Susan Brown
Current is never “lost”, but current can increase or decrease, depending on voltage supply and resistance in a circuit.
Think of parallel circuits as two or more series circuits that are tied to the same power supply. Within an individual series circuit, the current will be the same at any point in the circuit. The electrons can’t move at different rates at different points in the circuit. Think of a tight row of billiard balls all moving together – they can speed up or slow down or stop, but some of them can’t move at different rates as others. That’s kind of how electrons are in an individual circuit.
As I said, parallel circuits are just two or more series circuits tied to the same power supply, so each branch has the same voltage. However, each branch will have its own particular current, based on the resistance of the loads it has. In other words, the current of each parallel circuit is independent of the other circuits in its configuration. If one branch happens to open, it will not affect the other branches, but it will decrease the overall current coming from the power supply.
Does that help? Let me know, and ask any follow-up questions.