Resistance and Resistivity

Resistance and Resistivity

Resistivity, what is it?
Resistivity is the opposite of conductivity, it’s a measure of how
effectively a material slows down the flow of electricity.

Insulators have a high resistivity rating. Materials such as metals

and other conductors have a low resistivity rating.
 Resistance and Resistivity
 A conductor’s Resistance is defined as the ratio of the Applied Voltage to
the Current produced.

R = V/I
Scalar
Units: Ohm [Ω] = [V/A]
 Resistance and Resistivity
 Resistance can be calculated for any object.
 Good conductor – low resistance
 Poor conductor –high resistance
 All circuit elements have
some resistance.
The resistance of
connecting wire leads
is considered negligible.
 Resistance and Resistivity
Resistance
 The geometry of the resistor matters

L Length
R=ρ
A Area

Resistivity: (units m)

 Increase the Length, flow of electrons impeded

 Increase the cross-sectional Area, flow enhanced
 Resistance and Resistivity
For a wire of length l and cross-sectional area A the
resistance R:
Is proportional to l
l
And inversely proportional to A
The constant ρ (rho) R
Is known as the resistivity. A
 Resistance and Resistivity

Increasing the cross-sectional area

increases the number of available electrons.
Resistance and Resistivity
 Resistance and Resistivity
Resistivity

Therefore, the units of resistance are:

l
R m
R  m 2   (Ohms )
A m
Resistivity has units of Ohm· meters ( · m)
Resistance and Resistivity
Resistance and Resistivity
 Resistance and Resistivity
Resistivity and temperature.
The resistance and resistivity changes with temperature,
therefore resistivity at quoted at a specific temperature

The resistance is proportional to the length l and inversely

proportional to the cross-sectional area A, the material the
conductor is made from, and the temperature.
 Resistance and Resistivity
Superconductivity

 Below a certain critical temperature,

Resistance becomes ZERO, allowing current to exist
without energy wasted.
Superconductivity, although predicted and discovered a
century ago has only become useful recently due to the
development of rare-earth conductive ceramics.
Superconductive wires are used in the electromagnets
of MRI machines.
 Resistance and Resistivity
Two wires, A and B, are made of the same metal and have
equal length, but the resistance of wire A is four times the
resistance of wire B. How do their diameters compare?

a. dA = 4 dB
b. dA = 2 dB
c. dA = dB
d. dA = ½ dB
e. dA = ¼ dB

l
R
A
 Resistance and Resistivity
A wire of resistance R is stretched uniformly (keeping its volume
constant) until it is twice its original length. What happens to the
resistance?
a. it increases by a factor 4
b. it increases by a factor 2
c. it stays the same
d. it decreases by a factor 2
e. it decreases by a factor 4
 Resistance and Resistivity

Find the resistance of a piece of copper with a diameter

of 1 mm and a length of 1 cm

-8 -2
l (3 x 10 )(1 x 10 ) 12
R = = x 10 -4

A (  (.5 x 10 )
-3 2

 Resistance and Resistivity
Bolbo the gold broker from Baghdad has just received a gold
bullion bar for his birthday from his brother Bob.  The face of the
bar is 5 cm on both sides, and the length is 20 cm.  The resistance
between faces A and B is measured to be 0.8 micro-ohms.  Bolbo
the broker assumes that the bullion is gold if the measured
resistance is within +/- 10% of the theoretical value. Is the
material gold or is it bogus?

R  L / A B

5 cm
 (2.4 x108   m)(.2m) / .052 m 2 ) 20 c
m A
 1.92 x106 

=1.92 u don’t try to cash it in!

 Resistance and Resistivity
A wire 10 m long consists of 5 m of copper followed by 5 m of
aluminum of equal diameter of 1 mm. A voltage difference of 80 V
is placed across the composite wire.

a. What is the total resistance of the wire?

b. What is the current flow through the wire?
 Resistance and Resistivity

Summary
1. Suppose you wish to fabricate a uniform wire
out of 1g of copper. If the wire is to have a
resistance R= 0.50-ohm, and if all of the copper
wire is to be used, what will be the (a)length
and (b) diameter of the wire?

2. A toaster rated at 1050 W operates on a 120 V

household circuit and uses a 4.0 m length of
Nichrome wire as its heating element. The
operating temperature of this element is 320 ᵒC.
What is the cross-sectional area of the wire?