9/4/2014

STEADY ELECTRIC
CURRENTS

INTRODUCTION

• For conductors to approach equilibrium is very fast

and the time it requires is a very small fraction of a
second.

• During that time, the conductor rearrange

themselves within the conductor.

1
 9/4/2014

INTRODUCTION
• The motion of the charges tends to constitute the
current.
• The current brought about by the motion of
charges for short duration is called transient
current.

INTRODUCTION
Current
• The rate at which the charge is transported past a
given point in a conducting medium.

where dq is the amount of charge that flows past

some given point in time dt.

2
 9/4/2014

INTRODUCTION
Current
• The SI unit of current is the ampere
(A), named in honour of the French
physicist, André Marie Ampère.

• A current of one ampere corresponds

to the transportation of one coulomb of
charge in one second.

INTRODUCTION
Steady Currents
• Current is steady if:
• the current does not vary with time
• The current density is constant

• A steady current is also called a direct current.

3
 9/4/2014

NATURE OF CURRENT &

CURRENT DENSITY

CONDUCTION CURRENT
• In metals, the free charge carriers are valence electrons of
an atom which is free to contribute to the conduction
process.
• Free electron
• An electron which may be considered as not being attached to
any of the particular atom.
• Conduction current
• The current in a metal conductor.
• Simply the flow of electrons

4
 9/4/2014

CONDUCTION CURRENT
• To maintain a steady current, within a conductor, a
continuous supply of electrons at one end and their
removal at the other is necessary.

Even when a steady current is maintained through the

conductor, the conductor as a whole is electrostatically neutral.

• The random thermal motion of electrons takes place at

high speed in all possible directions (10 m/s)

CONDUCTION CURRENT
Drift Velocity

• The electric field does produce a

systematic component of the
random velocity known as this.

• Causes the electron to gradually

drift in the z- direction.

• The net drift of the electrons in

the z direction constitutes a
current through the conductor.

5
 9/4/2014

CONDUCTION CURRENT
• The conventional direction of the current is taken
to be that of the electric field.

• The electrons move in a direction opposite to the

conventional direction of the current.

• The current through the conductor is the same at

all cross sections even though the cross-sectional
area may be different at any points.

CONDUCTION CURRENT

• The constancy of the electric current is in

accordance with the law of conservation of charge
where the charge must be conserved.

• A point cannot act as a source or a sink of charge to

maintain current.

6
 9/4/2014

CONVECTION CURRENT
Convection current
• The motion of charged particles in free space
(vacuum) is said to constitute a convection current
e.g. motion of electrons from the cathode toward
the anode in a vacuum tube.
• Those electrons that are
close to the anode have
attained very high
velocities because there is
no collision.

CONVECTION CURRENT
•For a steady current, the charge crossing a
unit area must be the same.
•As the velocity of an electron increases, the
charge density decreases.
•It is not electrostatically neutral as compared
to conduction current.
•It neither requires a conductor to maintain the
charge flow, nor obeys Ohm’s Law.

7
 9/4/2014

CONVECTION CURRENT DENSITY

• Consider a region with
volume charge distribution
in which the charges are
moving under the influence
of an electric field with an
average velocity .
• In time ∆ these charges will
move a distance such
that
= ∆

CONVECTION CURRENT DENSITY

• The current ∆ through the surface
∆ is

∆ = ∆⃗  = ∆⃗ 

• Current in terms of the convection

current density, ⃗ (current per unit
area)
⃗=

• Current passing through a surface

is
= ⃗

8
 9/4/2014

CONVECTION CURRENT DENSITY

• The current density can be completely described by a
vector point function.

• Current density concept is more useful in describing

fields than current.

• Routinely referred to as volume current density.

CONDUCTION CURRENT DENSITY

Let:
→ the average velocity The average rate at which the electron
loses momentum in collisions is
(drift velocity) of an
electron
→ electric field within the
conductor The rate at which the electron gains
→ mass of an electron momentum from the electric force is
→ mean time per collision −

9
 9/4/2014

CONDUCTION CURRENT DENSITY

=− This states that
Thus, “the drift velocity of an electron
=− in a conducting medium is
proportional to the applied
or electric field”
=−
where The constant of proportionality is
= → electron mobility
the electron mobility.

CONDUCTION CURRENT DENSITY

If there are N electrons per Thus, the conduction
unit volume, the electron current density, in the
charge density is conducting medium, is
=− ⃗=
where or
→ the magnitude of the charge ⃗= =
of the electron
where
= → ℎ

10

CONDUCTION CURRENT DENSITY
⃗= = This states that
where
= → ℎ
• Referred to as the microscopic
equivalent of Ohm’s Law.
• ⃗ and are in the same
direction
CONDUCTION CURRENT
• In electric circuit theory,
Ohm’s law is valid as long
as the resistance does not
depend upon the voltage
and the current.
• Conductive materials
obey Ohm’s Law if the
conductivity of the
medium is independent of
the electric field intensity
9/4/2014
“the current density at any point
in a conducting medium is
proportional to the electric field
intensity.”
The constant of proportionality is
the conductivity of the medium.
• Ohm’s law is not a general
law of electromagnetism
like Gauss’ Law.
• Materials for which the
equation holds are called
linear media or ohmic media.
• Resistivity - the reciprocal of
the conductivity
1
= m
11
 9/4/2014

CONDUCTION CURRENT

CONDUCTION CURRENT

12
 9/4/2014

EXAMPLE 4.1
A potential of 10V is maintained across the ends of a
copper wire 2 m in length. If the mean time between
collisions is 2.7 × 10 s. Determine the drift
velocity of the free electrons.

= 23.74 × 10 m/s

EXERCISES
1. One end of an aluminium wire of 0.125 cm in
diameter is welded to a copper wire of 0.25 cm in
diameter. The composite wire carries a current of
8mA. What is the current density in each wire?

13
 9/4/2014

EXERCISES
2. A 100-km-long, high voltage transmission line
uses a copper cable of diameter 3 cm. If the cable
carries a steady current of 1000 A, determine (a)
the electric field intensity inside the cable, (b) the
drift velocity of the free electrons, (c) the current
density in the cable, and (d) the time taken by an
electron to travel the full length of the cable.
Assume the average time between collisions is
2.7 × 10 s.

EXERCISES
3. The average velocity of electrons in a vacuum tube is
1.5 × 10 m/s. If the current density is 5 ,
determine the number of electrons per unit area
passing through a hypothetical plane normal to their
flow.

14
 9/4/2014

RESISTANCE OF A
CONDUCTOR

RESISTANCE OF A CONDUCTOR
where
→ potential difference between the two ends of
the conductor of length

→ electric field intensity within the conductor

⃗= → the volume current density
→ the current passing through each surface

We have assumed that the potential at

end a of the conductor is higher than
that at end b.

15
 9/4/2014

RESISTANCE OF A CONDUCTOR
The resistance of conductor The total resistance of the
length can be obtained conductor is
from Ohm’s Law in terms of 
the field quantities and ⃗ as =∫
∫ ⃗

−  This equation is very general and

= = allows us to determine the
∫ ⃗ resistance of the conducting
medium whose conductivity
changes in the direction of the
current

RESISTANCE OF A CONDUCTOR
In the case of a homogeneous If the electric field intensity
medium having constant within the homogeneous
conductivity; conducting medium is
known to determine the
−∫  resistance.
= = We may not always be able
∫ ⃗ to determine the electric
field within an arbitrarily
shaped conducting material.

16
 9/4/2014

RESISTANCE OF A CONDUCTOR
In that case, we may have to resort to the use of
approximate methods or numerical techniques to
determine the electric field intensity.

EXAMPLE 4.2
A potential difference of is maintained across the
two ends of a copper wire of length l. If A is the cross-
sectional area of the wire, obtain an expression for the
resistance of the wire. What is the resistance of the
wire if = 2 kV, = 200 km, and = 40 mm ?

85 

17
 9/4/2014

THE EQUATION OF
CONTINUITY

THE EQUATION OF CONTINUITY

Assuming
→ volume charge density in the region
⃗ → describes the current leaving the surface

The total current crossing the closed

surface s in the outward direction is
The current is simply a flow of the
charge per second, an outward flow
= ⃗ of charge must decrease the charge
concentration by the same amount
within the region bounded by s.

18
 9/4/2014

THE EQUATION OF CONTINUITY

The rate at which the charge
is leaving the surface must be Writing Q in terms of the volume
equal to the rate at which the charge density
charge is diminishing in the
bounded region.
=
=−
where Where the integral is taken
→ the total charge enclosed by the surface at any throughout the region enclosed by s.
time t

THE EQUATION OF CONTINUITY

By applying divergence theorem
and since the volume under
consideration is stationary, the
⃗ =− differential with respect to time can
be replaced by partial derivative of
volume charge density.
Integral form of Equation of Continuity
⃗ =−
States that “any change of charge in a
region must be accompanied by the flow Or
of charge across the surface bounding
the region”. ⃗ + =

19
 9/4/2014

THE EQUATION OF CONTINUITY

Since the volume under
consideration is arbitrary, the only
way for the preceding equation to be
true in general is for the integrand to
vanish at each point.

⃗ + =0
States that “the points of changing
Differential (Point) Form of charge density are sources of
Equation of Continuity volume current density ⃗”.

⃗ = −

THE EQUATION OF CONTINUITY

For conducting medium to States that “the net steady current
sustain a steady (direct) current, through any closed surface is zero”.
there can be no points of
changing charge density. If we shrink the closed surface s
to a point, we can interpret,
⃗ = 0 =0

or Kirchhoff’s Current Law

“the algebraic sum of currents at a
⃗ = 0 point (junction or node) is zero.

20
 9/4/2014

THE EQUATION OF CONTINUITY

⃗ = 0 ( )=0
or
States that “for a steady current
 +  =0
through a conducting medium, the
current density within the medium is
solenoidal or continuous”. For homogeneous medium,
=0
Substituting ⃗ = σ , where
then,  =
→ conductivity of the medium

THE EQUATION OF CONTINUITY

Substituting = − , where V
is the potential at any point
within the conducting medium.
Asserts that “the potential
= distribution within a conducting
medium satisfies the Laplace’s
equation as long as the medium
is homogeneous and the current
distribution is time invariant. ”.

21
 9/4/2014

RELAXATION TIME
Consider introducing charge at By substitution,
some interior point of a given
material (conductor or dielectric).  = =−
Using Ohm’s Law
⃗= + =0
and Gauss’s Law

 =

RELAXATION TIME
Solving homogenous linear ordinary By substitution,
/
differential equation. =
where:
=−
=
=− →

Integrating both sides: Relaxation time

• The time it takes a charge placed in
ln =− + ln the interior of the material drop to
where: = 36.8 %
ln →

22
 9/4/2014

EXAMPLE
A certain amount of charge is placed within an
isolated conductor. The current through a closed
surface bounding the charge is observed to be
= 0.125 A. Determine (a) the relaxation time,
(b) the initial charge, and (c) the charge transported
through the surface in time = 5

0.04 , 4.97 mC

23
 9/4/2014

REFERENCES
• Electromagnetic Field Theory Fundamentals 2nd
ed - B. Guru, H. Hiziroglu (Cambridge, 2004)

• Elements of Electromagnetics by Matthew N.O.

Sadiku

24