Lights connected in series form a chain with each light connecting to adjacent lights via one wire. Therefore, if one of the lights burns out and breaks the series, none of the other lights will receive power and they'll go dark. Lights connected in parallel each connect to the positive and negative nodes of the power source and would not go dark if one of their neighbors burnt out.

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.

Fuses are thin wires that melt when the current in a circuit exceeds a preset amount. They help prevent short circuits from damaging circuit components when an unusually large current is applied to the circuit, either through component failure or spikes in applied voltage.

Connecting the 8 batteries in series multiplies their voltage while keeping their current the same yielding a 96V 10A configuration. Connecting the 8 batteries in parallel multiplies their current while keeping their voltage the same yieleding a 12V 80A configuration. Using a series-parallel connection, 4 batteries can be connected in series and 4 can be connected in parallel resulting in a 48V 40A configuration.

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.