Series vs Parallel (Components)
Two circuit components are in series when the same current flows through them. The same idea applies to mechanical springs (in series, the force is shared and extensions add), to springs in parallel (extensions are equal and forces add), and to resistors/capacitors in series or parallel as outlined on our dedicated series-vs-parallel-circuits page.
The series/parallel distinction generalises across physics: in series, the through-variable (current, force, mass flow) is shared and the across-variable (voltage, displacement, pressure) sums; in parallel, the across-variable is shared and the through-variable sums.
Recent research on this topic from arXiv
Preprints and papers indexed on arXiv.org. Links open the public abstract pages.
- Anomalous fractal scaling in two-dimensional electric networks
Xiao Zhang, Boxue Zhang, Haydar Sahin et al. · 2022 ·arXiv:2204.05329v2
Much of the qualitative nature of physical systems can be predicted from the way it scales with system size. Contrary to the continuum expectation, we observe a profound deviation from logarithmic scaling in the impedance of a two-dimension... - Modelization of the Impedance Spectroscopy of composites by Electrical Networks
Lotfi Zekri, Nouredine Zekri, Jean-Pierre Clerc · 2002 ·arXiv:0209046v3
We examined in this work the effect of the inter-grains distributions as well as the scaling of the complex impedance in order to analyze its frequency dependance for composite metal-insulator films. The dependance of the characteristic fre... - A Perspective on the Algebra, Topology, and Logic of Electrical Networks
Marko Orešković, Ivana Kuzmanović Ivičić, Juraj Benić et al. · 2025 ·arXiv:2510.21911v1
This paper presents a unified algebraic, topological, and logical framework for electrical one-port networks based on Šare's $m$-theory. Within this formalism, networks are represented by $m$-words (jorbs) over an ordered alphabet, where se... - Topology Reconstruction of a Class of Electrical Networks with Limited Boundary Measurements
Shivanagouda Biradar, Deepak U Patil · 2024 ·arXiv:2412.03050v1
We consider the problem of recovering the topology and the edge conductance value, as well as characterizing a set of electrical networks that satisfy the limitedly available Thevenin impedance measurements. The measurements are obtained fr...
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