Theory

Ohm's law states that the current I in a resistor is proportional to the potential difference V
across it, provided that the temperature of the object is constant. In
equation form, it says

where the proportionality constant R is the resistance of the device .

by plotting V vs I , a straight line is obtained , its slope equals to the value of the resistor R
at constant temperature .
if n resistors are connected in series then the equivalent resistance R equals to :

and if they are connected in parallel then the equivalent resistance equals to :

The current density J at any point inside the conductor is directly proportional to the electric
field E at that point :

Where ρ is the resistivity which is constant at constant temperature of the conductor .

Since it is difficult to measure the current density and the electric field directly, it is
preferred to reform the equation (1) in terms of physical quantities that can be measured
such as current and potential difference .
If the cross section area of the conductor is A then :

, and the potential difference V between the ends of the conductor is given by the equation
:

where L is length of the conductor, then equation (1) becomes

Which can be rewritten as :

where . Equation (3) known as Ohm's law , which shows that the constant proportionality
relating to the potential difference to the current is called the resistance .
Resistors in series :
Figure (1)shows two resistors R1 , R2 , connected in series in a closed circuit powered by
a single battery . In this circuit the current supplied by the battery flows through each
resistor, with the current in each resistor being the same.

If the current supplied by the battery is I , the current in each resistor is I1 , I2 and and they
are all one and the same, then :

the potential gain across the battery must equal the sum of the potential drops V1, and V2 ,
across the two resistors so that :

Therefore the equivalent resistance R equals to :

In general if n resistors are connected in series then the equivalent resistance equals to :

Resistors in parallel :
Resistors are connected in parallel when one end of each resistor is connected to a
common point and each of their other ends is connected to another common point as
shown in Figure 2. The current I that is supplied by the battery is divided into two separate
currents I1, and I2, each flowing through resistors R1 and R2 respectively. After flowing
through the resistors, the two currents rejoin into a common current , I , or that current
flowing back to the battery.
The voltage drops across the battery and resistors are all equal .
The total current flowing in the circuit is the sum of the separate currents flowing through
the resistors :