The All-or-Nothing Nature of Series Circuits

Your old Christmas lights taught you everything about series circuits. It’s all about one

single path. Imagine electricity flowing from the cells, which are the power

source, through the first bulb, then the second, and the next,

all in a single, unbroken line. When you flip the switch, the circuit is complete,

and every single bulb lights up. But here’s the catch. If just one of those bulbs burns out,

the entire path is broken. The flow of charge stops completely, and all the lights

go out. It's a chain reaction. It’s an all-or-nothing system. That's the simple

secret of a series circuit.