VOLTAGE, CURRENT and

RESISTANCE
 VOLTAGE
• VOLTS or voltage
• It is the measure of the push on each electron
which makes the electron move.
• The term potential difference and voltage are
often used interchangeably to mean the
“push”
• EMF- Electromotive Force
• Means potential to describe the electron push
in certain instances.
 VOLTAGE
• In writing voltages in electrical formula,
• E is used to symbolize voltage or potential
difference
• V is used to abbreviate the unit voltage on
volts.
• Instead of saying “the potential difference is
5volts”,
• It is more likely to see “ E=V”
• fig1.13
 VOLTAGE
• POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE between 2 points and
the ground:
• The potential difference always involve 2
points.
• If a potential difference exist between 2points
and a conductor is placed between them,
current will flow.
• The voltage is always measured or stated as
existing between points “A and B” or from
“point A to point B.
• The strength of the potential difference is
measured in volts, ordinarily you may say that
“ the voltage between pts A and B is 20volts”
or “the voltage between C and D is 10volts
• Fig1.14
 ELECTRON CURRENT

• If a voltage exists across a complete

conducting path, or a circuit,
• Electrons flow in this circuit from low to high
potential.
• It is known as the flow of electron
 THE AMPERE

• It is use in specifying an amount of current

flow.
• This unit of measure for current is the ampere,
named after ANDRE AMPERE, an early pioneer
on the study of electricity.
• One ampere(or amp.) of current is flowing past
as point in a circuit if one coulomb of electrons
passes by the point on one second.
 TWO CONVENTIONS FOR
CURRENT FLOW
• 1. ELECTRON CURRENT FLOW
• 2. CONVENTIONAL CURRENT FLOW
 TWO CONVENTIONS FOR
CURRENT FLOW
• CONVENTIONAL CURRENT FLOW
• Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s finest
scientists studied electricity and was one of
the first to actually describe current flow.
• He did not know whether it was positive or
negative charge.
• He theorized, however, that the positive
charge flows in conductor from high to low
potentials or from positive to negative.
 TWO CONVENTIONS FOR
CURRENT FLOW
• CONVENTIONAL CURRENT FLOW
• Fig.1-15

• Note that this type of flow is opposite the flow

of electrons, that is, from low to high potential
or vice versa, which again is called ELECTRON
CURRENT.
 TWO CONVENTIONS FOR
CURRENT FLOW
• ELECTRON CURRENT CONVENTIONAL
CURRENT
• Fig1-16

• All of the electrical effects of electron flow

from low to high potentials are exactly the
same as those that would be created by a flow
of positive charges in the opposite direction.
 TWO CONVENTIONS FOR
CURRENT FLOW
• ELECTRON CURRENT CONVENTIONAL
CURRENT
• Because of this, the two conventions work
equally well in describing electricity.
• Because it is now known that it is the negative
electron, that actually moves through
conductors,
• The electron flow convention is also wide
used.
• It makes no difference which convention is
used to describe electricity for all the effects
predicted are the same.
 TWO CONVENTIONS FOR
CURRENT FLOW
• ELECTRON CURRENT CONVENTIONAL
CURRENT
• The term current, current flow, electron
current, electron flow are the same.
• They are often applied to different or
conventional current and may be substituted
in its place with no change in the substance or
meaning of discussion.
 RESISTANCE
• It is the opposition to current flow.
• It is like friction, they both act to oppose
motion and generate heat.
• The amount of opposition to current flow a
material will produce depends on the amount
of available free electrons it contains.
• When electrons try to travel through a
substance under the influence of a potential
difference, they often collide with atoms of the
conducting materials(which are vibrating due
to heat) impurities, defects in the materials
structure,etc.
 RESISTANCE
• All these things affect the resistance of a given
device or material.
• Materials with very few electrons and many
obstacles to electrons flow have high
resistance and are called non-conductors or
insulators.
 RESISTANCE
• FACTORS THAT DETERMINE RESISTANCE:
1. The material itself determines the resistance
of a conductor.
- Silver is a better conductor than copper
- Copper is better than aluminum
- Ex. From silver –best conductor
- Copper-excellent conductor
- Glass- insulator
- Which shows resistance ?
 RESISTANCE
• FACTORS THAT DETERMINE RESISTANCE:
• 2. cross-sectional areas
• In a piece of wire and look at the , you will see
the cross-sectional area
 RESISTANCE
• FACTORS THAT DETERMINE RESISTANCE:
• 2. cross-sectional areas
• The resistance is inversely proportional to the
cross-sectional area.
• This means that if the cross-sectional area of
the conductor is increased, its resistance will
decrease.
 RESISTANCE
• FACTORS THAT DETERMINE RESISTANCE:
• 3. LENGTH
 RESISTANCE
• FACTORS THAT DETERMINE RESISTANCE:
• 3. LENGTH
• Resistance is directly proportional to the
length of a conductor.;
• That is ,
• A longer conductor has greater resistance
 RESISTANCE
• FACTORS THAT DETERMINE RESISTANCE:
• 4. TEMPERATURE
• As the temperature of a material increases, the
atoms in the material increase their activity
which causes the type electrons to undergo
more collisions.
• This thermal agitation causes an increase in
the resistance of the most common materials.
• For common conducting materials, the higher
the temperature, the higher resistance.
 RESISTANCE
• SPECIFIC RESISTANCE:
• The specific resistivity of different materials is
determined by measuring the resistance of
different wires of the same size and shape but
made of different materials to be tested.
 RESISTANCE
• SPECIFIC RESISTANCE:
Slide Title
Product A Product B
• Feature 1 • Feature 1
• Feature 2 • Feature 2
• Feature 3 • Feature 3