62. A 60.0 Ω resistor is connected in parallel with a 120.0 Ω resistor. This parallel group is connected in series with a 20.0 Ω resistor. The total combination is connected across a 15.0 V battery. Find (a) the current and (b) the power delivered to the 120.0 Ω resistor.

The 60 Ω and the 120 Ω are in parallel so adding them in parallel provides an effective resistance of

Our circuit now looks like

Now we have two resistors in series and the total resistance is found to be

The total current can now be found from Ohm’s law.

Now using this current we can find the voltage across the 40.0 Ω effective resistance which will in turn also the be the voltage across both the 60.0 Ω and the 120.0 Ω resistor.

Now we can get the current in the 120 Ω resistor again using Ohm’s law

Finally we can get the power in the 120 Ω resistor three ways

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This page last updated on June 18, 2018