Part 2: Ohm’s Law

 Potential difference, V
 work done in moving a unit charge from one
point to another in an electric field
 Potential difference, V is also the amount of electrical
energy transformed into other forms of energy in
moving a unit charge from one point to another in an
electric field.

 The potential difference between two points is 1 volt if

1 joule of work is required to move a charge of 1
coulomb from another point to other.
 Example 1
In a closed circuit, a 12 V battery is
needed to produce 30 C of electric charge
through a light bulb. How much is the
work done to drive the electric charge
through the bulb?
Example 2
When a charge of 10 C flows between points P
and Q as shown, the energy released is 50 J.
a) Find the potential difference between P
and Q
b) If the time taken for the 10 C to flow
between the two points is 20 s, what is the
current flowing through the bulb?
 AMMETER
 Measures current in
amperes
 Connected in series with
a resistor or a device
 Has a low resistance so
that its existence has little
effect on the magnitude
of current flowing
VOLTMETER
 Measures potential
difference or voltage in
volts
 Connected in parallel
with or across a resistor,
a device or a cell/battery
 Has a high resistance,
current flowing through
it is negligible
5
 Ohm’s Law
 Ohm’s Law
 The electric current, I passing through ohmic
conductor is directly proportional to the potential
difference, V across the ends of the conductor
provided the temperature and other physical
properties remains constant.
Potential Difference, V

Gradient of Graph V against I :

From graph, gradient is V/I
This is the value for resistance, R Current, I
 Resistance
 The resistance of a conductor:
 The measure of the ability of the conductor to
resist the flow of an electric current through it.
 Unit: ohm (Ω)
 Factors that affects the resistance of a conductor
 Length
 Cross-sectional area
 Types of material
 Temperature
 From formula I = V / R, when V is constant the
current, I is inversely proportional to resistance, R
 Factors Affecting Resistance
Length
 Longer wires have higher resistance than shorter
wires.

Resistance, R / Ω

Length, L / m
 Cross-Sectional Area
 Thinner wires have higher resistance than thicker
wires.
 The use of thicker wire increases the rate of flow of
electric charge resulting in a larger current flow.
 Thus, resistance of a wire decreases when its cross-
sectional area is increased
R/Ω R/Ω V/V

1 /A I/A
A
 Type of Material
 Different materials have different resistance.
 It can be seen that the resistance of silver is the lowest.
Thus, silver has the best conductivity followed by copper.
 However, most wire are made of copper due to low cost.
 Nichrome and constantan are two alloys with high
resistance
V

I
 Temperature
 A hot wire has a higher
resistance than a cold wire.
 When temperature increases, the
atoms in the metallic lattice R/Ω
become more energetic and
vibrates with greater amplitude
 The path of the electrons in
motion is hindered by the
vibrating atoms and thus the
electron flow at a slower rate θ/ C
Formula from Experiment Example 3
A wire P of length, L with a cross-
sectional area, A and a resistance, R.
Another wire Q is a conductor of the same
material with a length of 4L and twice the
cross-sectional area of P. What is the
resistance of Q in terms of R?

Combining
both cases

FINALLY
 Semiconductors
 The resistance of a metal increases with temperature
 The resistance of a semiconductor decreases with temperature

 A superconductor is a material whose resistance becomes zero

when it temperature drops to a certain value called the critical
temperature
 Superconductors
 This enables superconductors to maintain a current with no applied voltage at that
temperature.

 Able to sustain large currents

 Smaller power loss during transmission

 Less heat energy is wasted

 Small-sized motors and generators can be used.

 Uses of superconductors

 The production of electricity

 Telecommunication and astronomy

 Electronics

 Transportation

 medicine