Question

Ms. Szorenyi bought an old string of holiday lights from a yard sale. They worked at first, but when she removed one of the lights they all went out! Ms. Szorenyi checked- it was not a short circuit.a) What type of circuit was used to wire the lights together?b) How should the lights be wired so the rest will stay on? Use circuit terminology to explain your solution and why it works.

Answer 1

For a light to glow, it must be part of a closed circuit.

When many lights are connected in a series circuit, removing one would cause the whole circuit to open:

If the lights were wired in a parallel circuit, then, removing one light won't cause the others to stop being part of a closed circuit:

Therefore, the answers are:

a) The lights were wired in a series circuit.

b) The lights should be wired in a parallel circuit. It works because each light is located in a different closed loop, while in a series circuit they are all in the same closed loop.