Red Seal Electrician Practice
Meters and troubleshootingQuestion 654 of 1506

A branch of a parallel circuit is shorted. Why does the voltage across the other branches fall in a real circuit?

  1. The shorted branch absorbs the voltage and stores it.
  2. Parallel branches always share voltage equally with a short.
  3. The source has internal resistance, and the huge current drops voltage across it.
  4. The other branches change their resistance value.
Show answer

Correct answer: The source has internal resistance, and the huge current drops voltage across it.

An ideal source would hold its voltage, but no real source can do so with a very large overload current.

Source: Lessons in Electric Circuits I: DC (Kuphaldt), 5.7: Component Failure Analysis

Practice meters and troubleshooting

Questions last reviewed: 18 October 2026