What i need to clarify is - when i am jumpin the battery, is the battery still what is being used to power the car? ie, is it still part of the circuit? or will the charge from the other car go straight past the battery and pwoer the car up?

not sure if this makes sense, but to picture it as a circuit, when you put the jumper cables on, does the power go through the system before the battery in the circuit or after?