Current and Resistance
Dr. Yasmeen Qawasmeh
17.1 Electric Current
• charges move in a
direction perpendicular
to a surface of area A.
(The area could be the
cross-sectional area of
a wire, for example.)
• The current is the rate
at which charge flows
through this surface.
When the current is steady, the average and
instantaneous currents are the same
• The direction of conventional current used in this
book is the direction of positive charges flow
• In electrostatics, where charges are stationary, the electric
potential is the same everywhere in a conductor.
• That is no longer true for conductors carrying current: as
charges move along a wire, the electric potential is
continually decreasing.
• The decreasing electric potential means that the moving
charges lose energy according to the relationship
• ∆U charges is negative
Example 17.1
• The amount of charge that passes through the filament of
a certain lightbulb in 2.00 s is 1.67 C. Find
• (a) the average current in the lightbulb
• (b) the number of electrons that pass through the filament
in 5.00 s.
• (c) If the current is supplied by a 12.0-V battery, what total
energy is delivered to the lightbulb filament? What is the
average power?
Example
• A copper wire of cross-sectional area 3.00 X 10-6 m2
carries a current of 10.0 A.
• (a) Assuming each copper atom contributes one free
electron to the metal, find the drift speed of the electrons
in this wire.
27.2 Resistance
Ohm’s law
•
27.4 Resistance and Temperature
• The resistivity ρ, and hence the resistance, of a conductor
depends on a number of factors.
• One of the most important is the temperature of the metal.
• For most metals, resistivity increases with increasing
temperature.
• This correlation can be understood as follows: as the
temperature of the material increases, its constituent atoms
vibrate with greater amplitudes. As a result, the electrons find it
more difficult to get by those atoms, just as it is more difficult to
weave through a crowded room when the people are in motion
than when they are standing still.
• The increased electron scattering with increasing temperature
results in increased resistivity.
• Over a limited temperature range, the resistivity of most
metals increases linearly with increasing temperature
• where ρ is the resistivity at some temperature T (in
Celsius degrees),
• ρ0 is the resistivity at some reference temperature T0
(usually taken to be 20°C),
• α is a parameter called the temperature coefficient of
resistivity.
• Because the resistance of a conductor with a uniform
cross section is proportional to the resistivity according to
the equation :
• the temperature variation of resistance can be written
Example 17.4
• A resistance thermometer, which measures temperature
by measuring the change in resistance of a conductor, is
made of platinum and has a resistance of 50.0 Ω at
20.0°C.
• (a) When the device is immersed in a vessel containing
melting indium, its resistance increases to 76.8 Ω . From
this information, find the melting point of indium.
• (b) The indium is heated further until it reaches a
temperature of 235°C. What is the ratio of the new current
in the platinum to the current I mp at the melting point?
27.5 Superconductors
• There is a class of metals and compounds with
resistances that fall to zero below a certain temperature Tc
called the critical temperature. These materials are known
as superconductors.
• The resistance vs. temperature graph for a
superconductor follows that of a normal metal at
temperatures above Tc. When the temperature is at or
below Tc , however, the resistance suddenly drops to zero
Notes
• The value of Tc is sensitive to chemical composition,
pressure, and crystalline structure.
• Interestingly, copper, silver, and gold, which are excellent
conductors, don’t exhibit superconductivity.
Meissner Effect
• The Meissner effect (or Meissner–Ochsenfeld effect) is
the expulsion ( )طردof a magnetic field from
a superconductor during its transition to the
superconducting state when it is cooled below the critical
temperature.
27.6 Electrical Energy and power
• If a battery is used to establish an electric current in a
conductor, chemical energy stored in the battery is
continuously transformed into kinetic energy of the charge
carriers.
• This kinetic energy is quickly lost as a result of collisions
between the charge carriers and fixed atoms in the
conductor, causing an increase in the temperature of the
conductor.
• In this way the chemical energy stored in the battery is
continuously transformed into thermal energy.
Average power
The unit of power is
Joule/Second or Watt
The power delivered to the resistor
• the power P, representing the
rate at which energy is
delivered to the resistor, is
Cost of electricity
• Cost of the electric energy ═
Power X time X Cost of the electric energy unit.
Be carful to the units of power KW or W and the
units of time second or hour
Example 17.5
• A circuit provides a maximum current of 20.0 A at an
operating voltage of 1.20 X 102 V.
• (a) How many 75 W bulbs can operate with this voltage
source?
• (b) At $0.120 per kilowatt-hour, how much does it cost to
operate these bulbs for 8.00 h?
The answer is . (a)
The answer is . (b)
