From one of my favorite books, Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold:

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Here, he explains how to setup switches and lightbulbs in two locations with the purpose of communicating by turning the lights on and off according to some previously established protocol/code.

My question: is he oversimplifying - because that isn’t the point of this chapter - which route/path the current would take when both switches are closed? As in:

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Would the wire, which I awkwardly marked blue, also become charged and/or carry current? Or would there be no current because the cathodes of the two adjacent batteries cancel out any difference/voltage in the “blue wire” that would otherwise cause a current?

  • printf("%s", name);@piefed.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
    3·
    4 days ago

    Thanks! In this book, for better and for worse, we are only trying to understand binary logic and how to express parts of that (AND and OR) with serial and parallel switches, so we’re not really touching on the electrical characteristics of the individual components. But I’ll keep your reply in mind going forward! 😊