Electrical Resistance
Electrical Resistance
Figure 1
Figure 1 shows two resistors in series, since the same current, i flows in both of them. Applying
Ohm’s law to each of the resistors, we obtain
Therefore
Hence
Or
Where
Therefore the equivalent resistance of any number of resistors connected in series is the sum of
the individual resistances.
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Thus the equivalent conductance, Geq of N resistors in series is given by
This is called the principle of voltage division, and the circuit in figure 1 is called a voltage divider. In
general, if a voltage divider has N resistors (R1, R2, …, RN) in series with the source voltage v, the
nth resistor (RN) will have a voltage drop of
Figure 2 shows resistors connected in parallel and therefore they have same voltage across them.
Figure 2
Hence
Therefore
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Thus the equivalent resistance of two parallel resistors is equal to the product of their resistances
divided by their sum. This applies only to two resistors in parallel.
It is often more convenient to use conductance rather than resistance when dealing with resistors
in parallel. The equivalent conductance for N resistors in parallel is
Therefore equivalent conductance of resistors connected in parallel is the sum of their individual
conductances.
Given the total current i entering node a in figure 2, determine the current, i1 and i2.
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This shows that the total current i is shared by the resistors in inverse proportion to their
resistances. This is known as the principle of current division, and the circuit in figure 2 is known as a
current divider. Notice that the larger current flows through the smaller resistance.
EXAMPLE
Figure 3
SOLUTION
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Thus the circuit reduces to figure 4,
Figure 4
Figure 5
EXERCISE
Figure 6
ANSWER
Req = 6 Ω.
Applications of Resistors
Resistors are often used to model devices that convert electrical energy into heat or other
forms of energy. Such devices include conducting wire, lightbulbs, electric heaters, stoves,
ovens, and loudspeakers.
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RESISTIVITY, р
Note: The values in table 1 varies with temperature, the values given here are at 20 oC.
EXAMPLE
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SOLUTION
EXAMPLE
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SOLUTION
INTERNAL RESISTANCE
An ideal voltage source is independent of the current flowing through it. Practical voltage
sources have internal resistance which means that the voltage at its terminals varies as the
current through it changes. The equivalent circuit of a practical voltage source has series internal
resistance, r.
Example
EXAMPLE
SOLUTION
Some resistors are coded by means of colour bands at one end of the body of the resistor. The
first band indicates the first digit of the value of the resistance, the second band gives the second
digit and the third band gives the number of zeros. If there is a fourth band this tells us the
percentage tolerance on the nominal value. The colour codes are given in Table 2.
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Table2: Colour bands and resistance
EXAMPLE
Figure 7 shows three resistors. Determine the nominal value of the resistance of each of the
resistors. If the resistors are connected in series, determine the maximum possible resistance of
the combination.
Figure 7
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COLD AND HOT RESISTANCE
Electrical resistance can be categorized as cold and hot resistance for heating elements like
incandescent lamp. Cold resistance is the lamp resistance before it heats up. Hot resistance is the
lamp resistance when the lamp is heated up. Hot resistance is higher than cold resistance.
Therefore the heating element of an incandescent lamp is a non - linear resistor.
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