Does Reversing Battery Terminals Affect a Potential Divider Circuit?

[uzair_ha91]

I've seen some images of potential dividers in which the battery terminals are reversed, e.g. the normal case is this::
http://www.antonine-education.co.uk/New_items/DIG/Potential_Divider.gif
So will it still work if the battery terminals were reversed here and input voltage goes directly to R₂ and the voltmeter combination instead of going across R₁? (i.e. the current goes to R2 first and then R1 where we calculate the output voltage) Please explain!

 

[TurtleMeister]

It depends on the voltmeter. If it can read both positive and negative voltages then it will work just fine. Otherwise, you would need to reverse the voltmeter connection whenever you reverse the battery connection.

 

[astrokreng]

It is important to note that the orientation of the battery terminals in a potential divider does not affect the functionality of the circuit. The key factor in determining the output voltage is the ratio of the resistances in the circuit, not the direction of the current flow.

In the normal case shown in the image, the input voltage is divided between R1 and R2, with the majority of the voltage dropping across R1 and a smaller portion across R2. This results in a lower output voltage at the point between R1 and R2. If the battery terminals were reversed, the same principle would apply and the output voltage would still be calculated using the ratio of R1 and R2.

In summary, the potential divider will still work if the battery terminals are reversed, as long as the resistances in the circuit remain the same. The direction of the current flow does not impact the functionality of the circuit.