To find the equivalent resistance of the combination of resistors shown across the 28-V battery by the method of possibly repeated applications of combining resistors in series and /or combining resistors in parallel,the first step would be which of the following?
A)Combine the two 10 W in parallel since they can be done in your head.
B)Combine,in series,the two 3-W resistors and the 4-W resistor in the right-hand branch of the circuit.
C)Combine the seven resistors (two 5 W,three 3 W,one 2 W and one 4
W)in the outer loop of the circuit in series.
D)This problem cannot be done by combining series and parallel resistors.

Question

To find the equivalent resistance of the combination of resistors shown across the 28-V battery by the method of possibly repeated applications of combining resistors in series and /or combining resistors in parallel,the first step would be which of the following? 
A)Combine the two 10 W in parallel since they can be done in your head. 
B)Combine,in series,the two 3-W resistors and the 4-W resistor in the right-hand branch of the circuit. 
C)Combine the seven resistors (two 5 W,three 3 W,one 2 W and one 4 
W)in the outer loop of the circuit in series. 
D)This problem cannot be done by combining series and parallel resistors.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The first step should always be to simplify the circuit as much as possible. In this case, we see that we can combine the two 3-W resistors and the 4-W resistor in the right-hand branch of the circuit in series. This simplifies the circuit and allows us to continue simplifying by combining resistors in series and/or parallel until we find the equivalent resistance of the entire circuit. Therefore, the first step is to choose option B, combining the resistors in series.

To Find the Equivalent Resistance of the Combination of Resistors