PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS ONE QUESTION A small resistor is connected to a 12 V battery. A second resistor of REALLY high resistance is added to the series circuit. How does this affect the current?

A) Nothing changes.

B) The current of the entire circuit is lowered.

C) The current through the large resistor is lowered.

D) The current through the small resistor is lowered.

B) The current of the entire circuit is lowered.

Explanation:

There are two ways in which a resistor can be connected in a circuit;

i) Series: In a series connection, resistors are connected end to end. In this arrangement, the current passing through each resistor is the same while the potential difference across each resistor is different.

ii) Parallel: In a parallel connection, resistors are connected to  common junctions. In this arrangement, the potential difference across each resistor is the same while the current across each resistor varies.

In a series circuit, the effective resistance is the algebraic sum of resistance of all the resistors connected in series. Hence, if a large resistor is connected in series, the effective resistance of the circuit is greatly increased.

Since the voltage is given by;

V=IR (Ohm's law)

Where R is the effective resistance

Then;

I = V/R

If R becomes very large due to a large resistance connected in series, then the current of the entire circuit is lowered.