A Complete Electric Circuit

The point where those electrons enter an electrical circuit is called the source of electrons.

A complete electric circuit.

A simple electric circuit contains a power source battery wires and a resistor light bulb. The load is the amount of electrical energy the device uses to complete its task. It s best to think that charges just go round and round a circuit even flowing through the battery. The exit point is called the return because electrons always end up at the source when they complete the path of an electrical circuit.

Remember that the electrons that flow in an electric circuit are already there. Circuits provide a path for current to flow. They come from the atoms that make up the wires so the wires are already full of electrons. A complete circuit is a complete loop with electricity flowing the way it s supposed to flow.

If the circuit isn t complete then there is nowhere for the electrons to. In other words a circuit must form a loop. Any device attached to an electrical circuit that is activated or energized by the flow of electricity to it provides the electrical load on the circuit. From the battery to the component and back to the battery again.

In a circuit electrons flow from the battery through the wires and into the light bulb. An electronic circuit and an electrical circuit has the same. The point where the electrons leave an electrical circuit is called the return or earth ground. To be a circuit this path must start and end at the same point.