Which term describes an electrical circuit in which all positive terminals are joined through one wire and all negative terminals are joined through one wire?

Which term describes an electrical circuit in which all positive terminals are joined through one wire and all negative terminals are joined through one wire?

• A. Parallel circuit
• B. Series circuit
• C. Closed circuit
• D. Open circuit

Answer: (A)

When all positive terminals are connected to one common wire and all negative terminals to another common wire, each component sits directly across the same two nodes. That arrangement is a parallel circuit. In a parallel setup, the voltage across every component is the same, because they all share the same two rails, while the current from the source splits among the parallel branches according to each branch’s impedance. This contrasts with a series circuit, where components share a single path so the current is the same through every component but the voltages add up across them. A closed circuit simply means a complete path exists for current, while an open circuit has a break preventing current flow; neither term describes the shared-rail arrangement shown here.

When all positive terminals are connected to one common wire and all negative terminals to another common wire, each component sits directly across the same two nodes. That arrangement is a parallel circuit. In a parallel setup, the voltage across every component is the same, because they all share the same two rails, while the current from the source splits among the parallel branches according to each branch’s impedance. This contrasts with a series circuit, where components share a single path so the current is the same through every component but the voltages add up across them. A closed circuit simply means a complete path exists for current, while an open circuit has a break preventing current flow; neither term describes the shared-rail arrangement shown here.