Parallel connected wire with no resistance

Question

i am having a problem digesting this circuit. This wire seems wierd and i do not understand how the current flows through this circuit. if we suppose all of them resistors have the same resistance and one needs to calculate the total resistance then how do you go ahead since this wire is blocking me from moving
to the next step:

i thought maybe we can collapse the wire since the points on both ends have the same potential

an infinite electric current goes thru this wire. but where do you go from here?

Thanks

planetmaker · Accepted Answer

You need to draw the diagramme nicely (there's a few way... draw it such that you understand the network) and then apply Kirchhoff's law to each separately and calculate the currents.

I labelled the unlabeled resistance in your network with 'e' and assume that on the lhs of your diagramme you have the actual voltage source (and that it's not a capacity).
comparing these two diagrammes you see that the addition of the wire will change your network such that you have three parallel wires to consider which share the voltage from the source.
In the original configuration all current passes through resistance 'a' and then branches into two, resistance 'c' and yet another branchy construct where 'b' acts as common resistance to two branches.

Christophe · Answer

You should indeed try to redraw the circuit without this branch, i.e. by collapsing the points at both ends, as you suggested in (i). Concerning (ii), the electric current is NOT infinite. At the left point, the current I is divided in $I_1$ in the wire and $I_2$ going into $a$. You should solve the whole set of Kirchoff equations to find $I_1$ and $I_2$.

Answered by Christophe on December 30, 2020

Parallel connected wire with no resistance

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