hey everybody, I have a simple question for you guys. On my homework I need to find the current flowing in the circuit.

The battery = 5 volts

R1 = 250 Ω
R2 = 180 Ω

I know the first (top left) corner is 5 volts and the bottom two are 0 volts (?). How do I find the current and the corner before the diode?

Thanks all!

 

If you assume the diode has a voltage drop of 0.7V then the current through th circuit is:

I=(5-0.7)/(R1+R2)

 

hmm makes sense, but why would you add both resistors? Just curious haha

 

It's a series circuit.

 

hmm makes sense, but why would you add both resistors? Just curious haha

Because there is only one current path and it has to pass through both resistors. The current doesn't know how many resistors there are, 1 or many, it just feels the total series resistance. One of the Kirchhoff's circuit laws covers the topic.