| Resistance in Series | Resistance in Paralle |
| (i) Effective resistance of the resistors is equal to the sum of their individual resistances. | (i) Inverse of the effective resistance is equal to the sum of the inverse of individual resistances. |
| (ii) The same current flows through each resistor. | (ii) The total current flowing through the circuit is the sum of the currents flowing through individual resistors. |
| (iii) The effective resistance is larger than each of the individual resistances. | (iii) The effective resistance of resistors connected in parallel is less than the least resistance of individual resistors. |
| (iv) This arrangement is used to increase the resistance in a circuit. | (iv) This arrangement is used to decrease the resistance in a circuit. |