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Hopefully you have just come from the series circuits page and watched the video on series circuits. Try watching this one so that you can see the difference between series and parallel circuits.
Things to notice are that voltage is the same across each loop and current divides between loops in a parallel circuit and then recombines when loops meet,
Try watching this for more comparisons between series and parallel circuits. Once you have finished try building some parallel circuits in the simulator and try experimenting to see what happens when you add more loops, change the size of the battery or change the number of bulbs.
Parallel circuits are great because they allow the bulbs to stay bright no matter how many bulbs you use and if one bulb goes out the others will still stay lit. This is very important in christmas tree decorations. The issues are that they are a bit more complicated and will tend to draw a higher current so could use more power and run a battery down more quickly than in a series circuit.
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