Question

When a load is connected to a voltage divider, will the total resistance of the circuit increase or decrease?

Answer 1

It decreases

Explanation:

The load is connected in parallel to one part of the voltage divider - reducing its resistance. This part is in series with the other half of the voltage divider - and thus, the total resistance goes down.

If `R_L` is the load resistance which is connected across the part `R_2` of a voltage divider consisting of `R_1` and `R_2`, then the total resistance. once the load is connected is

`R_1 +{R_2R_L}/(R_2+R_L)`

since the second term is smaller than `R_2`, this expression is smaller than `R_1+R_2` which is the total resistance without the load.