How do voltage and current behave in a series circuit?

• A. Current stays the same, voltage divides proportionally.
• B. Voltage stays the same, current divides proportionally.
• C. Both voltage and current stay the same.
• D. Current varies independently of voltage.

Answer: (B)

In a series circuit, the same current flows through every element because there is only one path for the charge to take. The voltages across the individual components can differ, but they’re determined by each component’s resistance, so V_i = I × R_i for the same current I. When you go around the loop, the voltages add up to equal the source voltage: V_total = V1 + V2 + … . This means the current is constant along the path, and the voltage is shared among elements in proportion to their resistances.

The description that voltage stays the same across components while current divides corresponds to a parallel arrangement, where each branch experiences the same voltage and the total current is the sum of the branch currents.