Fundamentals

Electric Charge Q is the amount of electric charge possessed by a body. Charge can be either
positive or negative, for example an electron has a negative charge whereas a proton has a positive
charge. In any process in which charge is transferred from one body to another, the total charge is
constant throughout, i.e. charge is conserved.
The unit of charge, the coulomb C, is defined as the quantity of charge which passes any section of
a material in one second when a current (see next section) of 1 ampere is flowing through it, i.e. A s.
Electric Current I is the rate at which charged particles (or charge Q) can be made to move through
a material in a particular direction.
The magnitude of the current flowing through a material is equal to the rate of flow of charge
through it, thus for a steady current I:
𝑄
𝐼= .
𝑡
When the current is not steady:
𝑑𝑄
𝐼= .
𝑑𝑡
The unit of current is the ampere A.
By convention, current flows from a higher electric potential to a lower (i.e. less positive) one.
However, when the current is being carried by electrons, the electrons themselves actually flow in
the opposite direction since they are negatively charged particles. Only positively charged current
carriers can flow in the conventional direction.
All materials may be classed into one of three groups based upon current flow: conductors,
insulators and semiconductors. A conductor is a material in which electric current can flow,
whereas an insulator is one in which current cannot flow. A semiconductor is a material that falls
somewhere between these two extremes.
Electromotive Force (EMF) E is the force which causes charged particles within a conductor to
move through it. The amount of current that flows is directly proportional to the size of the emf
applied.
The EMF of a source of electrical energy, such as a cell (battery), can be defined as the energy
converted into electrical energy from other forms (e.g. chemical, mechanical) when unit charge
passes through it.
The unit of emf is the volt V.
Potential Difference (p.d.) V is the difference in electric potential between two points in a material.
Whenever a current flows from one point in a material to another, it does so because the electric
potentials at the two points are different. If two points are at the same potential, then no current can
flow between them.
Like emf, potential difference is measured in volts; however, they are not the same quantity.
Essentially, emf (being the driving force) causes current to flow whilst p.d. is the result of current
flow.
The sum of all potential differences in a circuit is equal to the total applied emf.
Resistance R is the amount of opposition to the flow of electric current in a material. (An electrical
device that is designed to have a specific value of resistance is called a resistor.)
The electrical resistance of a material is defined by:
 Fundamentals
𝑉
𝑅= .
𝐼
The unit of resistance, the ohm Ω, is defined as being the resistance of a material through which a
current of one ampere is flowing when the p.d. across it is one volt, i.e. 1 Ω = 1 V A−1 .
A material whose resistance is independent of the amount of current flowing through it, and is only
dependent on its physical circumstances (such as temperature or mechanical strain) is called an
ohmic material and is said to obey Ohm’s law.
It follows from the above equation that when resistance R is constant:
𝑉
= constant ⟹ 𝐼 ∝ 𝑉.
𝐼
Therefore, Ohm’s law may be restated as follows.
The current through an ohmic material is directly proportional to the potential difference across it,
provided there is no change in its physical conditions (e.g. temperature).
The resistance of a material depends upon four factors:
1) its length;
2) its cross-sectional area (csa);
3) the actual material used;
4) its temperature.
It can be shown that resistance is directly proportional to length l and inversely proportional to csa
A:
𝑙
𝑅∝
𝐴
Introducing a constant of proportionality, the resistivity of the material (𝜌) measured in ohms per
meter, gives:
𝜌𝑙
𝑅= .
𝐴
The resistance of a material also depends on its temperature. The resistance of some materials (such
as pure metals) increases with increasing temperature, whereas the resistance of others (such as
carbon) decreases with increasing temperature. Over a moderate range of temperatures, the change
of resistance for conductors is relatively small and is a very close approximation to a straight line.
Semi-conductors on the other hand tend to have very much larger changes in resistance over the
same range of temperatures, and follow an exponential law.
 Fundamentals

Resistance – temperature graph for a typical conductor and semiconductor.

The temperature coefficient of resistance 𝛼 is defined as the ratio of the change of resistance per
degree change of temperature, to the resistance at 0 °C, 𝑅0 :
change in resistance per ℃
𝛼= .
𝑅0
For any given material, the value of 𝛼 must also depend on temperature. However, this variation is
slight so it is meaningful to think in terms of the average value between two temperatures, 𝜃1 and
𝜃2 .
𝑅𝜃2 − 𝑅𝜃1
𝛼= .
(𝜃2 − 𝜃1 )𝑅0
The temperature coefficient of resistance can be used to calculate the resistance at some other
temperature 𝜃1 °C using:
𝑅1 = 𝑅0 + 𝛼𝑅0 𝜃1 = 𝑅0 (1 + 𝛼𝜃1 ).
Consequently:
𝑅1 𝑅0 (1 + 𝛼𝜃1 ) 1 + 𝛼𝜃1
= = .
𝑅2 𝑅0 (1 + 𝛼𝜃2 ) 1 + 𝛼𝜃2
Internal resistance r is the intrinsic resistance of a source of electrical energy.
When a source is not supplying current (i.e. when its terminals are on open circuit with no external
circuit connected), no potential difference will be developed across its internal resistance so the full
emf will be available at its terminals.
 Fundamentals
Consider a battery of emf E volts with internal resistance r ohms left open circuit as in the following
diagram.

Since there is no current flowing in the circuit, there is no p.d. developed across its internal
resistance, hence terminal A must be at a potential of E volts and terminal B must be at a potential
of 0 V.
Now consider the same circuit but with a resistor of R ohms connected across the battery terminals
so that a current of I amps flows through it.

The current will cause a p.d. across both the internal and the external (or load) resistor. By ohms
law:
p.d. across internal resistance = 𝐼𝑟
p.d. across external resistance = 𝐼𝑅

Since the sum of the potential differences must be equal to the total applied emf:
𝐸 = 𝐼𝑅 + 𝐼𝑟 = 𝐼(𝑅 + 𝑟).
Letting V be the p.d. across the external resistance (i.e. the terminal p.d.), this can be rewritten as:
𝑉 = 𝐸 − 𝐼𝑟.
Thus it may be seen that when a source is supplying current, the terminal p.d. is always less than its
emf.