Circuit Symbols & Diagrams

A circuit diagram keeps only the electrical connections. It does not copy the physical position or size of the apparatus.
Follow each wire from one junction to the next. Components connected between the same two junctions are in parallel, even if the drawing looks unfamiliar.

From apparatus to a circuit diagram

The ammeter is in the main current path, so the same current passes through it and the resistor.
The voltmeter has one lead at each end of the resistor, so it measures the p.d. across that component.

An ammeter joins the line: the current it measures goes through it. A voltmeter is connected across a component: it compares the two ends.

The symbols every circuit question is written in. The cell's long thin line is the positive terminal.

The long line of a cell is its positive terminal. Several cells drawn together form a battery.
A filled dot means wires are joined. Crossing lines without a dot are not joined unless the diagram clearly shows a connection.
A variable resistor has a diagonal arrow. An LDR has light arrows pointing towards it; an LED has light arrows pointing away.

Your turn9702-style

A student must measure the current in a lamp and the p.d. across it. State where the ammeter and voltmeter are connected. [2]

Show worked answer

Connect the ammeter in series with the lamp and the voltmeter in parallel across the lamp.

A circuit diagram keeps only the electrical connections. It does not copy the physical position or size of the apparatus.
Follow each wire from one junction to the next. Components connected between the same two junctions are in parallel, even if the drawing looks unfamiliar.