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AQA A Level Physics Your notes

5.1 Current–Voltage Characteristics

Contents
5.1.1 Basics of Electricity
5.1.2 Current–Voltage Characteristics

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5.1.1 Basics of Electricity

Your notes
Electric Current & Potential Difference
Electric Current
Electric current is defined as the rate of flow of positive charge carriers
It is measured in units of amperes (A) or amps
The charge, current and time are related by the equation:

Charge is sometimes written as ΔQ which means 'change in charge'

Similarly, time is written as Δt means 'change in time'
When two oppositely charged conductors are connected together (by a length of wire), charge will
flow between the two conductors, causing a current
Therefore, rearranging for current, I gives the equation:

Charge can flow between two conductors. The direction of conventional current in a metal is from
positive to negative

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In electrical wires, the current is a flow of electrons

Electrons are negatively charged; they flow away from the negative terminal of a cell towards the Your notes
positive terminal
Conventional current is defined as the flow of positive charge from the positive terminal of a cell to
the negative terminal
This is the opposite to the direction of electron flow, as the conventional current was described
before electric current was really understood

By definition, conventional current always goes from positive to negative (even through electrons go
the other way)
There are several examples of electric currents, including in household wiring and electrical appliances
Current is measured using an ammeter
Ammeters should always be connected in series with the part of the circuit you wish to measure the
current through

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An ammeter can be used to measure the current around a circuit and is always connected in series
Potential Difference Your notes
A cell makes one end of the circuit positive and the other negative
This sets up a potential difference across the circuit
This is sometimes known as the voltage
The potential difference is defined as the work done per unit charge and is measured in units of volts
( V)

Potential difference (or voltage) is measured using a voltmeter

A voltmeter is always set up in parallel to the component you are measuring the voltage for

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Potential difference can be measured by connecting a voltmeter in parallel between two points in a
circuit
Your notes
Worked example
When will 8 mA of current pass through an electrical circuit?
A. When 1 J of energy is used by 1 C of charge
B. When a charge of 4 C passes in 500 s
C. When a charge of 8 C passes in 100 s
D. When a charge of 1 C passes in 8 s

ANSWER: B
Step 1: Write out the equation relating current, charge and time
Q = It
Step 2: Rule out any obviously incorrect options
Option A does not contain charge or time, so can be ruled out
Step 3: Try the rest of the options to determine the correct answer
Consider option B:
I = 4 / 500 = 8 × 10–3 = 8 mA
Consider option C:
I = 8 / 100 = 80 × 10–3 = 80 mA
Consider option D:
I = 1 / 8 = 125 × 10–3 = 125 mA
Therefore, the correct answer is B

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Exam Tip
Your notes
Although electric charge can be positive or negative, since the conventional direction of current is the
flow of positive charge the current should always be a positive value for your exam answers. Think of
potential difference as being the energy per coulomb of charge transferred between two points in a
circuit

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Resistance
Resistance is defined as the opposition to current Your notes
For a given potential difference: The higher the resistance the lower the current
Wires are often made from copper because copper has a low electrical resistance. This is also known
as a good conductor
The resistance R of a conductor is defined as the ratio of the potential difference V across to the
current I in it

Resistance of a component is the ratio of the potential difference and current

Resistance is measured in Ohms (Ω)

An Ohm is defined as one volt per ampere
The resistance controls the size of the current in a circuit
A higher resistance means a smaller current
A lower resistance means a larger current
All electrical components, including wires, have some value of resistance

Exam Tip
Although all electrical components have resistance, the resistance of wires is taken to be zero in exam
questions.

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5.1.2 Current–Voltage Characteristics

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Ohm's Law
Ohm’s law states:
For a conductor at a constant temperature, the current through it is proportional to the
potential difference across it
Constant temperature implies constant resistance
Ohm's law is represented in the equation below:

The relation between potential difference across an electrical component (in this case, a fixed resistor)
and the current can be investigated through a circuit such as the one below

Circuit for plotting graphs of current against voltage

By adjusting the resistance on the variable resistor, the current and potential difference will vary in the
circuit
Measuring the variation of current with potential difference through the fixed resistor will produce a
straight line graph, such as the one below

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Your notes

Circuit for plotting graphs of current against voltage

Since the gradient is constant, the resistance R of the resistor can be calculated by using 1 ÷ gradient
of the graph
An electrical component obeys Ohm’s law if its graph of current against potential difference is a
straight line through the origin
A resistor does obey Ohm’s law
A filament lamp does not obey Ohm’s law
This applies to any metal wires, provided that the current isn’t large enough to increase their
temperature

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Worked example
Your notes
The current flowing through a component varies with the potential difference V across it as shown.

Which graph best represents how the resistance R varies with V?

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Exam Tip
Your notes
In maths, the gradient is the slope of the graph
The graphs below show a summary of how the slope of the graph represents the gradient

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I–V Characteristics
As the potential difference (voltage) across a component is increased, the current also increases (by Your notes
Ohm’s law)
The precise relationship between voltage and current is different for different components and can be
shown on an I-V graph
For an ohmic conductor, the I–V graph is a straight line through the origin
For a semiconductor diode, the I–V graph is a horizontal line that goes sharply upwards
For a filament lamp, the I–V graph has an 'S' shaped curve

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Your notes

I–V characteristics for an ohmic conductor (e.g. resistor), semiconductor diode and filament lamp
Ohmic Conductor
The I–V graph for an ohmic conductor at constant temperature e.g. a resistor is very simple:
The current is directly proportional to the potential difference
This is demonstrated by the straight-line graph through the origin
Semiconductor Diode
The I–V graph for a semiconductor diode is slightly different. A diode is used in a circuit to allow current
to flow only in a specific direction:
When the current is in the direction of the arrowhead symbol, this is forward bias. This is shown by
the sharp increase in potential difference and current on the right side of the graph
When the diode is switched around, it does not conduct and is called reverse bias. This is shown
by a zero reading of current or potential difference on the left side of the graph
Filament Lamp
The I–V graph for a filament lamp shows the current increasing at a proportionally slower rate than the
potential difference
This is because:
As the current increases, the temperature of the filament in the lamp increases
Since the filament is a metal, the higher temperature causes an increase in resistance
Resistance opposes the current, causing the current to increase at a slower rate
Where the graph is a straight line, the resistance is constant

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The resistance increases as the graph curves

The filament lamp obeys Ohm's Law for small voltages
Your notes
Worked example
The I–V characteristic of two electrical component X and Y are shown.

Which statement is correct?A. The resistance of X increases as the current increases

B. At 2 V, the resistance of X is half the resistance of Y
C. Y is a semiconductor diode and X is a resistor
D. X is a resistor and Y is a filament lamp

ANSWER: C
The I–V graph X is linear
This means the graph has a constant gradient. I/V and the resistance is therefore also constant
(since gradient = 1/R)
This is the I–V graph for a conductor at constant temperature e.g. a resistor
The I–V graph Y starts with zero gradient and then the gradient increases rapidly
This means it has infinite resistance at the start which then decreases rapidly
This is characteristic of a device that only has current in one direction e.g a semiconductor diode
Therefore, the answer is C

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Exam Tip
Your notes
Make sure you're confident in drawing the I–V characteristics for different components, as you may be
asked to sketch these from memory in exam questions

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