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Circuits
An electrical circuit is a set of electrical components connected in such a way that current flows in a loop from a voltage source, through the circuit elements and back to the voltage source.
Below is a basic circuit representing a 9-volt battery with a 10,000$\Omega$ resistor attached accross its terminals. Through the application of Ohm's Law we can determine that the maximum current will be 0.9 miliamps.
Open and short circuits
A circuit with a break in its loop is called an open circuit. When a circuit is open, no current flows. We can induce an open circuit through the use of a switch component that closes and breaks the circuit when invoked.
A short circuit is a path in a circuit that allows current to flow with little or no resistance. This is usually unintentional and results in excessive current flowing through the circuit. A short circuit is the opposite to an open circuit. With an open circuit there is an infinite resistance between the two terminals.
Vertical circuit diagrams
Sometimes circuits can be represented in a vertical manner rather than in an actual circuit. This is done to simplify the representation. In this approach current is represented as flowing in a straight line from the voltage source (represented with a circle) to ground.
The circuit below is functionally identical to the previous circuit but represented vertically:
