Homework Help: Physics

Posted by Aubrey on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 6:15pm.

I'm totally confused and this is due Monday-
We're dealing with electrical circuits and I have to construct a circuit with resistors of 10 Ohms, 20 Ohms, 30 Ohms and 20 Ohms. The total resistance has to be 42 Ohms-Can someone direct me how to even begin to draw this-I know Parallel resistors you add sum and take the reciprocal for total and series you had them together but where do I start with this-Please help_ I'm stuck and its the weekend and this is due Monday

Physics - drwls, Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 7:27pm
The 20 and 30 ohm resistors in parallel have an equivalent resistance of 12 ohms. Put the 10 and other 20 ohm resistors in series with that.
Physics-Please recheck - Aubrey, Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 7:47pm
I drew my circuit but now I'm still confused-if I have a 20 V battery, how do I calculate the current through two of the resistors(say the two parallel ones of 20 and 30
Would I use the formula
V=IR
20V =I*12Ohm(which I just figured out)
20/12 = 1.67A But now I'm stuck because I don't know how to break it down into the 20 Ohm resistor and the 30 Ohm resistor
Physics-oops! - Aubrey, Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 7:50pm
In my calculations I think I should have said V=IR
V= 20V Battery I used so
20V = I * 20 Ohm= 1A
20V = I * 30 Ohm = .67A
Physics - drwls, Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 8:00pm
Your original question just asked for how to arrange the resistors to achieve a total effective resistance of 42 ohms. I told you how to do that. The total current going through each series resistor, and the battery, will be V/R = 20/42 = 0.476 Amp

The two resistors in parallel will share that current, with the lower (20 ohm) resistor getting 3/5 of it.
Physics - Aubrey, Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 8:16pm
The reason I only asked the first part was I first wanted to understand how to construct it before I figured out the rest because I have three more sets of circuits to do so now I understand that part. I wasn't trying to mislead you-I really appreciate the help alot and can now continue with the other circuits using this as a basis-Thank you again for all your assistance

Answer this Question

Related Questions

Physics - Thanks for any help :) Four 20 ohm resistors are connected in parallel...
Physics - Circuits - Theres a circuit wired in series that has 4 resistors. 1) ...
Science - Megan wants to determine if an electrical circuit has electricity ...
physics: Electricity/Resistance - If I have a 9V circuit, with: 2 resistors in ...
Electrical - (2) 1500 Ù resistors are connected in series. They are ...
physics question - A resistance box has the following components and tolerances...
HVAC / Electrical - what is the total resistance in a circuit having 3 feetof 10...
Science - What are fuses and why do they come in different sizes? Fuses are ...
Science - What is the rule for combining resistors in series and parallel ...
Physics repost - Four resistors of 10.0 each are connected in parallel. A ...

For Further Reading

First Name:
School Subject:
Answer: