Chapter 4

Current and Resistance

The electric current I in a conductor is defined as

where dQ is the charge that passes through a cross section of the conductor in a
time interval dt. The SI unit of current is the ampere (A), where 1 A =1 C/s.
The resistance of a conductor R is defined as the ratio of the potential difference
across a conductor to the current in the conductor:

We will use this equation over and over again when studying electric circuits. From
this result we see that resistance has SI units of volts per ampere. One volt per
ampere is defined to be one ohm ():

This expression shows that if a potential difference of 1 V across a conductor causes

a current of 1 A, the resistance of the conductor is 1 . For example, if an electrical
appliance connected to a 120 V source of potential difference carries a current of 6
A, its resistance is 20 

The current density in an ohmic conductor is proportional to the electric field

according to the expression

The previous equation is known as Ohm’s law, and a material is said to obey this law
if the ratio of its current density J to its applied electric field E is a constant that is
independent of the applied field.
The proportionality constant  is called the conductivity of the material of which the
conductor is made. The inverse of  is known as resistivity :

where  has the units ohm-meters (.m). Because R =l / A, we can express the
resistance of a uniform block of material along the length l as

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Over a limited temperature range, the resistivity of a conductor varies approximately
linearly with temperature according to the expression

where  is the resistivity at some temperature T (in degrees Celsius), o is the

resistivity at some reference temperature To (usually taken to be 20°C), and  is the
temperature coefficient of resistivity.
Because resistance is proportional to resistivity, we can write the variation of
resistance as

If a potential difference V is maintained across a circuit element, the power, or rate

at which energy is supplied to the element, is

Because the potential difference across a resistor is given by V = IR, we can

express the power delivered to a resistor in the form

Problems
1-In a particular cathode ray tube, the measured beam current is 30.0 /A. How many
electrons strike the tube screen every 40.0 s?
Solution

2-In the Bohr model of the hydrogen atom, an electron in the lowest energy state
follows a circular path 5.29 x 10-11 m from the proton. (a) Show that the speed of the
electron is 2.19 x 106 m/s. (b) What is the effective current associated with this
orbiting electron?
Solution

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3-Calculate the current density in a gold wire at 20°C, if an electric field of 0.740 V/m
exists in the wire.
Solution

4-A lightbulb has a resistance of 240  when operating with a potential difference of
120 V across it. What is the current in the lightbulb?
Solution

5-A resistor is constructed of a carbon rod that has a uniform cross-sectional area of
5.00 mm2. When a potential difference of 15 V is applied across the ends of the rod,
the rod carries a current of 4x 10-3 A. Find (a) the resistance of the rod and (b) the
rod’s length.
Solution

6-An electric heater is constructed by applying a potential difference of 120 V to a

Nichrome wire that has a total resistance of 8  Find the current carried by the wire
and the power rating of the heater.

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Resistors in Series and Parallel
The equivalent resistance of three or more resistors connected in series is

The equivalent resistance of three or more resistors connected in parallel is

Example
Three resistors are connected in parallel as shown in the Figure. A potential
difference of 18 V is maintained between points a and b.

(A) Find the current in each resistor.

(B) Calculate the power delivered to each resistor and the total power delivered to the
combination of resistors.

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