Class XII/PHYSICS

RELATION BETWEEN DRIFT VELOCITY AND ELECTRIC CURRENT

Consider a conductor of length l and uniform area of cross-section A. Then, the volume of the conductor is,
V = Al
Suppose that the conductor contains n free electrons per unit volume.
Then, number of free electrons in the conductor = n.V = nAl
If e is the charge on an electron, then the total charge in the conductor,
q = nAle -------------- (1)
When a battery is connected to the two ends of the conductor, an

electric field E is set up across the two ends of the conductor.
If vd is the drift velocity of the electrons, then the time taken by the
electrons to cross the length of the conductor,
dis tan ce
speed =
l time
t= -------- (2) [using, ]
vd dis tan ce
time =
speed
q
We know, current, I =
t
Substituting for ‘q’ and‘t’ from equations (1) and (2) respectively, we get-
nAle
I = = nAv d e
l ---------------- (3)
vd
Above equation gives the relation between drift velocity of the free electrons and the current through the
conductor.
eE
Substituting for vd as vd = τ in equation (3), we get-
m
eE nAe 2 Eτ
I = nAe τ= ------------------ (4)
m m

ELECTRIC CURRENT AND CURRENT DENSITY

The current density is defined as the current per unit area in a conductor, where A is the cross section of
conductor.
2
The current density is a vector quantity, units: Amps/m .
dI
J =
dA
I
When the current density is constant: J = --------------- (5)
A
nAv d e
Substituting for I, we have, J= = nv d e -------------- (6)
A
eE ne 2 E
Substituting for vd , the expression for J becomes, J =n eτ = τ -------------- (7)
m m

OHM'S LAW

A German scientist George Simon Ohm experimented with circuits and found out the relationships between
current and voltage.
Ohm’s law is a quantitative relation between the potential difference across the ends of a conductor and electric
current flowing through it.

According to Ohm’s law,

"The electric current passing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference

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 Class XII/PHYSICS
across the ends of conductor, if physical conditions (temperature, mechanical strain etc.) of conductor
remain constant."

MATHEMATICAL REPRESENTATION
According to Ohm’s law,
V ∝I
Or, V = RI --------- (8), Where R is the constant of proportionality and is called
resistance of the conductor.
Resistance of the conductor depends upon the nature of the conductor, its dimensions and the physical conditions.
The graph between potential difference (V) applied across the conductor and the current flowing (I) is a straight
line (theoretically).

RESISTANCE OF A CONDUCTOR

Resistance is a feature of a material that determines the flow of electric charge.

Resistance of a conductor is defined as the ratio of the potential difference applied across the conductor to the
current flowing through it. Mathematically,
V
R=
I
Unit of resistance: The S.I unit of resistance is Ohm. It is denoted byΩ .
1Volt (V )
1Ohm =
1Ampere ( A)

The resistance of a conductor is said to be one ohm, if one ampere current flows through it, when a potential
difference of one volt is applied across it.

FAILURE OF OHM’S LAW

1. Potential difference may vary non-linearly with current: When current is passed through a conductor for a
long time or current is increased continuously increased through the conductor, the conductor gets heated
up. Due to the rise in temperature, the resistance increases.

2. The variation of current with potential difference may depend on the sign of the potential difference
applied: For a semiconductor diode, the variation of current is different, when the sign of the potential
difference applied across it is changed.

3. The current may decrease on increasing the potential difference: In a thyristor, the current increases with
decrease in potential difference. In addition, the current varies non-linearly with potential difference.

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Prepared by: Sandhya.K