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ELECTRICITY
Physical Relationships
E V d
F Eq
E V q
E p Eqd
Ek
1 2 mv 2
E P t
q I t
V IR
1 1 1 ... Rt R1 R2
P IV
Rt R1 R2 ...
F BIL(sin )
F Bqv
V BvL
Current.
Symbol: I
unit: A (amps)
charges could be electrons or sometimes ions. 1 Amp is 1 Coulomb of charge passing a point in 1 second. This concept can be extended to calculate a current:
Before any one had discovered electrons, they decided that they would be positive. Whoops! This means that current is the direction that positive charges are moving.
This is known as conventional current When we mean actual electron flow, we say
A Current rule
Just like energy, charge cannot be created or destroyed.
This means the total current into a point is
equal to the total current out of a point. This explains the series and parallel rules about current that you should have learnt last year. Remember: Total Current In = Total Current Out
some materials not? In a material, most of the electrons are attached to a specific atom. However, all materials have a certain number of free electrons. If there are a lot of free electrons, the material is a good conductor. If there are almost no free electrons, the material is a good insulator.
Voltage.
Volts (V). The voltage measures the amount of energy per unit of charge. Its kind of like When a charge q has electric potential energy Ep at a point then the voltage V is given by = What is a volt?
Voltage is always measured between two
its electric potential energy must be used up. When it reaches the other end of the battery/power pack, its energy is ZERO.
This is why components will blow if we dont
think ahead and make sure the component can handle the amount of energy we are giving it.
Components.
Cell Battery Resistor
Variable Resistor
Ammeter Voltmeter
Parallel
Components are
connected one after the other, so the current has no choice where to go. Ammeters should always be connected in series. Why?
We want to measure how
connected in such a way that the current has a choice which way to go. Voltmeters should always be connected in parallel. Why?
Remember the term
potential difference!
Resistance.
Symbol: R
Unit: Ohms () For many conductors, we find that the voltage across them is proportional to the current through them: V I. For example, when we triple the voltage across them we find that the current through them also triples. Lets introduce a constant of proportionality, and call it resistance, R.
Ohms Law
Ohms Law is actually a graph showing that voltage is proportional to current.
V
V=RI
If the V-I graph has a straight line through (0,0), it is called an Ohmic Resistor.
V V
Any conductor that has a proportionality that is not a straight line through (0,0) is called a non-Ohmic resistor.
Combining Resistances
Series.
The Current travels through all components. The Voltage must add to the correct value for the loop
or the circuit.
Parallel.
The Current must go down
either one path or the other. The Voltage across components in parallel is equal.
Some equations
For resistances in series:
Note: For resistances in parallel, the total resistance will be less than the smallest individual resistance. Why is this?
Skin Resistance.
One way to think of insulators is that they have resistances so high that the electric field cannot cause electrons to flow. The resistance of skin is quite high, which means that any shocks we get will be a significant voltage and or current. Wet skin is much more conductive than dry skin. Sweaty skin is even worse, due to the ions in the sweat. This is why you should never put a fork in a toaster.
two resistors to produce an output voltage lower than the input voltage.
Problems:
The output voltage decreases when current is drawn from the output. Some of the current that is supplied will be wasted.
The Potentiometer
The potentiometer is
a variable resistance device that overcomes some of the above difficulties with voltage dividers. To obtain a particular voltage from the divider, we can simply vary the resistance ratio till the desired output voltage is obtained.
Power
When current flows
Power =
through a resistor, there is a potential difference across the resistor. This means that some of the energy is being used up in the resistor. We measure this difference in energy as a voltage. The amount of energy that is lost per second is a measure of the power.
Diodes
A Diode is a electronic component that does not obey Ohms Law.
The Voltage-Current graph of a Diode looks
like this:
Bias
A Diode is constructed so that it has a Bias:
If it is connected the right way around, current will
flow once the voltage is higher than the cut-off voltage. If it is connected the incorrect way, then it will act as an insulator until the point of Zener Breakdown occurs. This will normally wreck the diode.
emit light when a current passes through it. They have a number of advantages over filament lamps.
Typically they are cheaper to make, require less electrical power to run and less easily damaged.
Plus you can make an awesome TV ->
Sensors
In physics, we frequently need to measure temperature, light intensity, sound intensity, force, position and so on.
measured by having sliding contact of a potentiometer floating at the level. The output voltage can then be calibrated to give a reading in litres rather than volts.
The circuit shows a voltage divider in which the top component is an LDR. At a high light level, the LDRs resistance is low. At a low light level, the resistance is high.
Thermistors
This circuit shows a voltage divider in which the top component is a thermistor. At a high temperature, the thermistors resistance is low. At a low temperature, the resistance is high.
Fields
What is a Field?
A region of space where every point can be
Electric fields are regions of space where electrically charged particles feel a force.
Electrostatic Forces
Electrostatic forces exist between all charged
particles.
These forces are actually the reason I cant put my hand through a table. Why?
Examples:
Unlike charges attract.
The strength of the electric field is the amount of force, in Newtons, that would act on a +1 Coulomb test charge.
The equation:
=
Electric Field Strength (E) equals Force (F)
Charge is measured in
Coulombs (C)
measured in
Newtons per Coulomb (NC-1)
Your turn
Draw the Electric Field that exists between the
charge when it is moved against an electric force. The work done to move a charge against an electric force is found by: Work = Force Distance = But we know in an electric field: = Therefore =
So the amount of work done to move each charge in an electric field is = The work done to move a charge is commonly called Voltage. This gives = or rearrange to find the Electric Field Strength: = This equation gives the Electric Field Strength between two charged plates a distance d apart at a voltage V. Therefore another unit for E is Vm-1