Circuit Resistance and Conductance

Resistance and conductance refer to the difficulty or ease in which electrons flow through a circuit. As demonstrated with parallel circuits, as resistances decrease they equal a smaller total resistance which is an advantage in a circuit.

Resistance is defined as the measure of friction a component (such as an electrical device ie. Light bulb) causes to the flow of electrons throught it. Resistance is measured in the unit of "ohm" and is denoted by "R".

Conductance can be viewed as the inverses of resistance. It is the measure of how easily electrons flow through a component. Conductance can be measure in the unit of "mho" (which is "ohm" spelled backwards) and is represented by "G". The fact is, conductance is rarely used due to resistance being the more common topic.

If resistance measures how difficult it is for electrons to flow and conductance measures how easy it is for electrons to flow, the the following mathematical equations are true (the "n" represents the final number of points of each unit):

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