Question

Question #69c90

Answer 1

Increasing the number of resistors in a parallel branch increases the total resistance of that branch, turning that branch into a series circuit.

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Let's use only the right-hand branch of the combination circuit shown above to explain this.

You can see that two resistors have been placed on the very right-hand branch. The `1 Omega` and the `3 Omega` resistor are connected in series. That means the total resistance of this branch needs to be found using `R_T = R_1 + R_2`, giving a total resistance on this branch of `4 Omega`.

If, instead, these two resistors were placed in two different parallel branches, by using `1 / R_T = 1 / R_1 + 1 / R_2`, the total resistance of those two resistors would be only `0.75 Omega`.