Pots!

[Lostcause]

Simple question for the EE's out there......
If you tie the wiper and ground of a pot together does it then give you the parallel resistance?
i.e. 500K pot becomes 250K when fully open?

 

[cliffforrest]

You don't need to be an EE to answer that!

Draw the symbol for a pot with the wiper at the "top." Join the wiper to the top connection.


Now in what way can there be anything other than the full resistance between top and bottom?

Now move the wiper to 1/2 way down. what is the resistance?

Wiper at the bottom - resistance?

YOU can work these things out by common sense.

 

[Nordic]

in short it becomes a variable resistor as oposed to a variable voltage splitter...

 

[Lostcause]

OK, OK, I thought it a valid question.....

When you have two resistors in parallel there is a sum between them...
When you look at the wiper it has a resistance and when you look at the ground it has a resistance...not in series but effectively in parallel...not such a silly question but thanks for putting me right anyway.

 

[cliffforrest]

It was not meant as a put-down but as an encouragement to explore and use your common sense!

Many many things in engineering do not need specialised knowledge or education to understand at a first level, but a bit of thought and experiment.

 

[head_spaz]

If you tie the wiper and ground of a pot together does it then give you the parallel resistance?

In the example you give, the ground-legged-side of the "voltage divider" will have ground on each / both ends.
Is there a differential?
How many ohms does it measure if both ends are connected to the same ground?