All conductors have resistance and the amount of resistance varies with the element. In general, metals make the best conductors of electricity and non-metals make the worst conductors of electricity.

The transistor is the foundation of modern electronic devices. It is made entirely from semiconductor material (making it a solid state device) and can serve many different functions in a circuit including acting as a switch, amplifier, or current regulator. A transistor works by allowing a small amount of current applied at the base to control general current flow from collector to emitter through the transistor.

Semiconductors have valence shells that are exacly half full and can conduct electricity under some conditions but not others. This property makes them useful for the control of electrical current.

A series circuit has only one path for current to flow. In a series circuit, current (I) is the same throughout the circuit and is equal to the total voltage (V) applied to the circuit divided by the total resistance (R) of the loads in the circuit. The sum of the voltage drops across each resistor in the circuit will equal the total voltage applied to the circuit.

Connecting the 8 batteries in series multiplies their voltage while keeping their current the same yielding a 48V 10A configuration. Connecting the 8 batteries in parallel multiplies their current while keeping their voltage the same yielding a 6V 80A configuration. Using a series-parallel connection, 4 batteries can be connected in series and 4 can be connected in parallel resulting in a 24V 40A configuration.