Tililt

Series & Parallel Resistance Calculator

Total resistance of any number of resistors, in series or parallel.

How it works

In series, resistances add: R = R1 + R2 + ... In parallel, conductances add, so 1/R = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + ...

Two consequences are worth internalising. A parallel combination is always smaller than its smallest member, so parallelling is how you reach values below what you have in the drawer. And a series chain is dominated by its largest member, so adding small resistors to a big one barely moves the total.

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