17.1 - 18.

2
Jenny Cao

Chapter 7.1 to 8.2 outline

Chapter 17
17.1 Electric Current
- electric current = the flow of charge
- average current = average rate at which charge passes through a point of
obsevationd during an interval of time
- I = change in q / change in t
- ampere (A) = standard unit of electric current
- also known as amp
- current in a metal wire = stream of free electrons
- the direction of flow of positive charge is traditionally in the direction of the
current, regardless of the actual sign of the participating carriers
- a flow of negative carriers to the left is equivalent to an equal flow of
positive carriers to the right

The Battery
- Volta created the worlds first electric battery
- a battery is two or more cells electrically attached to one another

How Batteries Work

- almost any two different solid conductors immersed in a variety of active
solutions, known as electrolytes, function more or less as batteries
- chemical energy in the interatomic bonds is converted into electrical potential

energy as the solution, an one or both of the conducting plates, the electrodes, become
involved in the chemical reaction
- electromotive force (emf) = a potential difference that can be used to supply
energy and thereby sustain a current in an external circuit
- the emf is the voltage measured across the terminals of a source when no
current is being drawn from or delivered to it

Cells in Series and Parallel

- to boost the potential difference, cells are often connected in series
- the voltage across the series-connected battery is the sum of the voltages across
each constituent cell
- the battery provides power to a load
- a steady-state current can only exist in a closed circuit, and the same current
flows in an out of the load
- current is never used up by a circuit element
- because the polarity of the cell is fixed, the direction of the flow of charge is
constant
- circuit elements can draw of energy from a current, but as a rule, the same
amount of current that enters an element leaves that element
- in series the voltages add, while the current remains unaltered as it passes
in and out of each element
- cells in parallel, forma a battery whose voltage is the same as the individual
current outputs

17.2 Ohms Law

- Ohm suggested that every sample manifested a resistance to the flow of charge
- > the resistance, < the current any battery could push through it

- current in the circuit and current in the sample is directly proportional to the
voltage inversely proportional to the resistance
- I = V/R
- because an ordinary specimen has resistance, there must be a voltage across it if
a current is to be propelled through it
- for most conductors, that voltage difference is equal to the product of the
resistance of the specimen times the current being forced through it

17.3 Resistivity
- R = p*(L/A)
- p = material dependent constant of proportionality
- = the resistivity

The Temperature Dependence of Resistivity

- when the temperature of a conductor increases, the corresponding increase in
the random vibrations of its atom and ions increases the scattering go electrons,
impeding their progress and increasing the resistivity of the material
- p is usually linearly related to common changes in temperature
- p = [p(original)]( 1 + [a(original)] (change in T))
- a(original) = temperature coefficient of resistivity

Superconductivity
- total absence of DC resistivity below a critical temperature (Tc)
= superconductivity

17.4 Voltage drops and rises

- the current is the transporter of energy

- no point in the circuit is grounded, an so no point has a potential referenced to the

zero of ground
- the circuit is said to float
- the voltage differences are the practical quantities
- common terminal circuit = ground
- rheostat = variable resistor used to control current

17.5 Energy and Power

- the transport of energy by a current is one of the fundamental features of
electricity
- P = IV
- p = power
- using Ohms Law
- the power dissipated in a resistance R can be expressed as P = IV = I(IR)
- P = IIR
- P = VV/R
- Joule heat = thermal energy produced = heating power of an electrical current
through a resistance

Chapter 18
- a variety of senosors convert nonelectrical signals into electrical ones

18.1 Sources and Internal Resistance

- when a voltaic cell provides current to an external circuit, there is a transport of
charge from one electrode to the other across the electrolyte, and that does not happen
in an unimpeded way

- the cell resists current traversing it in either direction

= internal resistance

internal resistance = inseparable aspect of any battery, cell, or power source

- the terminal voltage = the potential difference measured by an ideal voltmeter
across the battery
- when the external circuit supplies to the battery, it enters at the positive terminal
and passes internally to the second terminal
- the battery is having power supplies to it when it is charged
- the ammeter is always places in the branch of the circuit through which the
required current passes
- the voltmeter on the other hanse is always placed across the two points
whose potential difference is to be measured
- any closed current path is a loop

18.2 Resistors in Series and Parallel

- when the resistors are in series or in parallel or a combination of both, they can
be replaced by a single equivalent resistor
- R(e) = R(1) + R(2)
- 1/R(e) = 1/R(1) + 1/R(2)
- the equivalent parallel resistance is always less than any of the contributing
resistances
- the same current passes through each resistor in a given branch regardless of
the presence of sources in that branch, and the resistors are in series even though they
are not directly connected to one another