Simulation of current in a single loop
CURRENT IN A SERIES LOOP
A single closed loop with one battery and three resistors. Three ammeters sit at different points around the circuit — top-left, right side, and bottom. No matter how high or low the voltage is set, all three always show the same reading. Charge has nowhere else to go: every electron that leaves the battery must pass through every component in turn before returning, so the same number flow past every point every second.
Try this with students:
- Slide the voltage up and down — all three ammeters change together, always identical. Ask: if current were “used up” by the resistors, what would you expect to see?
- Cover two ammeters — ask students to predict what the hidden ones read, knowing only one value. Then reveal.
- Discuss the resistors — R1, R2 and R3 are all 10 Ω. Ask: what would happen to current if we added a fourth resistor? Would the ammeter readings still match?
- Connect to charge flow — link back to I = Q ÷ t. If 0.40 A flows past Ammeter 1, how many coulombs pass Ammeter 2 in 10 seconds?