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Voltage,Current,Resistance,andOhm'sLawlearn.sparkfun.com

Voltage,Current,Resistance,andOhm'sLaw
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ElectricityBasics
Whenbeginningtoexploretheworldofelectricityandelectronics,itisvitaltostartbyunderstandingthe
basicsofvoltage,current,andresistance.Thesearethethreebasicbuildingblocksrequiredto
manipulateandutilizeelectricity.Atfirst,theseconceptscanbedifficulttounderstandbecausewe
cannotseethem.Onecannotseewiththenakedeyetheenergyflowingthroughawireorthevoltage
ofabatterysittingonatable.Eventhelightninginthesky,whilevisible,isnottrulytheenergyexchange
happeningfromthecloudstotheearth,butareactionintheairtotheenergypassingthroughit.Inorder
todetectthisenergytransfer,wemustusemeasurementtoolssuchasmultimeters,spectrumanalyzers,
andoscilloscopestovisualizewhatishappeningwiththechargeinasystem.Fearnot,however,this
tutorialwillgiveyouthebasicunderstandingofvoltage,current,andresistanceandhowthethreerelate
toeachother.

GeorgOhm

CoveredinthisTutorial
Howelectricalchargerelatestovoltage,current,andresistance.
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Whatvoltage,current,andresistanceare.
WhatOhmsLawisandhowtouseittounderstandelectricity.
Asimpleexperimenttodemonstratetheseconcepts.

SuggestedReading
WhatisElectricity
WhatisaCircuit?

ElectricalCharge
Electricityisthemovementofelectrons.Electronscreatecharge,whichwecanharnesstodowork.Your
lightbulb,yourstereo,yourphone,etc.,areallharnessingthemovementoftheelectronsinordertodo
work.Theyalloperateusingthesamebasicpowersource:themovementofelectrons.
Thethreebasicprinciplesforthistutorialcanbeexplainedusingelectrons,ormorespecifically,the
chargetheycreate:
Voltageisthedifferenceinchargebetweentwopoints.
Currentistherateatwhichchargeisflowing.
Resistanceisamaterialstendencytoresisttheflowofcharge(current).
So,whenwetalkaboutthesevalues,werereallydescribingthemovementofcharge,andthus,the
behaviorofelectrons.Acircuitisaclosedloopthatallowschargetomovefromoneplacetoanother.
Componentsinthecircuitallowustocontrolthischargeanduseittodowork.
GeorgOhmwasaBavarianscientistwhostudiedelectricity.Ohmstartsbydescribingaunitofresistance
thatisdefinedbycurrentandvoltage.So,letsstartwithvoltageandgofromthere.

Voltage
Wedefinevoltageastheamountofpotentialenergybetweentwopointsonacircuit.Onepointhas
morechargethananother.Thisdifferenceinchargebetweenthetwopointsiscalledvoltage.Itis
measuredinvolts,which,technically,isthepotentialenergydifferencebetweentwopointsthatwill
impartonejouleofenergypercoulombofchargethatpassesthroughit(dontpanicifthismakesno
sense,allwillbeexplained).TheunitvoltisnamedaftertheItalianphysicistAlessandroVoltawho
inventedwhatisconsideredthefirstchemicalbattery.Voltageisrepresentedinequationsand
schematicsbytheletterV.
Whendescribingvoltage,current,andresistance,acommonanalogyisawatertank.Inthisanalogy,
chargeisrepresentedbythewateramount,voltageisrepresentedbythewaterpressure,andcurrentis
representedbythewaterflow.Soforthisanalogy,remember:
Water=Charge
Pressure=Voltage
Flow=Current
Considerawatertankatacertainheightabovetheground.Atthebottomofthistankthereisahose.

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Thepressureattheendofthehosecanrepresentvoltage.Thewaterinthetankrepresentscharge.
Themorewaterinthetank,thehigherthecharge,themorepressureismeasuredattheendofthe
hose.
Wecanthinkofthistankasabattery,aplacewherewestoreacertainamountofenergyandthen
releaseit.Ifwedrainourtankacertainamount,thepressurecreatedattheendofthehosegoesdown.
Wecanthinkofthisasdecreasingvoltage,likewhenaflashlightgetsdimmerasthebatteriesrundown.
Thereisalsoadecreaseintheamountofwaterthatwillflowthroughthehose.Lesspressuremeans
lesswaterisflowing,whichbringsustocurrent.

Current
Wecanthinkoftheamountofwaterflowingthroughthehosefromthetankascurrent.Thehigherthe
pressure,thehighertheflow,andviceversa.Withwater,wewouldmeasurethevolumeofthewater
flowingthroughthehoseoveracertainperiodoftime.Withelectricity,wemeasuretheamountofcharge
flowingthroughthecircuitoveraperiodoftime.CurrentismeasuredinAmperes(usuallyjustreferredto
asAmps).Anampereisdefinedas6.241*1018electrons(1Coulomb)persecondpassingthrougha
pointinacircuit.AmpsarerepresentedinequationsbytheletterI.
Letssaynowthatwehavetwotanks,eachwithahosecomingfromthebottom.Eachtankhasthe
exactsameamountofwater,butthehoseononetankisnarrowerthanthehoseontheother.

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Wemeasurethesameamountofpressureattheendofeitherhose,butwhenthewaterbeginstoflow,
theflowrateofthewaterinthetankwiththenarrowerhosewillbelessthantheflowrateofthewaterin
thetankwiththewiderhose.Inelectricalterms,thecurrentthroughthenarrowerhoseislessthanthe
currentthroughthewiderhose.Ifwewanttheflowtobethesamethroughbothhoses,wehaveto
increasetheamountofwater(charge)inthetankwiththenarrowerhose.

Thisincreasesthepressure(voltage)attheendofthenarrowerhose,pushingmorewaterthroughthe
tank.Thisisanalogoustoanincreaseinvoltagethatcausesanincreaseincurrent.
Nowwerestartingtoseetherelationshipbetweenvoltageandcurrent.Butthereisathirdfactortobe
consideredhere:thewidthofthehose.Inthisanalogy,thewidthofthehoseistheresistance.This
meansweneedtoaddanothertermtoourmodel:
Water=Charge(measuredinCoulombs)
Pressure=Voltage(measuredinVolts)
Flow=Current(measuredinAmperes,orAmpsforshort)
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HoseWidth=Resistance

Resistance
Consideragainourtwowatertanks,onewithanarrowpipeandonewithawidepipe.

Itstandstoreasonthatwecantfitasmuchvolumethroughanarrowpipethanawideroneatthesame
pressure.Thisisresistance.Thenarrowpiperesiststheflowofwaterthroughiteventhoughthewater
isatthesamepressureasthetankwiththewiderpipe.

Inelectricalterms,thisisrepresentedbytwocircuitswithequalvoltagesanddifferentresistances.The
circuitwiththehigherresistancewillallowlesschargetoflow,meaningthecircuitwithhigherresistance
haslesscurrentflowingthroughit.

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ThisbringsusbacktoGeorgOhm.Ohmdefinestheunitofresistanceof1Ohmastheresistance
betweentwopointsinaconductorwheretheapplicationof1voltwillpush1ampere,or6.2411018
electrons.Thisvalueisusuallyrepresentedinschematicswiththegreekletter,whichiscalled
omega,andpronouncedohm.

Ohm'sLaw
Combiningtheelementsofvoltage,current,andresistance,Ohmdevelopedtheformula:

Where
V=Voltageinvolts
I=Currentinamps
R=Resistanceinohms
ThisiscalledOhmslaw.Letssay,forexample,thatwehaveacircuitwiththepotentialof1volt,a
currentof1amp,andresistanceof1ohm.UsingOhmsLawwecansay:

Letssaythisrepresentsourtankwithawidehose.Theamountofwaterinthetankisdefinedas1volt
andthenarrowness(resistancetoflow)ofthehoseisdefinedas1ohm.UsingOhmsLaw,thisgives
usaflow(current)of1amp.
Usingthisanalogy,letsnowlookatthetankwiththenarrowhose.Becausethehoseisnarrower,its
resistancetoflowishigher.Letsdefinethisresistanceas2ohms.Theamountofwaterinthetankisthe
sameastheothertank,so,usingOhmsLaw,ourequationforthetankwiththenarrowhoseis

Butwhatisthecurrent?Becausetheresistanceisgreater,andthevoltageisthesame,thisgivesusa
currentvalueof0.5amps:

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So,thecurrentislowerinthetankwithhigherresistance.Nowwecanseethatifweknowtwoofthe
valuesforOhmslaw,wecansolveforthethird.Letsdemonstratethiswithanexperiment.

AnOhm'sLawExperiment
Forthisexperiment,wewanttousea9voltbatterytopoweranLED.LEDsarefragileandcanonly
haveacertainamountofcurrentflowingthroughthembeforetheyburnout.Inthedocumentationforan
LED,therewillalwaysbeacurrentrating.Thisisthemaximumamountofcurrentthatcanflowthrough
theparticularLEDbeforeitburnsout.

MaterialsRequired
Inordertoperformtheexperimentslistedattheendofthetutorial,youwillneed:
Amultimeter
A9Voltbattery
A560Ohmresistor(orthenextclosestvalue)
AnLED
NOTE:LEDsarewhatsknownasanonohmicdevices.Thismeansthattheequationforthecurrent
flowingthroughtheLEDitselfisnotassimpleasV=IR.TheLEDintroducessomethingcalledavoltage
dropintothecircuit,thuschangingtheamountofcurrentrunningthroughit.However,inthis
experimentwearesimplytryingtoprotecttheLEDfromovercurrent,sowewillneglectthecurrent
characteristicsoftheLEDandchoosetheresistorvalueusingOhmsLawinordertobesurethatthe
currentthroughtheLEDissafelyunder20mA.
Forthisexample,wehavea9voltbatteryandaredLEDwithacurrentratingof20milliamps,or0.020
amps.Tobesafe,wedrathernotdrivetheLEDatitsmaximumcurrentbutratheritssuggestedcurrent,
whichislistedonitsdatasheetas18mA,or0.018amps.IfwesimplyconnecttheLEDdirectlytothe
battery,thevaluesforOhmslawlooklikethis:

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therefore:

andsincewehavenoresistanceyet:

Dividingbyzerogivesusinfinitecurrent!Well,notinfiniteinpractice,butasmuchcurrentasthebattery
candeliver.SincewedoNOTwantthatmuchcurrentflowingthroughourLED,weregoingtoneeda
resistor.Ourcircuitshouldlooklikethis:

WecanuseOhmsLawintheexactsamewaytodeterminethereistorvaluethatwillgiveusthedesired
currentvalue:

therefore:

plugginginourvalues:

solvingforresistance:

So,weneedaresistorvalueofaround500ohmstokeepthecurrentthroughtheLEDunderthe
maximumcurrentrating.
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500ohmsisnotacommonvalueforofftheshelfresistors,sothisdeviceusesa560ohmresistorinits
place.Hereswhatourdevicelookslikeallputtogether.

Success!WevechosenaresistorvaluethatishighenoughtokeepthecurrentthroughtheLEDbelow
itsmaximumrating,butlowenoughthatthecurrentissufficienttokeeptheLEDniceandbright.
ThisLED/currentlimitingresistorexampleisacommonoccurrenceinhobbyelectronics.Youlloften
needtouseOhmsLawtochangetheamountofcurrentflowingthroughthecircuit.Anotherexampleof
thisimplementationisseenintheLilyPadLEDboards.

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Withthissetup,insteadofhavingtochoosetheresistorfortheLED,theresistorisalreadyonboardwith
theLEDsothecurrentlimitingisaccomplishedwithouthavingtoaddaresistorbyhand.

ResourcesandGoingFurther
Nowyoushouldunderstandtheconceptsofvoltage,current,resistance,andhowthethreearerelated.
Congratulations!Themajorityofequationsandlawsforanalyzingcircuitscanbederiveddirectlyfrom
OhmsLaw.Byknowingthissimplelaw,youunderstandtheconceptthatisthebasisfortheanalysisof
anyelectricalcircuit!
Theseconceptsarejustthetipoftheiceberg.Ifyourelookingtostudyfurtherintomorecomplex
applicationsofOhmsLawandthedesignofelectricalcircuits,besuretocheckoutthefollowing
tutorials.
Seriesvs.ParallelCircuits
ElectricPower
Analogvs.DigitalCircuits
Resistors
LEDs
HowtoUseaMultimeter

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