If two light bulbs are wired in series and one burns out, what happens to the other bulb?

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Multiple Choice

If two light bulbs are wired in series and one burns out, what happens to the other bulb?

In a series circuit, current has only one path through every component, so all devices share the same current. If one bulb burns out, its filament breaks and creates an open circuit. That interruption stops current from flowing through the whole loop, so the other bulb loses power and goes out. This is different from a parallel arrangement, where each device has its own path to the power source and the others would stay lit. A short circuit isn’t created by a typical bulb failure in series—that would require a new low-resistance path around the bulb, which isn’t what happens when the filament simply breaks.

In a series circuit, current has only one path through every component, so all devices share the same current. If one bulb burns out, its filament breaks and creates an open circuit. That interruption stops current from flowing through the whole loop, so the other bulb loses power and goes out. This is different from a parallel arrangement, where each device has its own path to the power source and the others would stay lit. A short circuit isn’t created by a typical bulb failure in series—that would require a new low-resistance path around the bulb, which isn’t what happens when the filament simply breaks.

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