So far we've only seen circuits that allow a single path for electricity to flow–but it doesn't HAVE to! Here's a picture of what we call a parallel circuit. See how there's one power source and two electrical devices? The conductor wires connect from the battery to one bulb, and then on to the next one.

Since the electricity can either go into the first bulb and light it up, or on to the next bulb and light that one . . . it does both! Some electricity flows to each bulb, distributing the power equally to both. So parallel circuits have more than one path for electricity to follow!

If you remove a light bulb from the circuit, electrons stop going down the path that's been broken, but there is still another path for the electrons to travel through. This means the second bulb will stay lit.

Notice how the electrons flow down the other path when you remove the other light bulb. You would have to remove both bulbs to completely break the circuit and stop the flow.