Resistor Ladders
Many students are comfortable working with individual resistors, but run into confusion when those resistors are combined into networks. A common point of misunderstanding is the voltage divider: specifically, why the current through both resistors is the same even when their resistances differ.
At first glance, it can seem contradictory. Using Ohm’s law, students often reason that different resistances should imply different currents, or that the voltages across the resistors must somehow be equal. The key is to recognise how series circuits behave.
