Lesson Plan: Analyzing Combination CircuitsPhysics • Third Year of Secondary School

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This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to determine the currents through and voltages across parts of circuits that contain resistors both in series and parallel.

Objectives

Students will be able to

  • determine the characteristics of circuits containing resistors with both series and parallel combinations by calculating the equivalent resistance of circuit branches,
  • use Kirchhoff’s laws to calculate currents in circuit branches where currents cannot be calculated using equivalent resistance methods.

Prerequisites

Students should already be familiar with

  • Ohm’s law,
  • the fact that 𝑅=𝑅+𝑅+⋯+𝑅 in series,
  • the fact that 𝑅=𝑅+𝑅+⋯+𝑅 in parallel,
  • Kirchhoff’s first and second laws applied to simple circuits.

Exclusions

Students will not cover

  • components other than batteries and resistors,
  • alternating current.