KEY - Chapter 17 & 18 - Practice Problems

Equations:

R=L/A
Acircle = r2
V = IR
P = IV = V2/R = I2R

1.

Series

Parallel

Req = R1 + R2 + R3 + ..
Itotal = I1 = I2 = I3 = ..
Vtotal = V1 + V2 + V3 + ..

1/Req = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 +

Itotal = I1 + I2 + I3 + ..
Vtotal = V1 = V2 = V3 = ..

What potential difference is required to cause 2.0 A to flow through a resistance of 8.0 ?

V = IR = (2A)(8) =16V
2. A heavy bus bar is 20 cm long and of rectangular cross-section, 1.0 cm x 2.0 cm. What is the
voltage drop along its length when it carries 4000 A? (the resistivity of copper is 1.69 x 10 8
m)

R=

L
0.2m
5
= (1.69 10 8 )
= 1.69 10
0.01m

A
0.02m

V = IR = (4000A)(1.69 10 5 ) = 0.0676V

3. A 1.5 cm square rod, 4.0 m long, measures 0.040 ohms. What is its resistivity?

R=

4.0m
0.040 =
2
(0.015m)

6
= 2.25 10 m
4. A silver wire 2.0 m long is to have a resistance of 0.50 . What should its diameter be? (silver =
1.58x10-8m)

L
A

R=

L
A

?2.0m ?
0.50 = (1.59 10 8 m)? 2 ?
? r ?
4
r =1.42 10 m D = 2.84 10 4 m

5. If a 75 W light bulb operates at a voltage of 120 V, what is the current in the bulb?

P = IV
75W = I (120V )
I = 0.625 A

6. A 6.0 and a 12 resistor are connected in series to a 36 V battery. What power is

dissipated by the 6.0 resistor?

P = I 2R
V = IR
In series: Req = 6.0 + 12.0 = 18.0 36V = I (18) P = (2A) 2 (6)
I = 2.0 A
P = 24W
7. A 6.0 and a 12 resistor
are connected in parallel to a 36 V battery. What power is

dissipated by the 6.0 resistor?

P=

V 2 (36V ) 2
=
= 216W
R
6

8. Three resistors of 12, 12, and 6.0 are connected in parallel. A 12 V battery is connected to
the combination. What is the current through the battery? (b) What is the current through
the 6.0 resistor?

Part A:
Vbattery = I battery Req
1
1 1 1 4
= + + =
Req = 3.0 12V = I battery (3)
Req 12 12 6 12
I battery = 4.0A

Part B:

V6 = I 6 R6
12V = I 6 (6)
I 6 = 2.0A

9. Calculate the total resistance of the following circuit.

In series R48 = 4 + 8 = 12
25

In parallel: 1/Req = 1/12 + 1/25 = 0.123

Req = 1/0.123 = 8.11
10. Using the circuit in #9, calculate the current
flowing through the 4 resistor.

V48 = I 48 R48
100V = I 48 (12)
I 48 = 8.33A

100 V

11. Three resistors (3, 5, 7) are connected in parallel. The total current of this network is 5.0
A. What is the voltage? Draw a diagram.

1
1 1 1
= + + = 0.6762
Req 7 5 3
1
Req =
= 1.48
0.6762

Vtotal = I total Req

Vtotal = (5.0 A)(1.48)

Vtotal = 7.39V