ELECTRICITY

BY BHOOMI GUPTA
HOW DOES A
BATTERY WORKS?

The negative terminal is zinc and

positive is graphite. Zinc loses
electrons-oxidation and graphite
gains electrons. The electrons lost by
zinc travel through the circuit and
reach the positive terminal thereby
constituting an electric current. The
electrolyte ensures the electrons do
not travel directly to the cathode.
From anode.
Ions are formed at cathode due to
the ionizing solution(electrolyte),
electrons are separated, electrons
flow until equilibrium is reached.
 ELECTRIC CURRENT AND
ELECTRICAL CHARGES
 Charge carriers in the wires of electric circuits are electrons. These electrons are
simply supplied by the atoms of copper (or whatever material the wire is made
of) within the metal wire.
 Electric current is expressed by the amount of charge flowing through a
particular area in unit time. In other words, it is the rate of flow of electric
charges.
 If a net charge Q, flows across any cross-section of a conductor in time t, then
the current I, through the cross-section is:
 I = Q/ t
 The SI unit of electric charge is coulomb (C), which is equivalent to the charge
contained in nearly 6 × 10^18 electrons
 The electric current is expressed by a unit called ampere (A)

 An instrument called ammeter measures electric current in a circuit. It is

always connected in series in a circuit through which the current is to be
measured.
 The flow of electrons is termed electron current.
Electrons flow from the negative terminal to the
ELECTRON positive.
CURRENT
&
CONVENTIONA
L CURRENT Conventional current or simply current,
behaves as if positive charge carriers
cause current flow. Conventional current
flows from the positive terminal to the negative.
 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL AND POTENTIAL
DIFFERENCE
 The electrons move only if there is a difference of electric pressure – called the
potential difference – along the conductor.
 Potential difference is the difference in the amount of energy that charge
carriers have between two points in a circuit.
 The chemical action within a cell generates the potential difference across the
terminals of the cell, even when no current is drawn from it.
 Electric potential is the amount of work needed to move a unit of positive
charge from a reference point to a specific point inside the field without
producing an acceleration.
 If an acceleration is produced, the final KE might not be the same as the initial.
In that case, the work done by the applied force is not equal to the change in
PE
 Potential difference (V) between two points = Work done (W)/Charge (Q)
 One volt of potential difference between two points in a current carrying
conductor when 1 joule of work is done to move a charge of 1 coulomb from
one point to the other.
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL OR VOLTAGE
 The term “voltage” in a battery refers to the difference in electric potential between the
positive and negative terminals of a battery. A greater difference in potential results in a
greater voltage.
 For example, In a 6 volt battery, 6 Joules of energy is given to 1 Coulomb of charge to
travel from the negative terminal to the positive terminal of the battery. (Hence the
potential difference or voltage is equal to the work done/energy supplied to a unit of
charge)
 Current always flows from higher potential to lower potential.
HOW DOES VOLTAGE CAUSE THE
ELCTRONS TO MOVE?

Consider a tank completely filled with water. The rapid movement of water
molecules inside the tank creates high pressure, which causes the water to flow
in one direction when a hole is punched in it.

Similarly, the chemical reactions taking place in a cell, create an electric

pressure which trigger the electrons. One electron moves which causes others to
move. A high voltage battery supplies more energy to the electrons.
  Current does not have to do with how far charges move in a second but
rather with how many charges pass through a cross section of wire on a
circuit.
CURRENT  Drift speed refers to the average distance travelled by a charge carrier

VS DRIFT 
per unit of time.

Current is the rate at which charge crosses a point on a circuit.

SPEED  A high current is the result of several coulombs of charge crossing over
a cross section of a wire on a circuit. If the charge carriers are densely
packed into the wire, then there does not have to be a high speed to have
a high current.
  Once the switch is turned to on, the circuit is closed and there is an
WHY DOES THE electric potential difference is established across the two ends of the
external circuit.
LIGHT IN A ROOM  The flipping of the switch causes an immediate response throughout
OR IN A every part of the circuit, setting charge carriers everywhere in motion
in the same net direction.
FLASHLIGHT  The electrons that light the bulb in a flashlight do not have to first
LIGHT travel from the switch through 10 cm of wire to the filament. Rather,
the electrons that light the bulb immediately after the switch is turned
IMMEDIATELY to on are the electrons that are present in the filament itself.

AFTER THE  As the switch is flipped, all mobile electrons everywhere begin
marching; and it is the mobile electrons present in the filament whose
SWITCHED IS motion are immediately responsible for the lighting of its bulb.

TURNED ON?  As those electrons leave the filament, new electrons enter and
become the ones that are responsible for lighting the bulb.
 OHM’S LAW
 The potential difference, V, across the ends of a given metallic wire in an electric circuit is directly proportional to the
current flowing through it, provided its temperature remains the same. This is called Ohm’s law.
 V∝I

or V/I = constant
=R
or V = IR
 R is a constant for the given metallic wire at a given temperature and is called its resistance. It is the property of
a conductor to resist the flow of charges through it. Its SI unit is ohm, represented by the Greek letter Ω
 If the potential difference across the two ends of a conductor is 1 V and the current through it is 1 A, then the
resistance R, of the conductor is 1 Ω.
  The current through a resistor is inversely proportional to
its resistance.
 If the resistance is doubled the current gets halved.

CURRENT AND  In many practical cases it is necessary to increase or

decrease the current in an electric circuit.
RESISTANCE  A component used to vary the resistance without changing
the voltage source is called a variable resistor .
 In an electric circuit, a device called rheostat is often used
to change the resistance in the circuit.
  Certain components offer an easy path for the flow of electric current
while the others resist the flow
 The electrons are restrained by the attraction of the atoms among
which they move. Thus, motion of electrons through a conductor is
retarded by its resistance.

RESISTANCE  A component of a given size that offers a low resistance is a good

conductor.
 A conductor having some appreciable resistance is called a resistor.

 A component of identical size that offers a higher resistance is a

poor conductor.
 An insulator of the same size offers even higher resistance.
  The ammeter(showing current) reading decreases to one-half when the length of the
wire is doubled.
 The ammeter reading is increased when a thicker wire of the same material and of the
same length is used in the circuit.
 A change in ammeter reading is observed when a wire of different material of the

FACTORS 
same length and the same area of cross-section is used.
Hence, resistance of the conductor depends

DECIDING THE (i) on its length,

RESISTANCE
(ii) on its area of cross-section, and
(iii) on the nature of its material
 Resistance of a uniform metallic conductor is directly proportional to its length (l)
and inversely proportional to the area of cross-section (A).
 R = ρ l/ A
  R = ρ l/ A

 Ρ is the constant of proportionality or the electrical

resistivity of a conductor.
 The SI unit of resistivity is Ω m. It is a characteristic
property of the material.
 Metals have low resistivity while non metals have a

RESISTIVITY higher one.

 RESISTANCE AND RESISTIVITY

 Both the resistance and resistivity of a material vary

with temperature and type of component.
 Resistance depends on resistivity, length and cross-
sectional area.
 While resistivity remains the same for a given material
at a particular temperature.
When a series of resistors are
connected in a circuit, the overall
resistance is equal to the sum of
all the resistances.

Hence, when many resistors are

connected, the overall resistance
increases and the current flowing
(which is the same at every point
in circuit) decreases.
RESISTORS IN
PARALLEL
When resistors are connected parallel to each other,
It is observed that the total current I, is equal to the
sum of the separate currents through each branch of
the combination.
I’ = I1 + I2 + I3
According to Ohm’s law, I’= 1/R’
1/R’ = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3
Thus, we may conclude that the reciprocal of the
equivalent resistance of a group of resistances joined
in parallel is equal to the sum of the reciprocals of the
individual resistances.
 Consider a current I flowing through a resistor of resistance R. Let the potential
difference across it be V. Let t be the time during which a charge Q flows across.
The work done in moving the charge Q through a potential difference V is VQ.

HEATING Therefore, the source must supply energy equal to VQ in time t. Hence the power
input to the circuit by the source is:

EFFECT OF P = VQ/t = VI
Or the energy supplied to the circuit by the source in time t is P × t, that is,VIt.
ELECTRIC This energy gets dissipated in the resistor as heat. Thus for a steady current I, the

CURRENT
amount of heat H produced in time t is H = VIt
Applying Ohm’s law, we get H = I^2 Rt( V= IR)
This is known as Joule’s law of heating.