2.

4 Electric Circuits
Students will be assessed on their ability to:

64 understand that electric current is the rate of flow of charged particles and be able
∆Q
to use the equation I =
∆t
W
65 understand how to use the equation V =
Q
V
66 understand that resistance is defined by R = and that Ohm’s law is a special case
I
when I ∝ V for constant temperature
67 understand how the distribution of current in a circuit is a consequence of charge
conservation
68 be able to derive the equations for combining resistances in series and parallel using
the principles of charge and energy conservation, and be able to use these
equations
69 be able to use the equations P = VI, W = VIt and be able to derive and use related
V2
equations, e.g. P = I2R and P =
R
70 understand how to sketch, recognise and interpret current-potential difference
graphs for components, including ohmic conductors, filament bulbs, thermistors
and diodes
ρl
71 be able to use the equation R =
A
72 CORE PRACTICAL 7: Determine the electrical resistivity of a material
73 be able to use I = nqvA to explain the large range of resistivities of different
materials
74 understand how the potential along a uniform current-carrying wire varies with the
distance along it
75 understand the principles of a potential divider circuit and understand how to
calculate potential differences and resistances in such a circuit
76 be able to analyse potential divider circuits where one resistance is variable
including thermistors and light dependent resistors (LDRs)
77 know the definition of electromotive force (e.m.f.) and understand what is meant by
internal resistance and know how to distinguish between e.m.f. and terminal
potential difference
78 CORE PRACTICAL 8: Determine the e.m.f. and internal resistance of an
electrical cell
79 understand how changes of resistance with temperature may be modelled in terms
of lattice vibrations and number of conduction electrons and understand how to
apply this model to metallic conductors and negative temperature coefficient
thermistors
80 understand how changes of resistance with illumination may be modelled in terms of
the number of conduction electrons and understand how to apply this model to
LDRs.

PHYSICS DEPT. / C H S E Page 1

 ELECTRICITY
Electric charge and current
An atom consists of a nucleus with positive charge and surrounding electrons with negative charge.
The amount of charge Q is measured in Coulomb(C).
An electron carries ˉ1.6x10-19C charge. This amount of charge is called the elementary charge.

Electric current is the rate of flow of charge.

Q
I
t

The SI unit of current is ampere (A).

The direction of current flow is, by convention, the direction of movement of positive charge.

Thus, the direction of current is the opposite direction of the movement of electrons .

Current is classified as DC current and AC current:

Direct current (d.c. or DC) are current whose direction dose not change with time.
E.g. electrical current in a torch.

Alternating current (a.c. or AC) are current whose direction alternates (changes)
with time. Eg. Household electricity.

In a current-time graph the area under the graph represents the charge that flows through.
In a charge-time graph the gradient of the graph represents the current.

Calculate the total amount of charge flowing during 8 seconds.

Potential difference

Potential difference, (also p.d. o r voltage) is defined as the work done (energy supplied) per unit
positive charge to move it between two points.
W
V The SI unit of p.d. is V(Volt).
Q

PHYSICS DEPT. / C H S E Page 2

Drift velocity
Drift velocity is the average velocity of a free electron in a conductor, when a potential
difference is applied across it.

I
Drift velocity v=
nAq
Where n is the number of free electrons per unit volume (charge carrier density)

I is the current through the conductor

A is the area of cross section of the conductor

q is the charge of an electron

Derivation:
If n is the number of free electrons per unit volume (electron density) and vd is the average velocity

of the free electrons (called drift velocity), we have:

Total number of free electrons= nV nAl

Total charge Q that will flow through=charge of an electron h total number of free electrons = qnAl

Time taken for this charge to flow through the current measuring point is t l/v

Q qnAl
The measured current should be I qnAv
t l/v

Comparison of drift velocities

1. thick wire and thin wire :

Since v is inversely proportional to Area, drift velocity increases when

Area of cross section decreases.

1 1 Where d is the diameter of the wire

Thin Wire Thick Wire v! v! 2
A d

2. conductors, insulators and semiconductors

Since v is inversely proportional to n (charge carrier density), drift velocity increases when number of
free electrons decreases.
Insulators have the highest drift velocity, semiconductors less than insulators, conductors have the
minimum drift velocity

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Page 3
 Ohm’s Law

The current through a conductor is directly proportional to the voltage across it, If the
temperature and other physical quantities are kept constant,

V∞I

V = IR R the resistance of the conductor.

V
R=
I
Resistance is a quantity that measures the ability to resist electric current flow. Its unit is : (ohm).

Types of conductors

1. Ohmic conductor - which obeys Ohm's law

Eg : Metal wire

The graph shows how the current varies with voltage in a resistor (Ohmic conductor). The straight line
through origin shows that volatage and current are directly proportional.

The gradient of the graph gives 1/R . Since the graph has a constant gradient, the resistance of the wire
remains constant

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 2. Non-Ohmic conductor - which does not obey Ohm's law

i) Filament lamp

Filament lamp

The graph for filament lamp is not a straight line so it does not obey Ohm's law. As the current increases,
the filament gets hotter, the metal ions vibrate faster and further from their positions. This results in an
increase in collision with the travelling electrons, hindering their flow and causing more resistance.
As the current increases, the gradient of the graph (1/R) decreases, so the resistance increases.

ii) Thermistor (NTC Thermistor)

The graph for thermistor is not a straight line so it does not obey Ohm's law. As the current increases, the
the thermistor gets hotter and more free electrons are released from atoms to carry the current. This
results in an increase in current and decrease in resistance.
As the current increases, the gradient of the grap (1/R) increases, so the resistance decreases.

Thermistors can be used as temperature sensors. It is used in circuits which monitor and control the
temperature of rooms, freezers & fridges etc.

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iii) LDR (Light Dependant Resistor)

A resistor whose resistance is dependent on the intensity of light is called a light dependent resistor,
LDR or photoresistor). The V-I graph for an LDR is similar to that of an NTC Thermistor.

Variation of resistance in Thermistor and LDR

iv) Semiconductor Diode

In a semiconductor diode, current remains zero for lower voltages and suddenly increases to a very high
value at a particular voltage, making the resistance of the diode almost zero.
Diode will conduct only when it is forward biased.

P N N P

Forward Biasing Reverse Biasing

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Ionic charge carriers
If the circuit is more unusual, there may be other charged particles, charge carriers, which can move to form the
electric current. For example, in the electrolytic processing of bauxite ore to produce aluminium metal, the
bauxite is dissolved in cryolite - another aluminium compound - and this solution then has free aluminium ions
(charge carriers) that can move through the liquid as an electric current. These ions are positively charged, and
will move because of the electric force towards the negative cathode. This is still an electric circuit that must
obey the rule of conservation of charge, and in which we can measure the current as the rate of flow of charge.
As the charge on an electron is a fixed negative amount, we can easily calculate the charge on any ion.

Conduction in semiconductors
Semiconductors are generally solid materials that only have small numbers of delocalised electrons
that are free to conduct. A typical example is silicon, one of the most abundant elements on Earth.
Free atoms have a series of discrete energy levels in which we can find their electrons. If the
electron receives enough energy, it will leave the atom altogether, leaving behind an ion.
In solid materials, where there are many, many atoms close together, the allowed energy levels
become much wider, forming energy bands. The electrons can have a large range of energies and still
be within the same band. As these energy bands are created by the collective grouping of the
solid's atoms, the bands are attributed to the semiconductor as a whole rather than to individual
atoms.

There is an energy level called the valence band. Electrons with this amount of energy remain tied
to atoms and do not form part of any electric current. Those that gain energy to jump up to the
conduction band become delocalised and can move through the semiconductor as part of a current.

The number of delocalised electrons in a semiconductor is low compared with metals, and so
the current they will carry is therefore lower than metals for the same applied voltage. At
higher temperatures they have more conduction electrons, as more electrons are elevated into the
conduction band. There will be a temperature-related reduction in current due to increased
collisions with fixed atoms, but the increase in available conduction electrons far outweighs
this. The overall effect is that a semiconductor will carry more current as the temperature goes up -
its resistivity effectively drops as the temperature rises.

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Kirchhoff’s Laws

First law

The first law, also called Kirchhoff’s current law, states that the algebraic sum of currents entering and
leaving any point in a circuit is equal to zero.

In other words, total current entering a junction is equal to total current leaving it

Determine the magnitudes of the currents I1, I2 and I3.

20 mA

I2

30 mA I3
15 mA

I1

Second law

The second law is Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law that states, the algebraic sum of all voltages around a closed
loop equals zero.

Question. The circuit shows a battery of negligible internal resistance connected

to three resistors.
4Ω 0.75 A

9.0 V R 24 Ω

I2 I1

VB =V1 + V2 Calculate current I1.

Or

VB - V1 - V2 = 0
Calculate resistance R

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Page 8
 Resistivity

Resistivity is the resistance of a conductor of unit length and unit area of cross section,
at constant temperature
Resistance of a conductor varies with the dimensions. It is found that resistance of a metal
wire is proportional to the length l but inversely proportional to the cross section area A .

R ∝l

1
R∝A

l
R U
A

where U is a constant that is decided by the material. U is called the resistivity of the material.

The unit for resistivity is : m .

It is a intrinsic characteristic of the material such as density, refractive index or Young Modulus.
While R measures the metal wire’s ability in resisting electricity, ρ measures the material’s ability in
resisting electricity.

Power and work in electrical circuit

Electrical Power , P = VI Unit of power: watt (W)

Where V is the voltage across the component and I is the current in the circuit

W Q W
VI u P
Q t t

Using V = IR,

P = I2R
P = V2 / R

* Power of a bulb determines its brightness

Electrical Energy , E = Pt = VIt

PHYSICS DEPT. / C H S E Page 9

Series and parallel circuits
There are two basic types of circuit connections, series circuit and parallel circuit

Series circuit parallel circuit

Comparison of series and parallel circuits

Series Parallel
Current equal everywhere
I I1 I2 I3 I I1  I 2  I 3

Voltage equal across each element

(p.d.)
V V1  V2 V3 (4.11) V V1 V2 V3 (4.12)

Resistance 1 1 1 1
Rtotal R1  R2  R3 (4.13)
  (4.14)
Rtotal R1 R2 R3

If you connect more resistors in If you connect more resistors in parallel,

series,the total resistance increases. the total resistance decreases.

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EMF and Internal resistance

Electromotive force (emf)

Electromotive force of a battery is the total energy it supplies to each coulomb of charge passing
through it.
The SI unit of emf is also volt(V).

Comparing emf with p.d., we see that both quantities measure energy transferred (and work done) on
unit charge. But they are not identical. Emf is used to measure a battery’s ability to raise the energy
of charges. P.d describes the amount of work can be done if one coulomb of charge flows from one
point in the circuit to another.

Internal Resistance of a cell

Batteries have some small resistance to electrical current within itself due to the components used to make
the battery. This is called the internal resistance of the battery.

Some of the energy supplied by the battery will be lost due to the internal resistance.
In a complete circuit as a result of energy conservation,

Written in equation, it is Q I 2 Rt  I 2 rt

Q IRQ  IrQ

ε = IR + Ir
ε = V + Ir

The term Ir is referred as ‘lost volts’ and voltage V as ‘terminal p.d’. If the internal resistance is
negligible (we have always neglected the internal resistance until now), then the voltage is the same as
the emf.

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 Potential divider
A potential divider is a very simple device that consists of two resistors connected in series,

The current flow in this circuit can be written as

Vin
I
Rtotal

Then, the p.d. across R2 is

Vin R2
Vout IR2 R2 Vout Vin
R1  R2 R1 + R2
This means that the total potential difference is divided to two parts. The p.d. across each resistor
increases with its resistance.

Based on the working principle of potential divider, variable resistor (also called potentiometer) is
invented.
A variable resistor is a resistor whose resistance can be changed.

A rheostat can be used as a variable resistor as well as a potential divider

Variable resistor Potential divider

PHYSICS DEPT. / C H S E Page 12

If a potential difference is connected between terminals B and C a current will flow through the wire.
If the slider is moved towards the left hand end of the coil of wire this current will have to flow
through more wire and so the resistance of the rheostat in increased and the resistance in the circuit
will also be greater.

If a voltage (say 6v) is connected between terminals A and B and an output taken between terminals
A and C this output can be made to vary between 0 (slider at the left) and 6V (slider at the right).
This device is now called a potential divider.

Applications of potential divider

Temperature Sensor ( Using thermistor )

When temperature of thermistor increases, its resistance

Vout decreases. So the current in the circuit increases, producing
an increased voltage Vout across the resistor

Light Sensor ( Using LDR )

When the intensity of light on LDR increases, its resistance

Vout decreases. So the current in the circuit increases, producing
an increased voltage Vout across the resistor

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