Solve the Circuit: Find R1-R7 to Calculate A to B Resistance

[spoonthrower]

AxxxxxxR1xxxxxxxxxxxxxR2xxxxxxxxR3xxxxxxx
ooooooooooooooXoooooooooXooooooooooox
ooooooooooooooXoooooooooXooooooooooox
ooooooooooooooR4ooooooooR5oooooooooR6
ooooooooooooooXoooooooooXooooooooooox
BxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxR7xxxxxx

For the circuit above the x's represent the wire and R represents the resistance. o's just fill in open space - ignore them. Find the equivalent resistance between points A and B.
R1=5 ohms
R2=4 ohms
R3=6 ohms
R4=10 ohms
R5=8 ohms
R6=7 ohms
R7=3 ohms

So i need to find the total resistance in the circuit. I know that R4,5, and 6 are in parallel so their resistance should add up like 1/(1/10+1/8+1/7) to give 2.72 ohms. so the rest of the resistances are in series so you just add them all up right? when i add them all together with 2.72 ohms, I am not getting the right answer. What am i doing wrong? please help. thanks.

 

[andrevdh]

R3, 6 and 7 are in series. Start by trying to calculate their combined resistance first.

 

[Ouabache]

Adding to what andrevdh suggests, a good place to start is the at the end of the circuit. After you've found a combined resistance Rcr for those andrevdh described, you can then work your way towards the right. Notice R5 is now in parallel with your new combined resistance Rcr; you can combine these two to get a new combined resistance. Can you see the process?

 

[spoonthrower]

i do not see how Rcr is in parallel with R5 at all. If it is in parallel with R5 that means that when u add Rcr up, it would have to be at the R6 location. Why can't u place the new Rcr at the R3 location. i am really confused.

 

[nrqed]

i do not see how Rcr is in parallel with R5 at all. If it is in parallel with R5 that means that when u add Rcr up, it would have to be at the R6 location. Why can't u place the new Rcr at the R3 location. i am really confused.

You could put the combined resistance Rcr (combined from R3, R6 and R7) anywhere in the branch at the extreme right. You could place it wheer R3 is or wher R6 is or where R7 is. In *all* three cases, Rcr is still in parallel with R5

 

[spoonthrower]

got it. thank you so much.