CHANGING THE CURRENT

The electricity flowing around a circuit is the electric current. The size of the
current flowing around a circuit has to be controlled if the circuit is to work
properly.

These pages are about

electrical current and how to
change it.

Measuring the current

Changing the current

The size of the current is a way of measuring how

many electrons are flowing around the circuit. If a lot
of electricity is flowing, the current is said to be large.
If only a little electricity is flowing the current is small.
A large current would make a bulb light up brightly,
and a small current would make the bulb dim.

There are two ways of changing the current.

1. The voltage can be increased by using more cells
(or by changing the setting of the power supply).
If you use a higher voltage you will get a higher
current flowing in the circuit.
2. The number of components in the circuit can be
changed. For instance, if you add more bulbs to a
series circuit, the current will get smaller. It is
more difficult for electricity to get through lots of
bulbs, so not as much gets through.

You can measure the size of the current flowing in a

circuit with an ammeter.

Circuit A

Units

The units used for measuring current are called

amperes, amps for short (or A).

3
A
2
1

Resistors
A

Resistors are special components made to control

the current in the circuit.

Ammeter 1 is measuring the current flowing through

the bottom branch of the parallel circuit and
ammeter 2 is measuring the current flowing through
the top branch. Ammeter 3 is measuring the current
coming out of the battery.

A current of one amp (1A) means that about

6 250 000 000 000 000 000 electrons are
going through the ammeter every second.
A resistor with a large resistance will let only a small
current through. A resistor with a small resistance
will let a larger current through.

Voltage
The driving force to push electric charges round a
circuit is supplied by a source of electric energy such
as an electric cell. The amount of energy supplied by
the source of electric energy to each unit of electric
charge is called the voltage.

What happens in parallel circuits?

Does it matter where in the circuit you put an

ammeter? All the ammeters in this series circuit are
showing the same reading. The current is the same
everywhere in a series circuit. The bulbs do not use
up the current.

The current splits up when it comes to a junction. The

currents through the two branches add up to the
total current in the main part of the circuit.

SUMMARY

The current around a circuit

The size of the current can be measured using an ammeter.

The units for current are amps (A)
The size of the current depends on the voltage of the battery or
power supply
The size of the current also depends on the number of components
in the circuit, and on what kind of components they are.
Current does not get used up by bulbs or other components. The
current is the same everywhere in a series circuit.

A
1.

2.

B
What do these words mean?
a. Current
b. Ammeter
c. Resistor
What are the units for measuring
electric current?

1.
2.

3.

4.
Describe two different ways of
changing the current in a circuit.
5.
You have two cells, two bulbs and
some connecting wires.
a. Draw a circuit diagram to show
how you would make a circuit
to give the brightest bulb.
b. Draw a circuit diagram to show
how you would get the dimmest
bulbs.
In circuit A both bulbs are the same
and ammeter 1 reads 0.1A.
a. What does ammeter 2 read?
b. What does ammeter 3 read?

If there were four bulbs in circuit B,

what would the ammeters read?
If there were two cells in circuit C,
what would the ammeters read?

C
What is a variable resistor? Explain
how it works.