2/2009

EXAMINATION #2

WEDNESDAY MARCH 4, 2009

 “+”
“+” REMEMBER, THE ELECTRONS

ARE ACTUALLY MOVING THE

- OTHER WAY!

-
“+”

“+”
Battery
 A wire is a conductor
 We will assume that the conductor is
essentially an equi-potential
◦ It really isn’t.
 Electrons are moving in a conductor if a
current is flowing.
◦ This means that there must be an electric field
in the conductor.
◦ This implies a difference in potential since
E=∆ V/d
◦ We assume that the difference in potential is
small and that it can often be neglected.
◦ In this chapter, we will consider this difference
and what causes it.
 Current is the motion of POSITIVE CHARGE through
a circuit. Physically, it is electrons that move but …

Conducting material

∆ Q,∆ t
Conducting material

∆ Q,∆ t

CURRENT
∆Q
i=
∆t
or
dq
i=
dt
 A current of one coulomb per second is
defined as ONE AMPERE.
A charged belt, 30 cm wide, travels at 40 m/s
between a source of charge and a sphere.
The belt carries charge into the sphere at a
rate corresponding to 100 µA. Compute the
surface charge density on the belt.

[8.33e-06] C/m2
A small sphere that carries a
charge q is whirled in a circle at
the end of an insulating string. The
angular frequency of rotation is ω.
What average current does this
rotating charge represent?
An electric current is given by the expression I(t) = 100
sin(120πt), where I is in amperes and t is in seconds. What is
the total charge carried by the current from t = 0 to t =
(1/240) s?
 current I
J= =
area A
The figure represents a section of a circular
conductor of non-uniform diameter carrying a
current of 5.00 A. The radius of cross section
A1 is 0.400 cm. (a) What is the magnitude of
the current density across A1? (b) If the
current density across A2 is one-fourth the
value across A1, what is the radius of the
conductor at A2?
 A particular object will
resist the flow of
current.
 It is found that for any
conducting object, the
current is proportional
to the applied voltage.
 STATEMENT: ∆ V=IR
 R is called the
resistance of the object.
 An object that allows a
current flow of one
ampere when one volt
is applied to it has a
resistance of one OHM.
∆V = IR
∆V = IR
Resistance Varies with Applied Voltage
(actually with current)
 Conduction is via electrons.
 They are weak and small and don’t exercise

much.
 Positive charge is big and strong and

doesn’t intimidate easily.

 It’s an ugly situation … something like ……
+

-
 Vb − Va
E=
l
Α. ωq
B. 2π ω q
C. ω q/2π
D. 4π ω q
E. You need the radius to answer this question
A circular wire (Radius=R) carries a current I and the current density is
J=br.
Find the value of the total current.

dA = 2πrdr
dI = JdA = br × 2πrdr = 2πbr 2 dr
R
2
I = ∫ 2πbr dr = πbR 3
2

0
3
 Electrons are going the opposite way from
the current. (WHY?)
 They probably follow a path like …

Average “drift”
speed - vd

IN
OUT
 vd average drift velocity of the electron
 n number of electrons (mobile) per unit
volume.
 ∆ t interval of time
 ∆ xaverage distance the electron moves in

time ∆ t.
 Q total amount of CHARGE that goes

through a surface of the conductor in time

∆ t.
The Diagram
∆Q = (nAvd ∆t )e
∆Q
I avg = = nAvd e
∆t
I avg
J= = nevd
A
J = nev d
Often a Vector
 Consider an electron.
 Assume that whenever it
“bumps” into something it
loses its momentum and
comes to rest.
 It’s velocity therefore
starts at zero, the electric
field accelerates it until it
has another debilitating
collision with something
else.
 During the time it
accelerates, its velocity
increases linearly .
 The average distance that
the electron travels
between collisions is called
the “mean free path”.
 We showed two slides ago:

eE
v = v0 + at = at J = nqvd = nevd = ne τ
m
F eE or
a= =
m m ne 2 E
J= τ = σE
eE m
v = vd = τ
m so
ne 2τ
Let n= number of charge carriers σ=
per unit volume (mobile electrons) m
1
ρ= resistivity
σ
λ = v dτ
The average drift velocity of an
electron is about 10-4 m/s
 How can a current go through a resistor and
generate heat (Power) without decreasing the
current itself?
Loses Energy

Gets it back

Exit
 In metals, the bigger the electric field at a
point, the bigger the current density.

J = σE
σ is the conductivity of the material.

ρ =(1/σ ) is the resistivity of the material

ρ = ρ 0 [1 + α (T − T0 )]
A conductor of uniform radius 1.20 cm
carries a current of 3.00 A produced by an
electric field of 120 V/m. What is the
resistivity of the material?
 ∆V = El
1 ∆V I
J = σE = = (def)
ρ l A
ρl
∆V = I
A
ρl
R=
A
∆V = V = IR
 ρL
R=
A
∆V = IR
∆ρ

ρ = ρ 0 (1 + α∆T )
∆
T
In time ∆t, a charge ∆Q is pushed through
the resistor by the battery. The amount of work
done by the battery is :
∆W = V∆Q
Power :
∆W ∆Q
=V = VI
∆t ∆t
Power = P = IV = I ( IR ) = I 2 R
E2
P = I R = IV =
2

R
that’s it, Doc