A charge flowing through the circuit would only encounter one of these three resistors in parallel circuit?

Question

If three resistors are placed in parallel branches and powered by a 12-volt battery, then the voltage drop across each one of the three resistors is 12 volts. A charge flowing through the circuit would only encounter one of these three resistors and thus encounter a single voltage drop of 12 volts.

if it flows in only one branch how come all the bulbs have lit up?

according to me,...these charges get divided in quantity but still go their ways carrying the same potential of 12volts till thye lose it to the resistors

Answer 1

In a parallel circuit like you describe, current flows through all three resistors. What may be confusing you is that if you were to draw a schematic for an equivalent circuit you could show the three separate resistors as a single resistor that represents the combined resistance of all three. This single equivalent resistor would be connected directly to the voltage source.

Answer 2

A charge only goes through one branch says that each branch has it own current, therefore charge/second moving through it.

The battery given 3 like parallel paths must divide up by 3 and supply current to all 3 branches. The battery will wear out 3 times as fast supplying 3 times as much current.

It is like having 3 people carrrying buckets to the fire instead of 1. If you are emptying the swimming pool, ie. battery you will do it three times faster.

The voltage is the same in all parallel circuits,
and the current is the same in all series circuits.

Answer 3

I would advise you to go look at Kirchhoff's law of current flow. In short, the charge flowing from the battery to the load of the 3 parallel resistors will subdivide and flow through each resistance, the amount of current dependent on the resistance of each device. Unless there is an open circuit, like a burned out lamp, or a device has a resistance measured in very high tera-ohms such that the current flow through it could only be determined through calculation, the current that the charge that you speak of, is going to flow through every device. Good luck in your Physics. It is a nice subject to study, but a good grasp of the practical side would help you a lot. You do need to differentiate between a "charge" and actual "current" flow. One is theoretical, the other is both theoretical and practical.
One last point, the 3 resistors comprise 1 load because they are in parallel, and thus can be represented as 1 device for the discussion that you are referring to. In practice, they are still 3 devices and the current, measured in some amount of amperes, is going to subdivide and flow through all 3 as just discussed.

Answer 4

Katty, there seems to be some mess up with picking and choosing a particular mesh or one burst of electrons.

I make it a bit simpler:

Electrons do not flow, but oscillate to-and-fro about their fixed position. What they do is to Transmit "the potential difference (PD) or voltage drop" across the points of delivery though connectivity.

The best part is that PD is established simultaneously, wherever connected, with the speed of light. It satisfies both individual resisters, whose resultant R is for the battery to worry about.

Answer 5

There are lots of charges involved. In fact, the number of charges coming out of the battery is (4/R)/1.6*10^-19 = 6.4/R*10^19 electrons per second. That's plenty enough of electrons to distribute themselves equally to all three resistors.