Given a 10-V power supply, would a 20-ohm resistor and a 5-ohm resistor need to be arranged in parallel or in series to generate a current of 2.5 A? How much current would move through each resistor? In 3-4 sentences, answer each question and explain your answers.(4 points)
The resistors should be arranged in parallel to generate a current of 2.5 A. This is because when resistors are placed in parallel, the total resistance decreases, allowing more current to flow. In this case, the total resistance would be (1/((1/20)+(1/5))) = 4 ohms. Using Ohm's Law (I = V/R), the total current would be 10V / 4 ohms = 2.5 A.
With the resistors in parallel, the 20-ohm resistor would have 10 V / 20 ohms = 0.5 A of current flowing through it. Similarly, the 5-ohm resistor would have 10 V / 5 ohms = 2 A of current flowing through it. This distribution of current is due to the fact that the current will divide between the resistors based on their individual resistances.