Say I have a D battery with voltage 1.5V. If I were to gather an infinite amount of light bulbs (or whatever conductive resistor you want to think about) and continuously make each one of them in parallel with each other in a circuit (from one light bulb to infinitely many light bulbs), what would most likely happen? By Ohm's law, I would think either the bulbs would "blow up" due to the high amount of current in the system or the battery would drain quickly resulting in a voltage of zero.
If the latter case were to happen, what would happen if we were given instead something that can maintain constant voltage?
If the latter case were to happen, what would happen if we were given instead something that can maintain constant voltage?
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Let's talk about the constant voltage source. Each time you hook a resistor R across it, it draws a current (V/R). No matter how many resistors you add in parallel, each one gets the same amount of current through it. If you have an infinite chain, then you are drawing an infinite current, but each piece is the same constant (V/R) through each branch R.
The bulbs will not ever blow up as the current through any individual bulb never changes.
A battery can't supply infinite current, so it will run down as you said.
The bulbs will not ever blow up as the current through any individual bulb never changes.
A battery can't supply infinite current, so it will run down as you said.
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Each bulb will see only 1.5 volts, so it won't "blow up".
Each bulb, say it is 15 ohms, will see a current of I = E/R = 1.5/15 = 0.1 amp. No matter how many you added in parallel, each would only draw 0.1 amps (assuming the D battery had infinite capacity).
For an ordinary D cell, each bulb adds to the current from the battery, and it would drain faster and faster as you added loads until it was dead.
Each bulb, say it is 15 ohms, will see a current of I = E/R = 1.5/15 = 0.1 amp. No matter how many you added in parallel, each would only draw 0.1 amps (assuming the D battery had infinite capacity).
For an ordinary D cell, each bulb adds to the current from the battery, and it would drain faster and faster as you added loads until it was dead.
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They cannot blow up.
What happens is that as you increase the number paralleled, they will all dim due to battery internal resistance. This causes the voltage across the bulbs to decrease, which is why less current can then flow in each.
The current gets higher and higher, the battery begins to overheat, and if it does not go flat first, could even leak, burst or catch fire.
Don't do it!
What happens is that as you increase the number paralleled, they will all dim due to battery internal resistance. This causes the voltage across the bulbs to decrease, which is why less current can then flow in each.
The current gets higher and higher, the battery begins to overheat, and if it does not go flat first, could even leak, burst or catch fire.
Don't do it!
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The bulb's won't "blow up".
Why: Even though lots of current is being drawn from the battery, it is being *divided* between each of the bulbs. Each bulb will get the same current as if there was only one bulb.
But this will drain the battery very quickly.
What do you mean by "given something that can maintain a constant voltage"? Do you mean a battery that won't run out quickly?
Why: Even though lots of current is being drawn from the battery, it is being *divided* between each of the bulbs. Each bulb will get the same current as if there was only one bulb.
But this will drain the battery very quickly.
What do you mean by "given something that can maintain a constant voltage"? Do you mean a battery that won't run out quickly?
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Resistance approaches but will not reach 0. Circuit approaches a dead short and the battery drains.
The theoretical constant voltage would flow through the infinite number of paths. The voltage drop across each light would be equal to the source voltage ===> Constant voltage is also infinite current source.
The theoretical constant voltage would flow through the infinite number of paths. The voltage drop across each light would be equal to the source voltage ===> Constant voltage is also infinite current source.