Question

Suppose you have three resistors of 20 Ω, 50 Ω and 100 Ω. What minimum and maximum resistance can you obtain from these resistors?

Answer 1

We can obtain maximum resistance when all the resistors are connected in series.

So, maximum resistance,

\[R_\max  = \left( 20 + 50 + 100 \right)  \Omega = 170  \Omega\]

The minimum resistance will be obtained when all the resistors are connected in parallel

So, minimum resistance,

\[R_\min  = \frac{1}{\frac{1}{20} + \frac{1}{50} + \frac{1}{100}} = \frac{100}{8} = 12 . 5  \Omega\]