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Cambridge (CIE) O Level Your notes

Physics
4.3 Electric Circuits
Contents
Circuit Diagrams & Circuit Components
Current in Circuits
Potential Difference in Circuits
Combined Resistance
Potential Dividers

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Circuit Diagrams & Circuit Components

Your notes
Circuit Components
The diagram below shows the circuit symbols that could be used in circuit diagrams
You will be expected to know what each component is and how it behaves in a circuit

Circuit Symbols

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Your notes

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Common circuit symbols used in circuit diagrams

Power supplies Your notes
Cells, batteries, power supplies and generators all supply current to the circuit
Resistors
Potential dividers, fixed and variable resistors, thermistors and light-dependent resistors (LDRs) are all
used to control current
Meters
Ammeters and voltmeters are used to measure the current and potential difference
Ammeters are always connected in series whilst voltmeters are always connected in parallel
Electromagnetic Components
Magnetising coils, relays and transformers use electromagnetic effects
Relays use a small current in one circuit to switch on a much larger current in another
Transformers 'step up' and 'step down' current and potential difference
Fuses
Protect expensive components from current surges and act as a safety measure against fire

Diodes
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a type of semiconductor diode that emits light when current flows in a
specific direction
The different colours of an LED are determined by the type of semiconductor material used such as:
Aluminium Gallium Phosphide (AlGaP) – green
Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) - blue
LEDs only requires a current of 20 mA to produce a light output or a voltage of about 2 V

Circuit Symbol for a Light Emitting Diode (LED)

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For light to be emitted, current will be flowing from left to right in the direction the triangle is pointing;
the arrows pointing away from the diode represent light rays being emitted
Your notes
They are an efficient way of indicating the state of an output in electronic circuits
For example, which path the current is flowing through when switches and relays are used
LEDs are likely to be connected to series resistors to limit the current flow so they don’t become
overloaded
Remember that LEDs will emit light when they are forward biased in the same direction as conventional
current flow (positive to negative) and will not emit light when in the opposite direction to the current
flow

Worked Example
From the circuit diagram below, determine which LED will light up when the output of the op-amp is:
(a) Positive relative to earth
(b) Negative relative to earth

Answer:
(a)

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Step 1: Determine which direction the current is flowing in

When the op-amp is positive the current is flowing from top to bottom Your notes
Step 2: Determine which LED is forward biased in the same direction
The green LED is forward biased when the current flows from top to bottom (is in the same
direction as the current) therefore this will emit light
(b)
Step 1: Determine which direction the current is flowing in
When the op-amp is negative the current is flowing from bottom to top
Step 2: Determine which LED is forward biased in the same direction
The red LED is forward biased when the current flows from bottom to top (is in the same
direction as the current) therefore this will emit light

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Current in Circuits
Your notes
Current in Series Circuits
In a circuit that is a closed-loop, such as a series circuit, the current is the same value at any point
This is because the number of electrons per second that passes through one part of the circuit is
the same number that passes through any other part
This means that all components in a closed-loop have the same current

Current in a Series Circuit

The current is the same at each point in a closed-loop

The amount of current flowing around a series circuit depends on two things:
The voltage of the power source
The resistance of the components in the circuit
Increasing the voltage of the power source drives more current around the circuit
So, decreasing the voltage of the power source reduces the current
Increasing the number of components in the circuit increases the total resistance
Hence less current flows through the circuit

Increasing Potential Difference & Adding Components

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Your notes

Current will increase if the voltage of the power supply increases, and decreases if the number of
components increases (because there will be more resistance)

Current in Parallel Circuits

A parallel circuit consists of two or more components attached along separate branches of the circuit

Current in a Parallel Circuit

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Your notes

Diagram showing two bulbs connected in parallel

The advantages of this kind of circuit are:
The components can be individually controlled, using their own switches
If one component stops working the others will continue to function
In a parallel circuit, the current splits up - some of it going one way and the rest going the other
This means that the current in each branch will be smaller than the current from the power supply
At a junction in a parallel circuit (where two or more wires meet) the current is conserved
This means the amount of current flowing into the junction is equal to the amount of current flowing
out of it
This is because charge is conserved
Note that the current does not always split equally – often there will be more current in some branches
than in others
The current in each branch will only be identical if the resistance of the components along each
branch are identical

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Current behaves in this way because it is the flow of electrons:

Electrons are physical matter – they cannot be created or destroyed Your notes
This means the total number of electrons (and hence current) going around a circuit must remain
the same
When the electrons reach a junction, however, some of them will go one way and the rest will go
the other
Current at Junctions

Current is conserved a junction; the total current is the sum of the current in the individual branches

Worked Example
In the circuit below, ammeter A0 shows a reading of 10 A, and ammeter A1 shows a reading of 6 A.

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Your notes

State the reading on ammeter A2

Answer:
Step 1: Recall that at a junction, the current is conserved
This means that the total amount of current flowing into a junction is equal to the total amount
flowing out
Step 2: Consider the first junction in the circuit where current splits
The diagram below shows the first junction in the circuit

Step 3: Calculate the missing amount of current

Since 10 A flows in to the junction (the total current from the battery), 10 A must flow out of the
junction
The question says that 6 A flows through ammeter A1 so the remaining current flowing through
ammeter A2 must be:
10 A − 6 A = 4 A
Therefore, 4 A flows through ammeter A2

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Examiner Tips and Tricks Your notes

The direction of current flow is super important when considering junctions in a circuit. You should
remember that current flows from the positive terminal to the negative terminal of a cell / battery.
This will help determine the direction current is flowing 'in' to a junction and which way the current
then flows 'out'.

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Potential Difference in Circuits

Your notes
Potential Difference in Series Circuits
In a series circuit, the sum of potential differences across the components is equal to the total
potential difference of the power supply

Potential Difference in a Series Circuit

In a series circuit the components share the potential difference of the power supply

Potential Difference in Parallel Circuits

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In a parallel circuit:
The potential difference across each branch is the same Your notes
If components are placed in series within a branch, then the potential difference is split across the
components within the branch in accordance with the rules of potential difference in series

Lamps connected in a parallel circuit

In the above circuit:
If the battery is marked 12 V, then the potential difference would be 12 V across each lamp

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Combined Resistance
Your notes
Resistors in Series & Parallel
Resistors in Series
When two or more components are connected in series:
The combined resistance of the components is equal to the sum of individual resistances

Combined Resistance in Series

When several components are connected in series, their combined resistance is equal to the sum of
their individual resistances

Resistors in Parallel
When resistors are connected in parallel, the combined resistance decreases and is less than the
resistance of any of the individual components
If two resistors of equal resistance are connected in parallel, then the combined resistance will halve

Combined Resistance in Parallel

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Your notes

The above resistors will have a combined resistance of 2 Ω − half the value of each resistor

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Potential Dividers
Your notes
Input Sensors
Thermistors
A thermistor is a non-ohmic conductor and sensory resistor whose resistance varies with temperature
Most thermistors are negative temperature coefficient (NTC) components.
This means that if the temperature increases, the resistance of the thermistor decreases (and vice
versa)

Resistance-Temperature Graph for a NTC Thermistor

A graph of temperature against resistance for a thermistor shows that as temperature increases,
resistance decreases
Thermistors are temperature sensors and are used in circuits in ovens, fire alarms and digital
thermometers
As the thermistor gets hotter, its resistance decreases

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As the thermistor gets cooler, its resistance increases

Relationship Between Resistance and Temperature for a Thermistor
Your notes

The resistance through a thermistor is dependent on the temperature of it

Light-Dependent Resistors
A light-dependent resistor (LDR) is a non-ohmic conductor and sensory resistor
Its resistance automatically changes depending on the light energy falling onto it (illumination)
As the light intensity increases, the resistance of an LDR decreases

Resistance-Temperature Graph for a Light-Dependent Resistor

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Your notes

A graph of resistance against light intensity for an LDR shows that as light intensity increases, resistance
decreases
LDRs can be used as light sensors, so, they are useful in circuits which automatically switch on lights
when it gets dark, for example, street lighting and garden lights
In the dark, its resistance is very large (millions of ohms)
In bright light, its resistance is small (tens of ohms)

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Your notes

Resistance of an LDR depends on the light intensity falling on it

Variable Potential Dividers

When two resistors are connected in series, the potential difference across the power source is shared
between them

Potential Divider

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Your notes

A potential divider splits the potential difference of a power source between two components

The potential difference across each resistor depends upon its resistance:
The resistor with the largest resistance will have a greater potential difference than the other one
If the resistance of one of the resistors is increased, it will get a greater share of the potential
difference, whilst the other resistor will get a smaller share
A potentiometer is a single component that (in its simplest form) consists of a coil of wire with a sliding
contact, midway along it

Potentiometer

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Your notes

A potentiometer is a kind of variable resistor

The sliding contact has the effect of separating the potentiometer into two parts – an upper part and a
lower part – both of which have different resistances

Circuit Diagram Using a Potentiometer

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Your notes

Moving the slider (the arrow in the diagram) changes the resistances (and hence potential differences)
of the upper and lower parts of the potentiometer

If the slider in the above diagram is moved upwards, the resistance of the lower part will increase and so
the potential difference across it will also increase

Resistors as Potential Dividers

When two resistors are connected in series, through Kirchhoff’s Second Law, the potential difference
across the power source is divided between them
Potential dividers are circuits which produce an output voltage as a fraction of its input voltage
Potential dividers have two main purposes:
To provide a variable potential difference
To enable a specific potential difference to be chosen
To split the potential difference of a power source between two or more components
Potential dividers are used widely in volume controls and sensory circuits using LDRs and thermistors
Potential divider circuits are based on the ratio of voltage between components. This is equal to the
ratio of the resistances of the resistors in the diagram below, giving the following equation:

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Diagram Illustrating the Potential Divider Equation

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Potential divider diagram and equation

The input voltage Vin is applied to the top and bottom of the series resistors
The output voltage Vout is measured from the centre to the bottom of resistor R2
The potential difference V across each resistor depends upon its resistance R:
The resistor with the largest resistance will have a greater potential difference than the other one
from V = IR
If the resistance of one of the resistors is increased, it will get a greater share of the potential
difference, whilst the other resistor will get a smaller share
In potential divider circuits, the p.d across a component is proportional to its resistance from V = IR

Worked Example
The circuit is designed to light up a lamp when the input voltage exceed a preset value.

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It does this by comparing Vout with a fixed reference voltage of 5.3 V.

Your notes

Vout is equal to 5.3 V

Calculate the input voltage Vin.
Answer:
Step 1: List the known quantities
Resistance of resistor 1, R1 = 20 kΩ
Resistance of resistor 2, R2 = 12 kΩ
Input voltage, Vout = 5.3 V
Step 2: State the potential divider equation

⎛ R1 ⎞

V out = ⎜
⎜
⎜
⎜
R1 + R2
⎟
⎟
⎟
⎟
V in
⎝ ⎠

Step 3: Rearrange to make input voltage the subject

R1
Divide both sides by
R1 + R2
⎛ R1 ⎞

V in = V out ÷ ⎜
⎜
⎜
⎜
R1 + R2
⎟
⎟
⎟
⎟

⎝ ⎠

⎛ R1 + R2 ⎞

V in = V out × ⎜
⎜
⎜
⎜
R1
⎟
⎟
⎟
⎟

⎝ ⎠

Step 4: Substitute in the known values to calculate

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12 + 20 ⎞⎟
V in = 5.3 × ⎛
⎜
⎜
20 ⎠
⎟

⎝ Your notes
V in = 8.5 V ( 2 s. f . )

Examiner Tips and Tricks

When thinking about potential dividers, remember that the higher the resistance the more energy it
will take to 'push the current through' and therefore the higher the potential difference.
This means that if a component (often shown as a voltmeter in questions) needs to be switched on
by a change such as increased light or temperature, then the resistor it is in parallel with needs to
become larger compared to the other resistor.

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