Final answer:
Cutting a wire into three parts and connecting them in parallel reduces the equivalent resistance of the circuit, thus increasing the total current provided by the same voltage source. The current through each part remains unchanged, and it is one-third of the total current. The power output of the source increases due to the increased current.
Step-by-step explanation:
How Does Cutting a Wire into Three Equal Parts and Connecting in Parallel Affect Current?
When a single wire is cut into three equal parts and connected in parallel, the resistance of the circuit is affected. Since each part now provides a pathway for electric current, the combined resistance of the parallel circuit is lower than the resistance of the single wire before it was cut. The resistance of each part is the same as the other two, thus the equivalent resistance of three identical resistors in parallel is one third of the resistance of one resistor. With the same voltage source, Ohm's law (V = IR) implies that lowering the resistance will increase the total current. Consequently, the overall current supplied by the source to the parallel circuit increases when compared to the current through the single wire.
According to the principle of current distribution in a parallel circuit, the total current is the sum of the currents through each parallel branch. Therefore, while the total current increases, the current through each of the three parts remains the same as it would be if each were connected individually to the voltage source. In other words, it does not triple; each segment carries one-third of the total current. The essential concept here is that the equivalent resistance of resistors in parallel is less than the smallest individual resistance among them.
In the context of power dissipation, using P=IV (Power = Current x Voltage), the power output of the source increases because the overall current has increased while the voltage remains constant. However, the power dissipated by each resistor would be based on the current through and the voltage across that particular resistor.