# A student has a circuit containing a battery and two lamps connected in series. She then reconnects the same two lamps so that they are in parallel with each other, keeping the same battery. Describe how the brightness of each lamp and the total current drawn from the battery change when moving from the series to the parallel arrangement. Explain why these changes occur.

> Eduqas A-Level Physics — 2.2 DC circuits · Describe and Explain · 5 marks

## Mark scheme (5 marks)

1. Each lamp is brighter in the parallel arrangement than in the series arrangement
2. In parallel, each lamp has the full battery voltage across it (whereas in series the voltage is shared)
3. The total current drawn from the battery is greater in the parallel arrangement
4. In a parallel circuit, each lamp provides a separate path for current, so the total current from the battery is the sum of the currents through each branch
5. In the series arrangement the current is the same throughout the circuit and the voltage is shared, so each lamp receives less than the full battery voltage / less power

## Key terms

- [series](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/series)
- [parallel](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/parallel)
- [current](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/current)
- [brightness](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/glossary/brightness)

## Related

- [Revision notes for Eduqas A-Level Physics](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/learn)
- [How to answer "Describe and Explain" questions](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/tools/command-word-cheatsheet)
- [Practice this with AI marking (free)](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/start)

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Source: [GradeNine](https://www.gradenine.co.uk/q/a-student-has-a-circuit-containing-5550ab87) · Published by Druglandscape Ltd.