Answer to Question #321347 in Electric Circuits for Jean Salak

Question

A 32.0-Ω resistor and a 20.0-Ω are connected in parallel, and the combination is applied

across a 240 V dc line.

(a) What is the resistance of the parallel combination?

(b) What is the total current through the parallel combination?

(c) What is the current through each resistor?

Answer 1

a) Resistance of the parallel combination:

$R = \cfrac{R1*R2}{R1+R2} = \cfrac{32.0*20.0}{32.0+20.0} \approx 12.3 (Ohm)$

b) Total current through the parallel combination

$I = \cfrac{V}{R} = \cfrac{240}{ 12.3} \approx 19.5 (A)$

c) Current through each resistor

$I1 = \cfrac{V}{R1} = \cfrac{240}{32.0} = 7.5 (A)\\ I2 = \cfrac{V}{R2} = \cfrac{240}{20.0} = 12 (A)$