Open Circuits

Have you ever had a bulb burn out while you were decorating a Christmas tree with a string of lights? How come all the lights go out if only one bulb has burned out? The reason for this is because the parts of a series circuit are wired one after another. When a series circuit is disconnected, no current flows through it. Because one bulb has burned out, it has broken the path that the current flows through, causing an open circuit. The burned out bulb disables the rest of the lights from lighting.

Diagram above made by: Courtney Ishmael

*If a light was to go out on this string of lights, all of the lights after the one that went out would be out also because the flow of current would be broken.

Click here for more information about open circuits.