Hi I have the LEDs set up in circuit as follows: Very simple series and parallel. Now what I assumed is that the LEDs need 20mA current to give max light.
My question is .....if they are in series the two leds consume same current to give maximum brightness....if they are in parallel the two leds consume twice as much the current in series....so my analogy is that the battery lasts for longer time in series LEDs but the amount of brightness..for both the circuit is the same...pleas throw me some light if I am missing something..
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Hello nepdeep,
I try to keep it as simple as possible.
Well, I think you should consider the term "Power" as well (Power= Voltage X current) when you talk about the life of the battery here.
The useful life of a battery when connected to a Load is dependent on the power the load tries to consume from the source.
So say you have two LEDs and each LED needs say 1V and 20mA to be completely lighten (the lEDs mostly do not works by 1V though, and in real life you need a Joule Thief circuit!).
Ok because we now know that the life of a battery is related to the POWER the load attracts from it, and again we know that "Power = Volatge X current" then we can play with the 2 LEDS and the source if needed to see what it comes up:
1:LEDs in series:
The power captured from the battery by the LED's is:
2V X 20mA =40mW
2:LEDs in parallel:
the power captured from the battery:
1V X
40mA = 40mW.
So when you have two LED's and you want to experience a simallar
brightness then the power consumed by them is simillar whether they are in series or in parallel. If the LED's are in parallel then you
must feed them by a battery having the same voltage as EACH LED, more or less (but the current taken from the battery is DOUBLED).
If the LED's are in series then you
must feed them with a battery having a voltage of say DOUBLE of EACH LED needs (here the voltage must be doubled so that each LED takes its needed voltage). So the whole power consumed by the loads form the source in both cases is simillar. And the battery life would not change so much!
Hope that helps