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Electricity: Charges, Currents, Circuits — High School Physics practice questions

14 multiple-choice questions and 16 flashcards on Electricity: Charges, Currents, Circuits, about 9% of the High School Physics bank. Every one carries a written rationale.

Written and maintained by the CoStudy team · last updated 2026-10-12 · how we write and review questions

What this chapter covers

Electricity: Charges, Currents, Circuits is one of 11 chapters in CoStudy's High School Physics bank, and it holds 14 of the bank's 150 multiple-choice questions — roughly 9% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.

Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.

Free Electricity: Charges, Currents, Circuits practice questions

7 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.

If the distance between two charges doubles, the electric force between them becomes:

  1. half as large
  2. one-fourth as large
  3. twice as large
  4. unchanged

Answer: B — one-fourth as large

B) Correct — Coulomb's law: F ∝ 1/r². A) Treats F as ∝ 1/r. C) Gets the direction wrong. D) Distance matters.

Which material is the best electrical conductor?

  1. Copper
  2. Rubber
  3. Glass
  4. Dry wood

Answer: A — Copper

A) Correct — Metals have free electrons. B) Is an insulator. C) Is an insulator. D) Is an insulator.

A 12 V battery is connected to a 4 Ω resistor. What current flows?

  1. 48 A
  2. 0.33 A
  3. 3 A
  4. 16 A

Answer: C — 3 A

C) Correct — I = V/R = 12/4. A) Multiplies V and R. B) Divides R by V. D) Adds.

Rubbing a balloon on hair leaves the balloon negative because:

  1. protons move from the balloon to the hair
  2. electrons move from the hair to the balloon
  3. the balloon creates new electrons
  4. the hair loses its neutrons

Answer: B — electrons move from the hair to the balloon

B) Correct — Charge is transferred, not created. A) Protons stay in the nucleus. C) Charge is conserved. D) Neutrons are neutral.

Adding another bulb in parallel to a household circuit makes the total current:

  1. decrease
  2. stay the same
  3. increase
  4. drop to zero

Answer: C — increase

C) Correct — More parallel paths lower total resistance. A) Would happen with bulbs in series. B) The new branch draws current. D) The circuit still works.

In a series circuit, which is the same through every component?

  1. Voltage
  2. Resistance
  3. Power
  4. Current

Answer: D — Current

D) Correct — There is only one path. A) Divides among the components. B) Differs by component. C) Depends on each resistance.

What is the total resistance of 4 Ω and 6 Ω resistors in series?

  1. 10 Ω
  2. 2.4 Ω
  3. 24 Ω
  4. 2 Ω

Answer: A — 10 Ω

A) Correct — Series resistances add. B) Uses the parallel formula. C) Multiplies. D) Subtracts.

Electricity: Charges, Currents, Circuits flashcards

2 cards from the 16 in this chapter.

What is electric charge measured in?

Coulombs (C).

How do resistors combine in series?

R_total = R₁ + R₂ + R₃ + … (resistances add).

Practise the full chapter

These are a sample. The full Electricity: Charges, Currents, Circuits chapter runs 30 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.

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