Topic4 DirectCurrent

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. Define the electric current in terms of rate of charge flow; 2. State Ohms law and use the law to calculate the current flow in a resistor; 3. Calculate the power dissipated in a resistor; and 4. Calculate the terminal voltage of a battery.

INTRODUCTION

In this topic, we describe the three important parameters of an electric circuit. They are The current, The source emf, and The resistance.

These three parameters are related by Ohms law. In this topic, we will only consider direct current, d.c. Two characteristics of a direct current are: it has a constant value, and it does not change direction with time. An example of a direct current is the current produced by a battery. Circuits in which direct current flows are called d.c. circuits. D.c. circuits only consist of batteries and resistors. We will consider simple d.c. circuits, power dissipation in resistor, the emf of a battery, the terminal voltage of a battery and the internal resistance of a battery.

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4.1

ELECTRIC CURRENT

An electric current is the flow of electrical charges. When a conductor is connected to a battery, an electric field is established within the material. The free electrons, instead of moving in a random way, move in a particular direction. The flow of electrons in a conductor is defined as the electric current. An electric current is the flow of electrons around an electric circuit. Electric current is measured in amperes (A). The ampere is defined as the amount of charges in coulomb (C) that flows in a conductor in a time interval of one second. A current of 1 A flows in a conductor if a quantity of electrons equal to 1 C flows in 1 second. In mathematical terms, the current I is given by

I=

q t

(4.1)

where q is the amount of charges in coulomb that flow in the interval time of t seconds. EXERCISE 4.1 1. 2. If 20 C of charge is flowing through a conductor in 5 s, what is the current? (a) (b) What is the charge of an electron? How many electrons flow through a light bulb each second if the current through the bulb is 0.75A?

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We will take the direction of current flow to be opposite to the direction of electron flow. If the charges move around a circuit in the same direction at all times, the current is referred as direct current (d.c.). In contrast, the current is said to be an alternating current (a.c.) if it changes direction from moment to moment. The value of a d.c. current and the direction of its flow is fixed.

The value of an a.c. current and the direction of its flow changes. ACTIVITY 4.1 "We will take the direction of current flow to be opposite to the direction of electron flow." Why do we take the direction of current flow to be opposite to the direction of electron flow? Doesn't this confuse matters? Find out the reason for this at: http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/dc.htm

4.2

ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE

Electromotive force emf is the force that makes the electrons move in the circuit. Examples of d.c. emf sources are dry cells, fuel cells, solar cells and lead acid batteries. Figure 4.1 shows a simple circuit consisting of a 1.5 V battery and an electric bulb. In the circuit d.c. current flows from the positive terminal through the bulb to the negative terminal of the battery. When an external conductor is connected to the terminals of a battery, d.c. current flows from the positive terminal through the conductor to the negative terminal of a battery.

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Figure 4.1: A simple circuit consisting of a 1.5 V battery and an electric bulb

The emf of a battery is measured in volts (V). The volt is defined as the energy in joules (J) required to move one Coulomb of charge between two points. Thus a 1.5 V battery supplies 1.5 J of energy to each coulomb of electrons that pass through two points. SELF-CHECK 4.1 Stated in another way, electromotive force is the energy supplied by an electric power source to drive a unit charge around the circuit. Think about the force that drives water from a reservoir to your home. Compare this with the concept of emf. Explain the similarities, if any, between these two.

4.3
4.3.1

ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE, RESISTIVITY AND RESISTOR

Electrical resistance

The resistance to the flow of electrons in a conductor is called the electrical resistance. The electrical resistance arises because the electrons experience collisions with other electrons. The electrical resistance is measured in ohms (). The resistance, R, of a conductor can be related to the resistivity, , of a conductor, the length, l , and the cross-sectional area, A , of a conductor by the following equation:
R= L A

(4.2)

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SELF-CHECK 4.2 According to Equation (4.2), the resistance of long thin wire is greater than that of short and thick wire of the same material. Why is this so?

4.3.2

Resistivity

The resistivity is the property of a material. The resistivity is defined as the resistance of a material 1 m in length with a cross-sectional area of 1 m2. The unit of resistivity is ohm meter (m). Copper has a low resistivity of 1.7 x 10-8 m. In contrast, rubber has a high resistivity of 1013 m. In other words, copper allows electrons to flow more easily compared to rubber. SELF-CHECK 4.3 Consider the resistance and resisitivity of a conductor: Which one depends on the conductor's material-type, and which on the conductor's geometry as well as material-type?

EXERCISE 4.2 1. An aluminium wire has cross-sectional area of 5 10-4 m2. The resistivity of aluminium is 2.82 10-8 m. What is the resistance of 10 km of this wire? A wire of length 2 km has a resistance of 1 k . Find its diameter if its resistivity is 1.76 10-8 m.

2.

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4.3.3

Resistor

The resistor is one of the components in an electric circuit. The unit of measurement of a resistor is ohms ( ). The symbol for a resistor is shown in Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2: The of for a resistor

4.3.4

Ohms law

According to Ohms law, whenever a d.c. current I flows in a resistor with resistance R, a potential difference or voltage V is created across the resistor, where
V = IR

(4.3)

This is illustrated in Figure 4.3

Figure 4.3: The presence of a voltage, V, when a d.c. current, I, flows through a resistor

Note the polarity of potential difference or voltage, V across the resistor. The current direction is into the positive terminal of the resistor. ACTIVITY 4.2 Go to: http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/phyjlh/Fendt/phe/ohmslaw.htm There you will find a Java applet that demonstrates Ohm's Law. A simple circuit is shown for this virtual experiment. Play around with different values of V and R and note the resulting current, I, through the circuit. Better still, record the values and plot a graph. Can you see the relationship between V, I and R?

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SELF-CHECK 4.4 Ohm's Law can be written as R=V/I. Therefore, if we increase the voltage across an Ohmic object, we will also increase its resistance. Is this argument correct? EXERCISE 4.3 1. A 12-V battery is connected to an incandescent lamp whose filament has a resistance of 10. What is the current flowing through the lamp? A current of 5 A is flowing through a resistor whose resistance is 5. What is the potential difference across the resistor?

2.

4.4
4.4.1

ELECTRIC POWER AND ENERGY LOST IN A RESISTANCE

Electric power lost in a resistance

Whenever a d.c. current I flows through a wire or an electrical appliance, it encounters resistance. Some of the electrical is converted to thermal energy or heat to the resistor. This is called Joule Heating. The larger the current, the greater is the Joule heating effect. The electric power lost or dissipated in the resistor P is given as:
P = VI

(4.4a)

It can be written in terms of resistance using Ohms law as: P = I 2R (4.4b) or P= V R

2

(4.4c)

Power is measured in watts (W).

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SELF-CHECK 4.5 You have a power plant that produces 1 106 watts of power which must be transmitted over long distances to end-users. One way to transmit that power would be to send 1 106 amps at 1 volt. What are the inherent difficulties of this method? Hence, what does this say about the practicality (or otherwise) of transmitting power using high current and low voltage? How else can you transmit 1 106 watts of power over long distances?

4.4.2

Electric energy lost in a resistance

The electrical energy, , that is lost in the resistor during a current flowing for t seconds is

= Pt
Electrical energy is measured in joules (J). Power is the energy lost during a current flow in 1 second.

(4.5)

EXERCISE 4.4 1. A torch consists of a light bulb and a 3-V battery as depicted in Figure 4.3. The current flowing is 0.5 A. Find (a) the power delivered to the bulb (b) the energy lost in the bulb in 10 minutes operation. 2. An iron of resistance 10 takes a current of magnitude 10 A. Find the electrical energy lost in 1 minute.

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4.5

THE INTERNAL RESISTANCE OF A BATTERY

Up to this point, we have considered the battery to be ideal because it has no internal resistance r. In reality batteries have internal resistance due to the chemicals within the battery. The circuit in Figure 4.4 is redrawn to include the internal resistance of the battery, r. The internal resistance of the battery is usually small.

Figure 4.4: A d.c circuit of a battery with an internal resistance

Points a and b are the terminals of the battery. Even though the internal resistance, r, is small it causes the voltage between the batterys terminals to drop below the value specified by the batterys emf. The actual voltage between the terminals of a battery is known as the terminal voltage Vt and can be calculated by the following equation:
Vt = emf Ir

(4.6)

EXERCISE 4.5 Figure 4.4 above shows a battery whose emf is 1.5 V and whose internal resistance is 0.1 . What is the terminal voltage when the current drawn from the battery is 1000 mA ?

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4.6

AMPERE-HOUR RATING

The ampere-hour, A.h, rating of a battery is a measure of the amount of charges and therefore the amount of energy contained in the battery when it fully charged. The rating is used to determine the duration in hours the battery will function under various current loads. For example, if a battery is rated as 4 A.h, the battery will deliver a current of 4A for 1 hour. The relationship is: Current load duration of current flow = ampere-hour EXERCISE 4.6 A car battery has a rating of 220 A.h. The rating shows the total charges that the battery can provide to a circuit before failing. (a) (b) What is the total charge in coulomb that this battery is able to provide? Determine the current that the battery can provide after 38 minutes of operation.

The three important quantities in an electric circuit are the current, the emf and the resistance. Current in a circuit is due to the flow of electrons. The current is referred to as a d.c. current if it does not change direction and value. The potential difference across a battery is called the emf. Emf is the force that makes electrons flow in a circuit The resistance to the flow of electron around a circuit is the electrical resistance. Resistance, emf and current are related by Ohms law. When current flows in a resistor, electrical energy is lost in the resistor, dissipated as heat.

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The potential difference across a real battery is less than the specified emf because of the internal resistance of a battery. The actual potential difference across a battery is called the terminal voltage.

Electric Current Electric Energy Electric Power

Electromotive Force Internal Resistance Ohms Law

1.

A cd player is played for 3 hours on a fully charged battery pack. If the battery pack provides 300 C of charge, how much current does the player use during its operation? When a voltage of 10 V is applied to a copper wire of length 5 m, the result is a current of 2A. What is the diameter of this wire? (Resistivity of copper = 1.7 10-8 m)

2.

1.

From Figure4.4 show that the terminal voltage across a battery can be R written as Vt = emf R+r A copper wire and an aluminium wire have the length and the same resistance. Find the ratio of their volumes. (Resistivity of copper = 1.7 10-8 m, Resistivity of aluminium = 2.810-8 m)

2.