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 Ω in parallel since they can be done in your head.
B)Combine,in series,the two 3-Ω resistors and the 4-Ω resistor in the right-hand branch of the circuit.
C)Combine the seven resistors (two 5 Ω,three 3 Ω,one 2 Ω and one 4 Ω)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 Ω in parallel since they can be done in your head. 
B)Combine,in series,the two 3-Ω resistors and the 4-Ω resistor in the right-hand branch of the circuit. 
C)Combine the seven resistors (two 5 Ω,three 3 Ω,one 2 Ω and one 4 Ω)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 would be to combine, in series, the two 3-Ω resistors and the 4-Ω resistor in the right-hand branch of the circuit since they are connected in series. This combination would result in a total resistance of 3 Ω + 3 Ω + 4 Ω = 10 Ω. Then, we can combine this 10 Ω resistor with the 5 Ω resistor in the middle of the circuit in parallel since they share a common node. This combination would result in a total resistance of 5 Ω x 10 Ω / (5 Ω + 10 Ω) = 3.33 Ω. Finally, we can combine the remaining three 3 Ω resistors and the 2 Ω resistor in series to get a total resistance of 3 Ω + 3 Ω + 3 Ω + 2 Ω = 11 Ω. Therefore, the equivalent resistance of the combination of resistors shown across the 28-V battery is 3.33 Ω + 11 Ω = 14.33 Ω.

To Find the Equivalent Resistance of the Combination of Resistors