I have read a lot about resistors but I still can't seem to find the answer to the question - do resistors in series lower just the voltage or both the voltage and the current? I've attached a simple drawing to describe what I'm looking for. What I want to know is if at the output of that circuit, only the voltage has dropped or the voltage and the current have dropped because of resistor R1. Thank you very much in advance.

 

Welcome to the forum, Scruffy123. In your circuit no current will flow, because the circuit is not closed. Because no current is flowing, no voltage will drop on resistor R1, and the voltage at the output will be exactly the voltage at the input.

There is a much more thorough explanation of this in the ebooks here on this site:

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/index.html

Or if you're very impatient start here:

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_1/3.html

 

I guess I need to explain the drawing for you Blofeld. Circles on each end of the lines like Scruffy123 drew are used to show where connections can be made: the "+" on the top left circle means the positive connection and the "-" on the bottom left circle means the negative connection. On the left side, 12 volts DC are connected and on the right side is where the output is connected. This is pretty common for schematic diagrams where you don't want to show the entire circuit. What Scruffy123 is interested in is what happens between the input and output. Is only the voltage reduced, or is both the voltage and current reduced? I can explain the schematic more and have a link to a tutorial if you need it.

 

I understood,you want to measure voltage and current at the output...
The resistor will drop voltage and also limit current as per ohm's law when proper load is applied.

Ohm's Law

\(V = I * R\)

Where ... V = Voltage , I = Current and R = Resistance
To understand it properly visit the links provided by Blofeld

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/index.html

Or if you're very impatient start here:

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_1/3.html

Good Luck

 

Given Richie.mann and scruffy are the same person you are off to a bad start here. I would suggest you start by learning schematic conventions, which is not what you are using.

 

OK, duplicate user names aside, when something is connected to the output side both the voltage and the current will be lower then if there was no resistor there. With nothing connected the 12V is not reduced, and the current is zero (open circuit).

However, that's not going to teach you much about how resistors work.

 

Actually Ohm's Law pretty much covers it, it is the starting point for all people learning electronics.