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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/eng-kirchhoff-loop-rule

Around any closed loop in a circuit, what do all the voltage rises and drops add up to?

Zero, because energy is conserved (Kirchhoff's loop rule).

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  1. The battery voltage
  2. The total current
  3. Zero ✔

Why: Kirchhoff's loop rule says the changes in potential around a closed path sum to zero. Energy supplied to each charge is transferred into other forms by the parts in the loop.

Huh, didn't know that: The loop rule is also called Kirchhoff's voltage law, or KVL, and it follows from conservation of energy.

The dad joke
I tried to walk a loop in a circuit to gain energy. I got nowhere, zero, exactly as Kirchhoff warned.
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References

Answer: Zero. Kirchhoff's loop rule says the changes in potential around a closed path sum to zero. Energy supplied to each charge is transferred into other forms by the parts in the loop.

  1. OpenStax University Physics Vol. 2, 10.3 Kirchhoff's Rules openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-2/pages/10-3-kirchhoffs-rules
    The algebraic sum of changes in potential around any closed circuit path (loop) must be zero.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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