Series> To me, a circuit sounds like “circle.” And that’s just what it is.
Picture a round race track. Cars zoom round and round in one direction. What if part of the track were washed out? The racers couldn’t race. They’d have to stop until someone fixed the track.
Circuits work the same way. Circuits are loops (circular paths) that electric charges follow. They carry electric current round and round. But if the circuit is broken, the electricity goes nowhere.
A series circuit is like a circle of people holding hands. One person squeezes the hand of a neighbor. The neighbor squeezes the hand of the next person. And so on, all the way around. If one person drops out, and leaves a hole, people stop squeezing. They know that the squeezes can’t go a full circle.
Electric charges travel a series circuit in a similar way. There’s only one path to follow. A gap anywhere in the circuit breaks the current. The electricity stops. A string of holiday lights is a good example. One burned out bulb makes the electric current stop flowing. All the lights go out.
