Two ways to wire LEDs โ but they behave VERY differently. Switch modes, drag the sliders, and see why one LED dying kills the whole string in series but the others stay alive in parallel! ๐ก
"In a series circuit, the electricity has only ONE path โ through every component in a line. If one thing breaks, everything stops!"
Series: The current flows through one component, then the next, in a single loop. Add the resistances: Rtotal = Rโ + Rโ. The same current passes through every LED. If one LED breaks, the loop is open and all the LEDs go dark.
| Series | Parallel | |
|---|---|---|
| Resistance | Rโ + Rโ | (Rโ ร Rโ) รท (Rโ + Rโ) |
| Current through each LED | Same everywhere | Splits between branches |
| Voltage across each LED | Splits between them | Same as battery |
| If one LED breaks | All go dark ๐ | Others stay on โ |
| Brightness (same R) | Dimmer (less current) | Brighter (full current each) |
Your house lights are wired in parallel! That's why when one bulb burns out, the others still work. Imagine if your whole house went dark every time one bulb broke โ that would be series. ๐
But series is great when you want things to happen together โ like a switch and a buzzer: the switch breaks the series loop and the buzzer stops.