A certain battery can supply 6 J of energy to every coulomb of charge moving through a circuit. If the circuit consists of two identical flashlight bulbs in series, what can you predict about the total energy that is consumed by the bulbs?

Whatever energy the electrons have when they come out of one terminal of the battery, they completely use it up on their way around the circuit, and they stagger back into the other terminal of the battery totally exhausted, with no energy left.
If each coulomb of electrons has 6 joules of energy when they leave the battery, then that's the energy they'll give up to the circuit before they return to the battery.
For each coulomb of charge that moves through that circuit, each flashlight bulb will take 3 joules of energy away from that coulomb, and turn the energy into heat and light.
==> 2 bulbs, 3 joules per coulomb that flows through each bulb, total 6 joules per coulomb that flows around the circuit.
Note: The question says that the bulbs are in series, but that wasn't necessary. The energy consumed by the bulbs would be the same if they're in parallel.
A cool extra factoid: The battery gives each coulomb of electrons that leaves it 6 joules of energy. There's a special name for "1 joule per coulomb of charge". That's the " volt ". A battery that gives each coulomb of charge 6 joules of energy is a 6-volt battery.

Answered by AL2006 | 2024-06-10

In a circuit with two identical flashlight bulbs in series powered by a 6 J per coulomb battery, each bulb consumes 3 joules of energy. Therefore, the total energy consumed by both bulbs is 6 joules per coulomb, equal to the energy supplied by the battery. Thus, after the charge passes through the bulbs, it returns to the battery with no energy left.
;

Answered by AL2006 | 2024-12-26