Batteries: voltages when in series, parallel, and combination?

[jle1092]

Question involving the voltage when batteries are connected in different ways?
What is the voltage across six 1.5 V batteries when they are connected a) in series b) in parallel, c) three in parallel with one another and this combination wired in series with the remaining three?

I'm not sure if there is an equation to use for these, but this is what I thought the answers should be:
a) 9. Since they are in series don't I just add all of the volts up?
b)1.5 Since each pathway is seperate?
c) This one I have no clue

I really need to understand how this works. What confuses me is there is no information about resistors so I don't really know how to solve this.

 

[da_nang]

Basically, voltages add up in series, but are the same when in parallel. The reason for this is that voltage is the potential difference. As the parallel circuit both have the same beginning and end potential for each of the different paths, the voltages i.e. potential differences are the same for those paths.