Varying a circuit

simple circuit

parallel connections

series connections

Loops are the essential elements, rope loops a useful tool to think with, relating different parts of the system while requiring system-level thinking to make sense of the whole loop. You cannot make sense of part of it, without the whole: sequential thinking lends support to many wrong-track ways of thinking about circuits.

More reading

• Controlling – starting to think about electric circuits : https://slowthinkingphysics.net/catchingPhysics/Cg01.html
• Supporting Physics Teaching: https://spark.iop.org/collections/build-and-model-electrical-loops-physics-narrative
• Spark misconceptions: https://spark.iop.org/misconceptions?f%5B0%5D=search__misconceptions__domain%3A446