Ministry of Education
Secondary Engagement Programme
Grade 11
Physics
WEEK 5 Lesson 2
Topic: Electricity
Sub-topic: Resistance and Ohms Law
Objective: Given information and with the aid of circuit diagrams, students will:
- explain the concept of resistance;
- apply the relationship R = V/ I
- explain why an ammeter and voltmeter must have a specific resistance
Content:
Resistance – The resistance in a conductor is the opposition to the
flow of electrons. This occurs because atoms are always vibrating.
When electrons flow, they collide with vibrating atoms,
lose energy, and slow down.
The rate of flow of electrons (the current) around the entire
circuit then decreases.
At higher temperatures, vibrations are more rapid &
collisions with electrons are then more frequent.
Hence there is more opposition to electron flow, or greater
resistance, at higher temperatures
Recall Ohm’s Law: V = IR
The Ohm's law equation can be rearranged and expressed as
follows:
and
The greater the battery voltage (i.e., electric potential difference), the
greater the current. And the greater the resistance, the less the current.
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Ministry of Education
Secondary Engagement Programme
Grade 11
Physics
Factors Affecting Resistance
The resistance in a wire increases as:
the length of the wire increases
the thickness of the wire decreases
The resistance of a long wire is greater than the resistance of a short wire because electrons
collide with more ions as they pass through. The relationship between resistance and wire length
is proportional.
The resistance of a thin wire is greater than the resistance of a thick wire because a thin wire
has fewer electrons to carry the current. The relationship between resistance and the area of the
cross-section of a wire is inversely proportional.
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Ministry of Education
Secondary Engagement Programme
Grade 11
Physics
Resistors are components used mainly to control the size of the current flowing in a circuit.
The resistance of a resistor depends on the material of which it is made and its dimensions.
Types of resistors and their circuit symbols
Ammeters
When inserting an ammeter into a circuit, it will reduce the current because the ammeter itself
adds resistance to the circuit.
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Ministry of Education
Secondary Engagement Programme
Grade 11
Physics
It is therefore important to use an ammeter of as low resistance as possible when attempting to
measure current in a circuit.
An ammeter should have very low resistance.
Voltmeters
Connecting a voltmeter across a component in a circuit gives a reading lower than the potential
difference existing if the voltmeter were not there.
The voltmeter should have very high resistance, so most of the current pass through the
component and very little passes through the voltmeter. In this way, the p.d. across the
component stays almost the same.
A voltmeter should have very high resistance.
Resistors in Series
The total resistance in a series circuit is the sum of the
separate resistances.
Rs = R1 + R2 + R3
where: • R1 = resistance of resistor 1;
• R2 = resistance of resistor 2;
R3 = resistance of resistor 3;
• Rs = resistance of the series combination of
resistors A and B.
Worked example:
If three resistors of 2Ω, 5Ω, 7Ω are connected together in series, what value single
resistor could replace them and allow the same current to flow?
Rs = R1 + R2 + R3
Rs = 2Ω + 5Ω + 7Ω = 14 Ω
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Ministry of Education
Secondary Engagement Programme
Grade 11
Physics
Resistors in Parallel
Effective resistance, Rp , of the parallel combination of the two
resistors
For two (2) resistors in parallel:
resistances multiplied
𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 =
resistances added
× ×
𝑅= 𝑅= = 2Ω
This equation is known as the ‘product/sum formula’ for finding
Rp .
Note that this formula can only be used to find the effective resistance of two resistors
connected in parallel.
Many Resistors in Parallel
Usually, if there are more than 2 resistors in parallel, they give a lower resistance than any of the
resistors itself.
The effect is the same as using a thick piece of resistance wire instead of a thin one. There is a
wider conducting path than before.
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Ministry of Education
Secondary Engagement Programme
Grade 11
Physics
References
Avison, J., & Petheram, L. (2014). Physics for CSEC (2nd ed.). Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd.
DeFreitas, P. (2015). Concise Revision Course CSEC Physics. London: Collins.
Duncan, T. (2013). Physics for CSEC examination (5th ed.). London: Hodder Education.
Farley, A., & Trotz, C. (2014). Physics for CSEC Examinations (3rd ed.). (M. Taylor, Ed.) London:
Macmillan.
Pople, S. (2014). Complete Physics for Cambridge IGCSE (3rd ed), Oxford.
WEEK 5 LESSONS - WORKSHEET
Structured Questions
1. A student investigated the relationship between the electrical potential difference across a
device and the current flowing through the device. The results are in Table 1.
2.
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