Ohm’s Law

As charged particles try to make their way round a circuit they

encounter resistance to their flow eg. they collide with atoms in the
conductor. More resistance means more energy is needed to push
the same number of electrons through part of the circuit.

This resistance is measure in ohms, Ω.

Definition :

“If it takes 1 volt (1 joule per coulomb) to push a current of 1amp

through a resistor, it has a resistance of 1 ohm”

In equation form, that says

The equation summarises Ohm’s law. It suggests that any
value of voltage you put across a resistor divided by
the current it produces in the resistor, will always give
the same value of resistance

Any resistor that does this is called an ohmic resistor. Any

resistor that doesn’t do this is cleverly called a non-ohmic
resistor.
 Diode Filament Thermistor
Lamp

An increase in resistance will show a A thermistor with a negative

reduction in gradient (it becomes less temperature coefficient. A
steep) e.g. the filament lamp. positive temperature
coefficient thermistor increases
Be careful - in some books or questions, resistance with temperature.
the graphs are drawn with V on the y-
axis. In this case, the gradient of the
graph becomes R, not 1/R
 Combinations of resistors - Series

Current used in all 3 will be the same (current doesn’t get used up)
but the energy used per coulomb (i.e. pd) will depend on the value
of the resistance

Cancel the I’s

 Combinations of resistors - Parallel

Here the voltage across all three will be

the same but the current through each
depends on the resistance of each.
 Internal Resistance
If you measure the P.D across the terminals of a battery it is 1.5V
If you attach a bulb to the battery the P.D. is a little less than 1.5V
WHY?
Batteries are not perfect, use them for a while and you notice they get hot.
Where is the heat energy from?

It’s from the stored (potential) energy in every battery. So batteries turn some
of their available energy into heat inside themselves.

It is easy to explain if you imagine that each cell is perfect except that for
some bizarre reason the manufacturers put a resistor in series with it inside
the casing.
 Internal Resistance (cont)

ξ = Vext + vint E = EMF Supplied by the cell

V = P.D. available for the circuit
ξ= V + Ir V = P.D. used by the internal
resistance of the cell
V=ξ - Ir
“Ir” is sometimes called the lost volts
Some energy has been transferred by the internal resistance of
the power supply making it warm.
This is why the output P.D. is always a little less than the EMF
If the External Resistance is similar to the Internal Resistance
then the P.D. available to the circuit will be less
 Using a Power Supply Effectively
What conditions have How do you get the
the highest current? greatest Terminal P.D.?

• A short circuit has the •Have an open circuit

greatest current
•But all the current does is
heat up the power supply’s
internal resistance
•This is dangerous and
obviously no use to
anyone.
•There will be an extremely
large Resistance between
the terminals
•The Terminal P.D. will be
at it’s maximum
•Only problem is that there
is no circuit!!!!

Obviously the maximum performance from a power supply

involves a trade off between maximum P.D. and maximum
Current.
 POWER in ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS

Power = Energy Transferred ÷ Time Taken

P = ΔQ ÷ Δt
Using the definitions of Current and P.D. can you derive
another equation for Power?
Remember Power is the energy transferred per second
(J/s)
Power = Current × Potential Difference
P = I × V
Using Ohms Law and careful substitution we can also
get:
P=I2R or P = V2/R