In the parallel circuit, if the current put out
by the battery is 3 A and the current through
R1 is 1 A, what is the current through R2?
If R2 and R1 are in parallel, the fraction of the 3A that goes through R2 is
(1/R2)/[(1/R1 + 1/R2)]
= 1/[(R2/R1) + 1]
To determine the current through R2 in a parallel circuit, we can use the fact that the total current into the parallel circuit equals the sum of the individual branch currents.
Here, the current put out by the battery is 3 A, which is the total current entering the circuit. The current through R1 is 1 A.
So, to find the current through R2, we can subtract the current through R1 from the total current:
Current through R2 = Total current - Current through R1
Current through R2 = 3 A - 1 A
Current through R2 = 2 A
Therefore, the current through R2 in this parallel circuit is 2 A.