Chapter 18 Electrical Quantities

Conductors & Insulators

 A conductor is a material that allows charge to flow through it.

Eg: metals

 An insulator is a material that does not allow the flow of charge through it

Eg: plastic, glass

Current

 When two oppositely charged conductors are connected together (by a length of
wire), charge will flow between the two conductors
 This flow of charge is called an electric current
o The greater the flow of charge, the greater the electric current.

Current (I) is defined as the rate of flow of electric charge in a conductor. The
unit of current is ampere (A).

Electric current I = Q/t

Where Q is the electric charge and t is the time

The size of the current in the circuit can be measured by using an ammeter. It
can be digital or analogue. It is always connected in series in the circuit. It is
important that the positive terminal of the ammeter is connected to the positive
terminal of the battery and negative terminal to the negative; otherwise, the
pointer of the ammeter will move in the opposite direction.
 Electron flow & Conventional current

Electrons are negatively charged particles and electron flow is from negative to
positive

Conventional current always goes from positive to negative.

Current in metals

In a metal, current is caused by the flow of electrons. Electricity passes through

metallic conductors as a flow of negatively charged electrons. The electrons are free
to move from one atom to another.

When a voltage is connected across a piece of copper, it pushes the free electrons so
that they flow through the metal – that's an electric current
Cell and battery

A cell is known as a single unit device that converts electrical energy to chemical
energy, while a battery is a group of different cells.

Electromotive force

 The electromotive force (e.m.f) is the amount of chemical energy converted

to electrical energy per coulomb of charge (C) when charge passes through a
power supply
 e.m.f is measured in Volts (V)

 e.m.f is also the potential difference (voltage) across the terminals of a source.
 e.m.f can be measured by connecting a high-resistance voltmeter around the
terminals of the cell in an open circuit
 E M F can be calculated by using the equation

e. m. f = work done on the charge / charge = W / Q

Potential difference

 As charge flows around a circuit, energy is transferred to or from the charge

 The potential difference (voltage) between two points in a circuit is related to the
amount of energy transferred between those points in the circuit
 Potential difference is measure in volts (V)
 The potential difference between two points in a circuit is the amount of energy
transferred by each unit of charge passing between those two points.
 The unit is volt, is same as a joules per coulomb.

1V = 1J/1C

 Another measure of energy transfer is work done

 Therefore, potential difference can also be defined as the work done per unit
charge

 Potential difference can be measured using a voltmeter

 The voltmeter should be connected in parallel with the part of the circuits you
want to measure the potential difference of.
 P.d can be calculated by using the equation

p.d = Work done / charge = W/ Q

Resistance

 Resistance is the opposition to current.

 Resistance is the measure of how difficult it is for an electric current to flow
through a device or a component in a circuit.
o For a given potential difference:

The higher the resistance, the lower the current

 Potential difference, current and resistance are related by the following

equation:

Potential difference = current x resistance

V=IXR

 The unit of resistance is the ohm (Ω)

 1 ohm = 1 V/A

Experiment to find the resistance

 To find the resistance of a component, set up a circuit like the one shown
above.
 The power supply should be set to a low EMF (voltage) to avoid heating the
component – 1 or 2 volts is typically enough
 Measurements of the potential difference and current should then be taken
from the voltmeter and ammeter respectively
 Finally, these readings should be substituted into the following equation:

Resistance = Potential difference / current

Resistance of a wire

 As electrons pass through a wire, they collide with the metal ions in the wire

 The ions get in the way of the electrons, resisting their flow
 If the wire is longer, each electron will collide with more ions and so there will
be more resistance:

The longer a wire, the greater its resistance

That is resistance is proportional to the length. If the length of the wire is

doubled, resistance also will double.

 If the wire is thicker (greater diameter) there is more space for the electrons and
so more electrons can flow:

The thicker a wire, the smaller its resistance

That is resistance of a wire is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area.

If the cross-sectional area is doubled, the resistance will halve.
Current – voltage characteristics of an ohmic resistor & filament lamp

A graph of current on the vertical axis and voltage on the horizontal axis.

1. Ohmic Resistor

The current through an ohmic resistor (at a constant temperature) is directly

proportional to the potential difference across the resistor. This means that the
resistance remains constant as the current changes.

2. Filament Lamp

For low voltages, the graph is a straight line showing that the current increases at a
steady rate as the voltage is increased.

At higher temperature, the graph starts to curve. At higher temperature, the filament
has high resistance so the current increases more and more slowly as the
voltage is increased.

3. Diode

A diode allows current to flow in one direction only. This is called forward bias

In the reverse direction, the diode has very high resistance, and
therefore no current flows. This is called reverse bias
 The IV graph for a diode is slightly different:

When the current is in the direction of the arrowhead symbol, this is forward
bias. This is shown by the sharp increase in potential difference and current
on the right side of the graph

When the diode is switched around, this is reverse bias. This is shown by a
zero reading of current or potential difference on the left side of the graph

Electrical energy

 As electricity passes around a circuit, energy is transferred from the power

source to the various components (which may then transfer energy to the
surroundings)
o As charge passes through the power supply it is given energy
o As it passes through each component it loses some energy (transferring
that energy to the component)
 The power of a component is given by P=IV.

By using V=IR, this can be shown to be equivalent to P=I²R and P=V²/R.

Rate of doing work is called power.

Power = energy transferred / time

Energy transferred = power x time = IV x t = IVt

The unit of electrical power is Watts

1 Watts = 1J/1s

Self-Assessment Questions

1 a. Ammeter

b. In series (end to end)

c.

2 a.
b. Arrows go from the long end of the cell (positive terminal) to the short end ( negative
terminal)
c. the same
3 a. Copper, steel
b. plastic, wood

4 a. positive to negative terminal

b. negative to positive terminal

5 a. Ampere (Amps)
b. coulombs(c)

6 a. 1000
b. 1000000

7. 1A = 1 C/s
 a. Time = Charge / current = 220/2 = 110 s
b. Current = Charge / time = 57.6/ 10800 = 0.0053 A
c. Charge = current x time = 0.5 x 540 = 270 C
d. Time = Charge/ current = 5.4/ 0.07 = 77.1 s

9 a. potential difference
b. voltmeter
c.

10 a. Electromotive force (e. m. f)

b. volt

b. 12 + 12+ 12 = 36V
12 a. E = QV
b. Q =E/ V

13 E. M. F = Energy transferred / Charge = 60 J/ 5C = 12V

14 a. Energy transferred = p. d X charge = 12 x 1 = 12 J

b. Energy transferred = p. d X charge = 12 x 5 = 60 J
c. Charge = current x time = 2 x 10 = 20 C
Energy transferred = p.d X charge = 12 x 20 = 240 J
15. Total e.m.f of the cell = 1.5 + 1.5 = 3V
Energy = e.m.f X Charge = 3 x 2 = 6 J

16. P. d across each lamp = 240V/20 = 120V

17 a.

b. Energy = p.d x charge = 1.5 x 6 = 9J

c. Voltage = p.d/charge = 6/6 = 1V
d. 1.5 V – 1V = 0.5 V

18 a. Resistance = voltage / current = 240V/ 5 A = 48Ω

b. increase

19 a. long
 a. Resistance = V/I = 240/2 = 120Ω
b. Current = V/R = 12/3000= 0.004A
c. P.D = I X R = 0.5 x 15 =7.5 V
d. Resistance = V/I = 120/80 = 1.5 Ω

21 a. P.d = I X R = 2 X 30 = 60V
b. Double

22 a. Resistance = V/I = 240V/0.08 = 3000Ω

b. P.d = I X R = 0.04 X 3000 = 120V

23. Current = V/R = 7.5V/2000 = 3.75 mA

24. Because the curves are both straight and pass through the origin so that current
and voltage
are directly proportional.
25 As you move along the p.d. axis, a given change in p.d. results in a smaller change
in current so the resistance is increasing. The resistance is the reciprocal of the
gradient; the gradient is decreasing, so the resistance must be increasing.

26 a. 40Ω
b. 16Ω

27. watts = volts X ampere

28 a. Power = V X I = 240 X 2 = 480W
b. Current = P/V = 60/12 = 5A
c. Voltage = P/I = 60/0.5 = 30V
d. Power = VI = 120 X 80 = 9600W
29. Power = rate of energy transferred = VI = 12 X 6 = 72 W
30. Current = P/V = 50/240 = 0.21A
31. Energy = VIt = 120 x 0.02 x 3600 = 144J

32. Energy transferred = power X time

Time = Energy transferred / power
= 216 KWh / 3 KW = 72 h = 3 days

33. Electricity reading at the end of a month = 991013 – 990987 = 26 unit

Cost of 1 unit electricity = 0.5 Dh
Cost of 26 units of electricity = 0.5 X 26 = 13 Dh
 a. Power = Energy transferred / time = 1.3 /3 =0.433 Kw = 433 W
b. Cost = 1.3 X 16 p = 20.8 P
c. Time = Energy transferred / Power = 870/ 870 = 1 h
d. Cost = 0.87 X 16 p= 13.92P
e. Power = Energy transferred / time = 1/12 = 0.083 KW = 833 W
f. Cost = 1 x 16 = 16 p
g. Time = Energy transferred / Power = 45 / 9 = 5 h
h. Cost = 4.5 X 10¯² X 16 = 0.72 p
i. Energy transferred = power X time = 2X (3/60) = 0.1KWh
j. Cost = 0.1X 16 = 1.6p

EXAM STYLE QUESTIONS

Ans: C

Ans: A
Ans: B

Ans: C
a. Speed = Distance / time
b. Time = Distance / speed = 5000/ (1X 10 ⁷) = 5 X 10 ¯⁴ s
c. Current = Charge / Time
d. Charge = current X time = 30000 X 5 X 10 ¯⁴ =15C
e. P.d = Energy transferred/ charge
f. Energy = p.d X charge = 33 X 10 ⁶ X 15 =495 MJ
g. Energy transferred = VIt= 33MV X 3KA X 5X 10¯⁴ = 495 MJ
a

b i 1.5 A
ii V = IR
ii R = V/ I = 6V/1.5 A = 4 Ω
c Increasing the current increases the number of electrons flowing through the
tungsten wire and this increases the number of collisions between the electrons and
the lattice (regular arrangement of atoms in the metal). This increases the resistance
because it increases the number of collisions

between the electrons and the lattice.