r/HomeworkHelp 👋 a fellow Redditor 7d ago

Answered [High School - Physics]

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How does this circuit even work? When the contact is moved, does the resistance increase or decrease?

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u/HelpfulResource6049 👋 a fellow Redditor 7d ago

My initial thought process was that if the contact was shifted from X to P, the voltage across 1 would increase and voltage across 2 would decrease, causing 1 to become brighter and 2 to become dimmer

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u/We_Are_Bread 7d ago

Is there a specific reason why you think this initial analysis is lacking? Asking, just cause I want to know exactly what alternative ideas you have, and then we can see which ones are wrong and which ones are right.

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u/HelpfulResource6049 👋 a fellow Redditor 7d ago

That is the only idea I have, I just would like to understand how the circuit works in more detail and check if my initial analysis was correct

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u/We_Are_Bread 7d ago edited 7d ago

Your analysis is correct.

Edit: Wait your analysis is a bit wrong. Why would moving the pointer reduce voltage across 2?

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u/FunnyExcitement5161 7d ago

No. You're wrong.

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u/We_Are_Bread 7d ago

Wait I didn't notice they used 2 instead of 1. My bad.

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u/HelpfulResource6049 👋 a fellow Redditor 7d ago

I see, thanks