So I am starting As physics and I slept through GCSE

...I am thinking that if it passes through the first component then why doesn't that component just use 4 V, after all isn't it how much energy the cell delivers so why is it not able to deliver the same amount for both component? Voltage pushes electrons around in a circuit so why wouldn't the first component get the full energy from the electron cause nothing else has came between it ?

I chose AS physics after not knowing it very well in school, I just crawled my way through it with guesswork and dropped it for A2. Don't know if that's an option for you though.

Well tbh the explanations given for circuits make it seem very confusing and arbitrary at gcse.

I think the key is understanding what's got to be conserved , the circuit rules we have work because of conservation - especially conservation of charge and conservation of energy. If your AS teacher isn't spelling out what's being conserved in each area of study it's probably worth asking them to tell you.

e,g, in your series resistances the current through the +ve terminal of the battery has got to be the same as the current going into the first resistor.

the current coming out of the first resistor has got to be equal to the current going into the first resistor

the current going into the second resistor has got to be equal to the current coming out of the first resistor

and so on all the way back to the battery -ve terminal

it all happens instantly (or at least the speed of light), the current isn't like a truck full of energy that comes out of the battery and could arbitrarily decide to tip it all off at the first resistor - the energy is being converted (to heat) by getting the current through the resistors, if all the energy goes into heating the first resistor there's no energy left to get the current through the second resistor.

this is because charge is being conserved and isn't being created or destroyed, it can't leak out of the circuit and the current can't go into the first resistor, get tired and decide not to come out again.

I think I've come up with a better explanation than before

you seem OK with the DC current being the same at all points on the circuit when the resistors are in series, formally this is called Kirchoffs current law (fwiw it doesn't matter if you've been taught the name or not yet)

Ohms law is the law linking voltage, current and resistance... it doesn't just tell you how much current goes through a resistor at a given voltage, it also tells you how much voltage must be across a resistor if it's got a certain current going through it.

both these laws need to be obeyed at the same time, which is why the voltage is shared across the series resistors.

Lots here so let's start with charge and current.

Electrons are little things with mass and charge. When they move around you have a current, because current is moving charge. We could express charge in terms of the charge of an electron, then express current in terms of how many electrons pass through an area every second.

But since the electrons charge is so small, we'd end up saying things like "this balloon had a charge of thirteen trillion billion electrons", or "this kettle is rated to ten trillion trillion billion electrons per second".

So we use coulombs, which is the charge of a very large number of electrons, and amperes, which is the current due to a coulomb passing through some area per second. It's just easier in the world of humans to use these units.

Does everything make sense so far?
By the way you're not alone. This is a notoriously misunderstood topic, so please say if it still doesn't make sense.

Thanks, so it just means that these are different ways to express charge found in electron in terms of units to make it more simpler for everyone.

I think I've come up with a better explanation than before

you seem OK with the DC current being the same at all points on the circuit when the resistors are in series, formally this is called Kirchoffs current law (fwiw it doesn't matter if you've been taught the name or not yet)

Ohms law is the law linking voltage, current and resistance... it doesn't just tell you how much current goes through a resistor at a given voltage, it also tells you how much voltage must be across a resistor if it's got a certain current going through it.

both these laws need to be obeyed at the same time, which is why the voltage is shared across the series resistors.

I beg to differ that it is a better explanation as compared to your previous explanation. I kinda of like your previous explanation.

I seem to understand why you said "Well tbh the explanations given for circuits make it seem very confusing and arbitrary at gcse. "

Ohm's law is linking current, potential difference and resistance provided the resistor is ohmic materials.

The resistors in any series circuit need not be ohmic materials.

I believe in any examination boards for physics, they have the definition of resistance $R$ for a conductor is the ratio of the potential difference $\Delta V$ across a conductor to the current $I$ in the conductor:

$R = \frac{\Delta V}{I}$ ----1

This is NOT Ohm's law.

Equation 1 can be called Ohm's law provided $R$ is a constant. Equation 1 can also be used when the resistors in the series circuit are non-ohmic.

Again pardon me if you already know about it. But your explanation tells me otherwise. Maybe it is good to make clear for other students as you said, "Well tbh the explanations given for circuits make it seem very confusing and arbitrary at gcse." ..

To explain clearly what the OP requests is not really an easy task.

Lots here so let's start with charge and current.

Electrons are little things with mass and charge. When they move around you have a current, because current is moving charge. We could express charge in terms of the charge of an electron, then express current in terms of how many electrons pass through an area every second.

But since the electrons charge is so small, we'd end up saying things like "this balloon had a charge of thirteen trillion billion electrons", or "this kettle is rated to ten trillion trillion billion electrons per second".

So we use coulombs, which is the charge of a very large number of electrons, and amperes, which is the current due to a coulomb passing through some area per second. It's just easier in the world of humans to use these units.

Does everything make sense so far?
By the way you're not alone. This is a notoriously misunderstood topic, so please say if it still doesn't make sense.

No, it isn't XD...what grade did you achieve for As (if you don't mind telling me that is) ?

So for example, can some please explain as truthfully as possible what electricity is ( it's current but then what is current, current is flow electron and electron is actually made up of charge which is coulombs??) right now for me these are just words and at GCSE I would've just gone with it cause I did last minute revision and I gave myself no time to process the depth of it but I feel as though I am lacking the basic concept and understanding now.
If you were to explain to a total newb how would you describe what charge/ coulomb is and also with detail?

what's the difference between flow of electrons and free electrons?

Free electrons in metal, when metal is heated, diffuse out and collide with other atom...this is correct right?

So doesn't this mean that there is a flow/movement of electrons which is the same as current???

We never went into depth such as this in GCSE Science. Actually, we barely went over the basic fundamentals of electricity and instead, rather worked on equations, Joules, Costings etc...