DC Circuit

Music by Lowell George
Words by me

When an electrical resistor
Has a current going through
You know that a potential
Drops across it too.
If there is much resistance
It’s hard to make it go
But with a large potential
Lots of amps will flow.

Refrain
When you have a DC circuit
To find what its features are
The main thing to remember
V is I times R.
V is I times R.

If resistors are in series
So one precedes the next
The same current flows through every one
So don’t you be perplexed.
Their resistances are additive:
The total is their sum
And in the same proportions
Their voltage drops will come.

But if they’re wired in parallel
It’s potential that they share
And each resistor added
Makes more total current there.

Refrain

When using this, please don’t forget
Which factor‘s cause, and which effect:
Potential drives the current through
Resistance makes it hard to do
The pow’r through each resistor
Is the voltage drop times amps
Units multiply to give you watts
So we can have electric lamps.

There’s a lot of information here
So you’ll have to pick and claw
To reveal the precious secrets that are
Hidden in Ohm’s law.

Refrain

Sing Along!

Download the music and join in! Right-click on the link below to download the music without the words (a MIDI file; more applications, such as Windows Media Player, can play this file), or, if you’re feeling brave, the accompaniment, so you can sing the vocal line!

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