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  • The simplest electric circuit is a light bulb and a battery.

  • The battery creates a force pushing the charged particles in the wire,

  • causing them to flow in a loop around the circuit.

  • The number of charged particles that pass by each second

  • is what we refer to as the current.

  • The charged particles flow through the light bulb because the battery causes them

  • to have a higher potential energy on one side of the light bulb than the other.

  • This is similar to how objects at higher elevations

  • have a higher gravitational potential energy.

  • This potential energy is what we refer to as voltage.

  • If we visualize the potential energy as boxes that are attached to

  • the charged particles, then we will see that

  • this energy is converted into light as the particles pass through the bulb.

  • The charged particles regain their potential energy

  • as they move through the battery, which pushes

  • the charged particles to the higher potential.

  • When the energy inside the battery is depleted,

  • the battery will no longer be able to create

  • this potential energy which we call voltage.

  • A battery that has not yet been depleted ensures that

  • the voltage between its two terminals is always at a specific value.

  • If we place several batteries with the same voltage together in parallel,

  • then this will result in more energy that is stored,

  • and this will give us more time before the battery is depleted.

  • If we instead place these batteries in series,

  • this will cause their voltages to add,

  • resulting in a much higher potential energy for each charged particle.

  • A higher voltage across the light bulb means

  • that a higher current will pass through it.

  • This will cause far more light to be emitted by the light bulb, but

  • it will also mean that the energy in the batteries will be depleted much faster.

  • Much more detailed information about

  • voltage, current, and electric circuits is

  • available in the other videos on this channel.

The simplest electric circuit is a light bulb and a battery.

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