Power

I need some help here.

My A+ teacher today said that things wired in series the voltage is constant.

And things wired in paralell the amp are constant.

I tired to prove to him that he was wrong but we got into an argument and class had to end. I showed him a computer power supply and showed him the molex connectors and said that those were wired in paralell. He said the it was a series it " hit the load first before going out the wire to the other molex connector. Now what i don't understand is how is that possible if their both wired to the same peice of metal.

He also went on to say that the outlets of a house are wired in series. I don't beleive that is true ethier because series DOES NOT perserve V and all outlets must be 120V.

My problem is that i need some more proof. I am planning on getting my friends pyhisics book to back me and i have a basic electronics book that supports me. If anyone has any other online resorces that suport me please post them here.

THANKS
SCAP

scap said:

I need some help here.

My A+ teacher today said that things wired in series the voltage is constant.

And things wired in paralell the amp are constant.

I tired to prove to him that he was wrong but we got into an argument and class had to end. I showed him a computer power supply and showed him the molex connectors and said that those were wired in paralell. He said the it was a series it " hit the load first before going out the wire to the other molex connector. Now what i don't understand is how is that possible if their both wired to the same peice of metal.

He also went on to say that the outlets of a house are wired in series. I don't beleive that is true ethier because series DOES NOT perserve V and all outlets must be 120V.

My problem is that i need some more proof. I am planning on getting my friends pyhisics book to back me and i have a basic electronics book that supports me. If anyone has any other online resorces that suport me please post them here.

THANKS
SCAP

Click to expand...

It's not that tough, really. The wiring in the house is definately not in series, it is parallel. If I turn off the kitchen light, all of the lights don't go out...in a series, if you break it, everything is cut off. I don't think your prof could be that dumb.

This is some elementary stuff here...http://www.electronicstheory.com/html/e101-10.htm

I'm only in my first year of my EE classes, but as far as I know, you're right, the molex connectors in the pic are in parallel, as are the outlets in a house. if the wires are attached to the same piece of metal in the connector (which they are) then the electricity can't hit a load before going back out again... also if they were in series, each drive would be getting less voltage than the one before it.

I think your A+ teacher needs to take a few more classes.

I'm at the lab at school, so I couldnt make this quick image into a jpeg, but you'll get the idea when you download it.

The top image is a series circuit with 2 resistors. voltages at point A, point B, and point C are all different. This follows kirchoffs voltage law.

It also follows, in the top image, that the currents at points A, B, and C are all exactly the same. This follows kirchoffs voltage law.

If he feels like telling you that it is wrong, tell him to go resurrect kirchoff and tell him that. While he's at it, he needs to rewrite a lot of books and convince the computer I'm typing on that it is malfunctioning.

The bottom circuit is a parallel circuit. Following the same two laws, points A and B are at the same voltage. Points C and D are at the same voltage. The currents in each branch of the nodes vary depending on the values of the resistors.

oops, forgot to attach the image.

if you ever try to wire lights in series they would be very dim

ROTFLMAO!!!
It is your teacher who have said that?!
I'm 17 & I learnt it in the 9th or 10th grade that paralel = constant V
serial = constant A...
Any book that concerns the issue will back u up there.

Yes my teacher did say that. I thought it was wrong and now that i have enough information i can prvoe to him that he was deeply confused. I argued with him over this subject for 15-20 min. He told me that he has wired a bunch of house and he knows that he couldn't be wrong. However he did know about where to put the wire he just doesn't get how they work. Examplel:we were looking at those molex connectors that i posted from before and he said the wires go in hit the load and then come out. I think the biggest factor was he thought he was right and i thought i was and neither of us wanted to listen to the other.

Thank you all for your help i think i have all i need to prove this to him on monday.

this is how it works!

just say that the line is 12v and when you wire 2 in parallel both are 12v
when you wire 4 in series all 4 are 3v like shown
when one of the bulbs die on the series circut they all go out
and when one bulb dies on parallel circut the other one still goes

i just had powershop in school(electrical work) and we wired regular house situations in ALL PARALLEL