1

Current Electricity

It is the branch of physics in which we study the behaviour of moving charges.

Electric current (I)

Rate of flow of charge is called electric current.

If a charge q flows through any cross section of a conductor in time t, then electric current,

q
I
t

SI unit of electric current is Cs 1 (coulomb per second), this unit is called ampere (A).

Definition of 1 ampere: Current through a conductor is said to be one ampere when a charge of 1 coulomb
flows through any cross section of the conductor in 1 second.

Types of current: There are two types of electric currents, alternating current, which changes its magnitude
and direction in a sinusoidal manner with time and direct current which remains constant in both magnitude
and direction. We will focus on direct current in this chapter. We have a separate chapter (chapter 7) for
studying alternating current.

Drift velocity

In a wire, which is not connected to battery, electrons move in random manner due to their thermal energies.
When the battery is connected all electrons start drifting towards the positive end of the battery.

We may define drift velocity as the average velocity with which electrons get drifted towards the
positive terminal of the battery under the influence of an external electric field.

Let the initial velocities of electrons (in the absence of battery) be u1,u2 ,u3 .............un , then,

u1  u2  u3 .............  un eE
 0 . When the battery is applied, acceleration of each electrons is a  .
n m

When electrons move in a conductor, they keep colliding with the heavy ions present in it and come to a
momentary rest. Time gap between two successive collisions is called relaxation time ( τ ).

Thus, if v1, v 2 ..........v n be the final velocities of electrons then, by definition, drift velocity is
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v1  v 2 ..........  v n
vd  .
n

Since, v1  u1  aτ1, v 2  u2  aτ 2 , v 3  u3  aτ3 .........v n  un  aτn .

Therefore v d becomes

vd 
u1  aτ1   u2  aτ 2    u3  aτ3  .........  un  aτn 
n

 u  u2 ........  un   τ  τ ............  τn 
 vd   1   a 1 2 
 n   n 

eE
Or v d  τ ,
m

where τ is average relaxation time.

Relation between current and drift velocity

Consider a conductor of length  and area of cross section A connected to battery of potential difference V.

Then, volume of the conductor is A  .

If number density of electrons in the conductor (number of

electrons per unit volume) is n, then total number of
electrons in conductor is A  n.

Hence, total charge is, q = A  ne.

q A n e
Therefore, current in the conductor is given by I  I . Or I  Anev d .
t   
 
 vd 

Ohm’s law

Statement. It states that current flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential
difference applied across its ends provided the physical conditions are constant.

As potential is work done by battery to move one coulomb of charge once around a complete circuit. So, if
potential difference is more this means that battery will provide more energy to one coulomb charge and
hence, the rate of low of charge i.e. current, increases. If V potential difference is applied across the end of
a conductor and a current I flows through it, then V  I

Or V  IR ……… (i)
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Resistance: In the equation V = IR, r is called resistance of the material of the conductor.

It is a physical quantity that is concerned with the opposition to the flow of current through a
conductor. More the resistance, more the opposition to the flow of current.

 V  IR
V
R 
I

Therefore, SI unit of resistance is volt per ampere ( VA 1 ), this unit called ohm (  ).

Resistance of a conductor is said to be 1 ohm when a current of one ampere flows through the conductor
when a potential difference of 1 ohm is applied across its ends.

Dimensions of resistance are MA 2L2 T 3  .

Proof of Ohm’s law:

eE
I  Anev d and v d  τ
m

 eE 
 I  Ane  τ
m 
Ane 2E
I τ
m
Ane 2  V 
I= τ
m   
m
V= I .........  ii
Ane 2 τ

m
If physical conditions are constant is constant. Therefore, V  I.
Ane2 τ

m
Comparing (i) and (ii), we get R  ………. (iii)
Ane2 τ

Factors affecting resistance of a conductor

Resistance of a conductor depends upon following factors

i. R
1
ii. R
A

 
Combining (i) and (ii), we get R  Or R  ρ ………. (iv)
A A
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Where ρ is called the resistivity of the conductor. It is the specific resistance of the material of the
conductor and depends only on the nature of the material of the conductor.

m
Combining (iii) and (iv) we get ρ  .
ne2 τ

SI unit of resistivity is Ωm.

If   1 unit and A = 1 unit, then R  ρ .

Therefore, resistivity is equal to resistance of a conductor when length of conductor is 1 unit and area of cross
section is 1 square unit.

Conductance

 Reciprocal of resistance is called conductance.

1
 G
R

SI unit of conductance is  ohm or mho or siemens(S) .

1


 Symbol of conductance is G.

Conductivity

 Reciprocal of resistivity is called conductivity.

1
 σ
ρ

 SI unit of conductivity is  1m1 or mhom1 or Sm1 .

 Symbol of conductivity is σ .

Current density (J)

 Current flowing per unit area of cross section of a conductor is called current density
 I 
 J  A  .
 
 SI unit of current density it Am-2.
 Symbol of current density is J.

Microscopic or vector form of ohm’s law

I Anev d  eE 
J  J   J  ne  τ
A A m 
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ne2 τ
J E
m

 
or J  σE ………. (v)

Equation (v) is called microscopic form of ohms law or vector form of Ohm’s law.

Electron mobility (μ e )

Drift velocity per unit electric field is called electron mobility.

vd
i.e. μe  . Its value represents how mobile a charge carrier is (i.e. how easily it can travel).
E

If a charged particle acquires higher drift velocity on application of small electric field, the its mobility is high.
SI unit of mobility is ms1N1C.

Temperature dependence of resistivity

Metals

m
Since, resistivity, ρ  i.e. it is inversely proportional to relaxation time. When we increase the
ne2 τ
temperature, kinetic energy of electrons increases and they collide more frequently with ions so their
relaxation time decreases and hence resistivity of metal increases. If

ρo  resistivity at 0o C, ρt  resistivity at t o C, then

ρt  ρo 1  αt 

where α is called temperature coefficient of resistivity. It is constant for a material for a given range of
temperature. SI unit of α is K 1 . It is numerically equal to change in resistivity per unit original resistivity per
degree rise in temperature.

Alloys and semiconductors

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Alloys like Nichrome (which is an alloy of nickel, iron and chromium) exhibit a very weak dependence of
resistivity with temperature. Manganin and constantan have similar properties. These materials are thus
widely used in wire bound standard resistors since their resistance values would change very little with
temperatures. Unlike metals, the resistivities of semiconductors decrease with increasing temperatures.
Graphical variation of resistivity for metals, alloys and semiconductors is shown below.

Combination of resistors (not in syllabus since)

Series combination

Two resistors are said to be in series if only one of their end

points is joined. If a third resistor is joined with the series
combination of the two, then all three are said to be in
series. Clearly, we can extend this definition to series
combination of any number of resistors. Consider two
resistors R1 and R2 in series. The charge which leaves R1

must be entering R2 .

Since current measures the rate of flow of charge, this means that the same current I flows through R1 and R2

By Ohm’s law: Potential difference across R1  V1  IR1 , and

Potential difference across R 2  V2  IR 2 .

The potential difference V across the combination is V1  V2 .

Hence, V  V1  V2  I R1  R2 

This is as if the combination had an equivalent resistance R eq , which by Ohm’s law is

R e q  R1  R 2
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This obviously can be extended to a series combination of any number n of resistors R1,R2 ...........,Rn . The

equivalent resistance R e q is Req  R1  R 2  R3  .........

Parallel combination

Consider now the parallel combination of two resistors (Fig.

3.15). The charge that flows in at A from the left flows out
partly through R1 and partly through R2 . The currents

I,I1 and I2 shown in the figure are the rates of flow of charge at
the points indicated. Hence,

I  I1  I2

The potential difference between A and B is given by the Ohm’s law applied to R1

V  I1R1

Also, Ohm’s law applied to R2 gives

V  I2R 2

 I  I1  I2
V V V
  
Req R1 R 2

1 1 1
Or  
Req R1 R2

If n resistors are connected in parallel, then,

1 1 1 1 1
   ................ 
Req R1 R2 R3 Rn

Internal resistance, terminal potential difference and emf of a cell

Internal resistance. It is the resistance offered by material of the cell. When the cell is not used in a circuit
and no current is drawn from it, potential difference between its ends is called its emf.

When some current is drawn from the cell, some part of the emf is used to overcome its own internal
resistance, so the potential difference across the external component is less than emf of the cell. This
potential difference is called terminal potential difference.
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Let ε be emf of the cell, V be the terminal potential difference, r be the internal resistance, R be external
resistance and I be the current flowing in the circuit then, potential drop across internal resistance is Ir.
Therefore, potential drop across external resistance is,

V  ε  IR ………. (vi)

 Ir  ε  V
εV
r 
I

εV
r 
V
R

εV
r  R
 V 

ε 
Or r    1  R
V 

Charging During charging of a cell, current flows in reverse direction with the help of external agency, so the
terminal potential difference becomes

V = ε + IR

Combination of cells

Like resistors, cells can also be connected in series and parallel combination.

Series combination

Consider two cells of emfs ε1 and ε 2 and internal resistances r1 and r2 are connected in series.

If V1 and V2 be the terminal potential differences of the two cells, then V = V1  V2

 V   ε1  Ir1    ε 2  Ir2 
 V   ε1  ε 2   I r1  r2 

Comparing this with V  ε eq  Ireq we get

ε eq  ε1  ε 2

This result can be extended to series combination of n cells as ε eq  ε1  ε 2  ε 3 .............ε n

Parallel combination
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If two cells are connected in parallel, terminal potential difference across them is same but current is different,
∴ total current

I  I1  I2
ε 1  V ε1  V
I 
r1 r2

ε1 ε 2 1 1
I   V  
r1 r2  r1 r2 

r r  ε1r2  ε 2r1
 V 1 2  I
 r1r2  r1r2
ε r  ε 2r1  r1r2 
V  12  I 
r1  r2  r1  r2 

Comparing this with V  ε eq  Ireq we get

ε1r2  ε 2r1
ε eq 
r1  r2

This result can be extended to parallel combination of n cells as

ε1 ε 2 ε 3 ε
ε eq    ............  n
r1 r2 r3 rn

Kirchhoff’s laws

1 s t law (junction rule)

The algebraic sum of currents meeting at a junction is 0.

In the figure shown above I2  I3  I1  I4  I5 or I2   I3    I1    I4    I5   0

This law is the result of conservation of charge. As no charge can accumulate at a junction, so the amount
of charge entering a junction per unit time is equal to amount of charge leaving junction per unit time.

2 n d law (loop rule)

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The algebraic sum of potential drops across all the components in a closed loop of an electric circuit
is zero. This result is direct result of law of conservation of energy.

Steps to solve circuits

1) Assume unknown currents in the given circuit and show their directions by arrows.
2) Choose any loop and find the algebraic sum of voltage drops plus the algebraic sum of emfs in that
loop and put it equal to zero.
3) Write equations for as many loops as the number of unknown
quantities. Solve the equations to find the unknown quantities.
4) If the value of assumed current comes out to be negative, it means
that the actual direction of current is opposite to that of assumed
direction.

Example: In loop AFEBA : ε1  I1r1  I2r2  ε 2  0

In loop BEDCB: ε 2  I2r2  ε 3  I3r3  0

Wheatstone bridge

Wheatstone bridge is a circuit which is used to measure accurately an unknown resistance.

Principle. It states that when the bridge is balanced (i.e. when Ig  0 ), the product of resistances of

opposite arms is equal.

Applying Kirchhoff’s second law to loop ABDA, we get

I1P  IgG  I  I1  R  0
SInce Ig  0
 I1P  I  I1`  P  0

 I1P  I  I1  R ..........(i)

Applying second law in loop BCDB, we get

I1  Ig  Q  I  I1  Ig  S  IgG  0
 Ig  0
 I1Q  I  I1  S  0
 I1Q  I  I1  S ..........(ii)

From (i) and (ii) we get

P R

Q S
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Or PS  QR