FC312

PHYSICS
Theme: 4 Hour: 2 Electricity and Electronics
Module Learning Outcome Academic Literacy
Analyse Ohm’s Law for electric Use theoretical concepts to analyse real-world
circuits practices. 
Apply in real-world contexts Develop ability to read, comprehend and express
mathematical arguments
Use subject-specific vocabulary effectively.
RESISTIVITY AND POWER
 Outline (Hour 2)
• Resistance and Ohm’s Law

• Resistivity

• Superconductors

• Semiconductors – thermistor
Ohm’s Law
 Resistance & Ohm’s Law
• Under normal circumstances, conductors present some
resistance to the motion of electrons.
• This is similar to friction when moving an object relative to another.
• Ohm’s Law relates this resistance to the voltage and current:

• Be careful, Ohm’s law is not a universal law and is only useful

for certain materials (which include most metallic conductors).
 Resistance & Ohm’s Law
• Solving Ohm’s Law for resistance we get:

• The units of resistance, Volts per Ampere, are called

Ohms:
 Ohmic and Non-Ohmic Conductors

• Any conductors that obey Ohm’s

Law are called ohmic conductors.

• Voltage-current graph for an

ohmic conductor gives a straight
line with a positive gradient.

• The steeper the gradient, the

higher the resistance will be.
 Ohmic and Non-Ohmic Conductors

• Any conductors that doesn’t obey

Ohm’s Law are called non-ohmic
conductors.

• Voltage-current graph does not

follow a straight line.

• Instead, it gives a curve with an

increasing gradient.

• The resistance increases as the

current increased.
Resistance and internal resistance

• https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxx66
sg/revision/1
• Read page 1 and write down the equation of
emf of a battery.
• Discuss resistance and internal resistance.
 Resistance & Ohm’s Law
• Two wires of the same length and diameter will have
different resistances if they are made of different materials.
This property of a material is called the resistivity, ρ.

𝑳
𝑹=𝝆
𝑨
• L is the length of the conductor and A is its cross sectional
area.
 Resistance & Ohm’s Law

The difference between

insulators, semiconductors,
and conductors can be clearly
seen in their resistivities.
Resistance and Temperature
Case 1: Metals
• Resistance increases with increase in
Temperature
 Resistance and temperature
Case 2: semiconductor
• Resistance decreases as temperature
increases
• Also, thermistor has a resistance which falls
with rising temperature, unlike a metallic
conductor.
 Resistance and temperature
• Case 3: Superconductor
• There is a certain class of materials,
superconductors, in which the resistivity drops
suddenly to zero at a finite temperature, called the
critical temperature TC.
• Often, TC is very low (e.g. 50 to 100K) but research is being
carried out to find ‘room temperature’ superconductors.
 Energy & Power in Circuits
• When a charge moves across a potential difference, its
potential energy changes:

• Therefore, the power it takes to do this is given by:

 Energy & Power in Circuits
• In materials for which Ohm’s law holds, the power can also be
written:

• This power mostly becomes heat inside the resistive material,

this process is called Ohmic Heating.
• Ohmic powers your kettle, electric heater and even the ‘battery check strip’
on a typical battery.
 Energy & Power in Circuits

• When the electric company sends you a bill, your usage

is quoted in kilowatt-hours (kWh). They are charging you
for energy use, and kWh are a measure of energy.