PhysicsCode 9702
Kirchhoff’s laws
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- state Kirchhoff’s first law and grasp that it stems from the conservation of charge
- state Kirchhoff’s second law and understand that it comes from energy being conserved
- derive, from Kirchhoff’s laws, an expression for the combined resistance when two or more resistors are joined in series
- use the formula that gives the combined resistance of a series arrangement of two or more resistors
- derive, from Kirchhoff’s laws, an expression for the combined resistance when two or more resistors are joined in parallel
- use the formula that gives the combined resistance when two or more resistors are placed side by side in parallel
- apply Kirchhoff’s laws to tackle straightforward circuit problems