When a load is connected to a voltage divider, will the total resistance of the circuit increase or decrease?

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When a load is connected to a voltage divider, will the total resistance of the circuit increase or decrease?

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Answer 1 · 2018-03-11T03:14:01

It decreases

Explanation:

The load is connected in parallel to one part of the voltage divider - reducing its resistance. This part is in series with the other half of the voltage divider - and thus, the total resistance goes down.

If $R_{L}$ $R_L$ is the load resistance which is connected across the part $R_{2}$ $R_2$ of a voltage divider consisting of $R_{1}$ $R_1$ and $R_{2}$ $R_2$ , then the total resistance. once the load is connected is

$R_{1} + \frac{R_{2} R_{L}}{R_{2} + R_{L}}$ $R_1 +{R_2R_L}/(R_2+R_L)$

since the second term is smaller than $R_{2}$ $R_2$ , this expression is smaller than $R_{1} + R_{2}$ $R_1+R_2$ which is the total resistance without the load.

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When a load is connected to a voltage divider, will the total resistance of the circuit increase or decrease?

1 Answer

Explanation:

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