Hi! My name is Jahmal Petit-Frère, and I’m currently studying in Génie électrique – automatisation et contrôle at Ahuntsic College.
As students in electrical engineering, we all want to better understand how real-world circuits work before we ever touch a wire. And tools like simulations make that possible for everyone.
To be honest, I used to find circuit diagrams confusing, especially when it came to parallel components. But I’ve improved a lot thanks to Multisim Live, which helped me really visualize how current and voltage behave.
Since starting this program, I’ve successfully built and simulated several circuits, including digital logic gates and power supply systems. This screencast shows one of the most important types of circuits: a parallel lamp setup.
My goal today is to show you how to build and simulate a parallel circuit with three lamps, a DC power source, a resistor, and a ground using Multisim Live.
All I ask is that you follow along and try building your own version afterward. It’s a great way to really understand the flow of current and voltage in different branches.
And stick around because later in this video, I’ll show you what happens to the total current when we remove two of the lamps!
In real electrical systems like lighting circuits in buildings or machines, engineers often use parallel connections. But many students struggle to understand how voltage and current behave when you branch out into multiple loads.
If you wire a circuit incorrectly, you might overload your power supply or damage a component especially if you don’t understand current division.
For example, what happens if you connect three 12V lamps to the same power source? Will each lamp get the same voltage? Will the current be split properly? Let’s find out.
In this video, I’ll show you how to design and simulate a safe and effective parallel lamp circuit — all online with no risk of breaking anything.
To get started, go to www.multisim.com, then click on Multisim Live. You’ll need to create a free account or log in.
Once you're in, click "Create Circuit" in the dashboard. The interface shows a blank workspace, a toolbar on the left to add components, and a simulation panel at the bottom. This is where we’ll build the circuit.
You need to use the components' toolbar on the left of the screen then you need to search for 3 lamp 12 V, 1 resistor, 1 DC source, and the ground. After connecting all the components with wires, you can click in the top left corner the start button.
So today, I showed you how to solve a common problem: designing a safe and functional parallel circuit. We built it using Multisim Live, a web-based simulator that helps visualize and test real electrical behaviors.
Now it’s your turn: log in to Multisim Live and try building the same circuit, or even improve it by adding switches or LEDs. Trust me, the more you experiment, the better you’ll understand how electricity really works.
Word count: 503
Total MP3 length: 03:17
Target structure count: 3
Error count: 7
Error density: 2%