Which formula is used to determine the voltage drop across series elements?

Which formula is used to determine the voltage drop across series elements?

• A. Capacitive divider formula
• B. Current divider formula
• C. General divider formula
• D. Power divider formula

Answer: (C)

In a series circuit, voltages are shared among the elements in proportion to their impedances. When two elements with impedances Z1 and Z2 are in series and you apply Vin across the pair, the voltage across each element follows the general divider idea: V across an element equals the total voltage times that element’s impedance divided by the total impedance, so V1 = Vin × Z1/(Z1 + Z2) and V2 = Vin × Z2/(Z1 + Z2). This general divider formula works for any combination of impedances, whether they’re resistors in DC, or capacitors and inductors in AC. The capacitive divider formula is just a specific case of this when the components are capacitors; the current divider formula applies to parallel branches, not a series voltage split, and there isn’t a separate “power divider” method for this context. So the general divider formula correctly describes how the voltage drops across series elements.

In a series circuit, voltages are shared among the elements in proportion to their impedances. When two elements with impedances Z1 and Z2 are in series and you apply Vin across the pair, the voltage across each element follows the general divider idea: V across an element equals the total voltage times that element’s impedance divided by the total impedance, so V1 = Vin × Z1/(Z1 + Z2) and V2 = Vin × Z2/(Z1 + Z2). This general divider formula works for any combination of impedances, whether they’re resistors in DC, or capacitors and inductors in AC. The capacitive divider formula is just a specific case of this when the components are capacitors; the current divider formula applies to parallel branches, not a series voltage split, and there isn’t a separate “power divider” method for this context. So the general divider formula correctly describes how the voltage drops across series elements.