Solving combination circuits includes a step in which you expand the circuit.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Sometimes
• D. Never expand

Answer: (B)

In solving combinational circuits, you determine outputs from the given inputs by analyzing how components are connected and how currents or voltages relate. Expanding the circuit is not a mandatory step; you don’t have to redraw or add more elements in every problem. Often you can reach the solution by simplifying what’s directly in front of you—combining resistors in series or parallel, or applying node-voltage or mesh-current methods—without expanding the diagram.

Expansion might be used if a particular method benefits from a larger, more explicit network (for example to form a Thevenin/Norton equivalent or to make a set of equations easier to write). But it’s not required in all cases, so the statement is false. For instance, a simple series chain can be analyzed by treating the series resistors as a single equivalent resistor, without expanding the circuit.