Chapter 5 Electric Current and Resistance

5.1 Objectives

the student will, to understand the concept of batteries be able to dene current calculate drift velocity be able to dene resistance, and calculate resistivitives be able to apply Ohms law be able to calculate electric power generated, and power dispersed.

5.2

Current

We have discussed charge, now we need to discuss how charges are moved. We dene current as the amount of charge (1 coulomb) that passes a point in a given period of time (1 sec). Q Coulomb I= = = Amp or Ampere (5.1) t second Current is a rate, the time rate ow of net charge.

5.2.1

Example

5.3

Drift Velocity

electrons move randomly at very high speeds, with no EMF the amount that passes through any cross sectional area of the wire is zero. If, however, and EMF is applied 25

then the electrons will have a component of their velocity along the direction of the EMF. Causing a net drift of the electrons down the vine. Drift velocities are typically vdrif t = 1mm/s very slow. The electric eld however created by the EMF travel near the speed of light. (almost instaneously). Imagine a group of dominos, the energy of the toppling dominos travels very quickly even though each domino travels only a short distance.

5.4

resistance

If we place a voltage across and object, we know that we will have moving charges, but we need a way of determining the rate that charges move. We would naturally expect that the greater the voltage the greater the current. The material object also plays a part. We call the objects reluctance to allow current ow its resistance. The resistance is related to the ratio of the voltage to the current, R= V Volt = = , I Amp (5.2)

the unit of resistance is the Ohm () which is a volt per ampere. For some materials resistances are constant over a range of voltages, these material are said to obey Ohms Law. Ohms Law simply states that some material obey the equation, V = IR, (5.3) where R is a constant for a wide range of V and I . For the purposes of this class we will assume resistors are ohmic unless stated otherwise.

5.5

resistivity

The resitance of a conducting wire is aected by physical characteristics of the material. Factors that aect resistance, 1. Type of material, resistivity 2. Length, L 3. cross-sectional area A 4. temperature We nd that the relationships may be written as such, L (5.4) R = , = rho0 (1 + T ) A where is the resistivity, L is the lenght, and A is the cross-sectional area, and is the temperature coecient of resistivity, 0 is usually the resistance at 20 C . 26

5.5.1

Example: Nichrome wire (From Tipler)

A nichrome wire (resistivity 106 m) has a radius of 0.65mm. What lenght of wire is needed to obtain a resistance of 2.0? given: = 106 m r = 0.65mm R = 2.0 SOLUTION: The cross-sectional area of this wire is, A = r 2 = (3.14)(6.5 104 m)2 = 1.33 106 m2 and we calculate the length as, L = RA Rr 2 = (2)(1.33 106 m2 ) = = 2.66m 106 m (5.6) (5.7) (5.5)

5.5.2

Example: Calculate /A and E (From Tipler)

Calculate /A in ohms per meter for 14-gauge copper wire, which has a diameter of d = 1.63mm. given: d = 1.63mm = 1.7 108 m the cross-sectional area of 14-gauge wire is, A= and, /A = 8.1 103 /m (5.9) Assuming the electric eld to be uniform, nd its magnitude in a 14-gauge copper wire that is carrying a current of 1 A. The resistance can be found as, R= we calculate the voltage drop as, V = IR = (1A)(8.1 103 ) = 8.1 103 V so the electric eld is, E= 8.1 103 V V = = 8.1 103 V /M L 1M 27 (5.12) (5.11) L = 8.1 103 A (5.10) d2 = 2.1 106 m2 4 (5.8)

5.5.3

Example: Calculate resistivity(From Tipler)

By what percentage does the resistance of a copper wire increase when its temperature increases from 20 to 30 C ? given: = 3.9 103 /K T = 10K The fractional change in resistivity is, 0 (1 + T ) 0 0 = = DeltaT 0 0 = (3.9 103 /K )(10K ) = 3.9 102 (5.13) (5.14)

the percent change is 3.9% we sometimes refer to a wire as a conductor, sometimes we prefer to use the conductivity , instead of the resistivity. = 1 (5.15)

5.6

Power
W ork W = t time

We recall that power is the time rate of energy expendature. P = (5.16)

we recall that the work done a charge moving through a voltage is, W = qV Now, we can write the power as, P = qV = IV t (5.18) (5.17)

for a constant resistance (obeying ohms law), we can write, P = IV = V2 = I 2R R (5.19)

The thermal loss in a current carrying resistance is referred to as Joules heating or I 2 R loss. For an example in an incandesent light bulb only about 5% of the energy expended is turned into light.

5.6.1

Electric eciency

Minimum eciency standards Flourescent lamp- Mercury vapor Global warming

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