Tracking Connections: An Exercise about Series and Parallel Resistances

Unlike many other topics in basic physics, series and parallel resistances are rarely noticed in the real life of an ordinary individual, making it difficult to design a laboratory activity that can simulate something familiar. The activities described here entail minimal costs and are based on a puzzle‐like game of tracking wire connections. A simple resistor‐based device is built by students, which enables them to use a common multimeter to track down wire connections in a set of unmarked wires. A similar approach is sometimes used by electricians to identify wire connections.1