
(B)Now, create two circuits. The first circuit is a single bulb circuit. The second circuit is a two bulb parallel circuit.


  1. What is the relative brightness of each bulb in each circuit?
  2. What is the amount of current flowing through each bulb in both circuits?
  3. What is the amount of current drawn from the battery in each case? Justify your answer by using the ammeter.
  4. Does the number of bulbs affect the amount of current drawn from the battery? Does the arrangement of bulb affect the current drawn from the battery?.