Question

The equivalent overall resistance is smaller than the smallest parallel resistor.

(a) True

(b) False

I had been asked this question in my homework.

My enquiry is from Combination of Resistors topic in portion Current Electricity of Physics – Class 12

Answer 1

Right choice is (a) True

The explanation: Yes, the equivalent overall resistance is smaller than the smallest resistor connected in parallel. This is because, the overall equivalent resistance of parallel combination is: Rp = \(\frac {1}{R_1} + \frac {1}{R_2} + \frac {1}{R_3}\). When the inverse of a resistance value is taken, the value obtained is lesser than the original value. Thus, the sum of inverse values will only provide a lesser value than the initial resistances.