CURRENT

ELECTRICITY
 CURRENT ELECTRICITY -1
 Electric current
 Ohm’s law
 Resistance and Resistivity
 Current density
 Drift of electrons and resistivity
 Mobility
 Limitations of ohm’s law
 Colour code of carbon resistor
 Temperature resistance of resistivity
 Electrical energy and power
 Combination of resistors
Electric Current
It is defined as the rate of flow of charges across a given area of cross section.
I=
For unsteady currents, electric current is defined as the rate of flow of net charge
ΔQ flowing across a cross section of a conductor in time Δt, in the limit of Δt tending to
zero.
I(t) =
=

The S.I. unit of current is ampere(A)

Electric current in conductors

 Electric charge in motion, due to the force experienced by an applied

electric field, constitutes electric current.
 In solid conductors the current is carried by negatively charged
electrons.
 In electrolytic solution the current is carried by the motion of positive
and negative ions.
 When no electric field is applied ,the electrons are in random motion
and the average velocity of charges is zero . Therefore there will be
no net current.
 Ohm’s law

The electric current, I, flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential
difference ,V across the two ends of the conductor, provided the physical conditions like
temperature, entropy etc. remain a constant.
IαV
V = RI

where the constant of proportionality R is called the resistance of

the conductor.
The S.I unit of resistance is ohm(Ω).
Ohm’s law
One ohm is the resistance of a conductor
which develops a potential difference of 1 volt
when a current of 1A is passing through it.
The resistance of a conductor depends on:
(i) The length of the conductor
Rα l
(ii) The area of cross-section of the conductor
R α 1/A
(iii) The temperature of the conductor
At a constant temperature, R α
R = ρ,
where ρ is called the resistivity or the specific resistance of the
conductor. Its unit is ohm metre(Ωm).
Resistance and Resistivity

 Resistance is the property of a  Resistivity or specific resistance

substance by virtue of which it is the property of the material
opposes the flow of current or of the conducting substance
charge. and is defined as the resistance
 of a conductor of unit length
Its unit is Ω.
and unit area of cross-section.
 Factors affecting resistance are  Its unit is Ωm.
length of the conductor, area of
the cross-section of the  Factors affecting resistivity are
conductor, temperature of the temperature, number density
conductor and nature of of free electrons, type of
material of the conductor conductor and relaxation time.
Current density: Current per unit area( taken

is denoted by . Its S.I unit is A/.

normal to the current)is called current density .It

According to ohm’s law, V =IR =Iρ =jρl

If E is the magnitude of uniform electric field in the conductor of length I,
then
V = El
⇒ El = jρl
E = jρ
=
= =σ
where σ is conductivity .Its S.I unit is mho/m or
siemen/metre
Drift of electrons and resistivity
Drift velocity is defined as the velocity with which the free electrons are moving or
drifting towards the positive terminal under the effect of the applied (external) electric
field.
Consider a conductor of length l, area of cross section A across which an electric field E is
present due to potential V being applied.
The acceleration a, produced in the free electron due to the field

a = -eE/m

The electrons undergo collisions.

The average velocity of the electrons in the presence of an electric field is called drift
velocity, .
 relaxation time, τ.
 The average time interval between two successive collisions of free electrons is called

= ae
If n is the number density of free electrons and nAΔt is the number of electrons crossing area A in
time Δt, then
Current flowing, I= = = neA
I=τ
Also, I=A
Therefore, = .τ
In vector form, = .τ,
As j= E= , = .τ
Therefore, ρ=
 Mobility (μ)
 Conductivity is due to mobile charge carriers.
 Moblity ,μ is defined as the magnitude of the drift velocity per unit electric field
μ= = τ
 The S.I unit of mobility is /Vs, where V is volt and s is second.
Limitations of Ohm’s law
Ohm’s law is valid over a large class of materials , but in
some materials and devices it does not hold true.

(i) V ceases to be proportional to I.

(ii) The relation between V and I depends on the sign of
V. ,e.g. in a diode.
(iii) The relation between V and I is not unique.
e.g. in Ga As.
 Commercial Resistors :

Commercial resistors are of two major types.

(i) Wire bound resistors: They are made by winding the wires of an alloy e.g. manganin ,
nichrome and constantan.
The resistances are in the range of a fraction of an ohm to a few hundred ohms.

(ii) Carbon resistors: They are made from carbon. They are compact, inexpensive and
small in size and their values are given using a colour code.
Colour code for carbon resistors :
The resistors have a set of co-axial coloured rings. The first
two bands indicate the first two significant figures of
resistance in ohms.The third band indicates the decimal
multiplier. The last band indicates the tolerance 27x 5%
Table for resistor colour code
colour Number Multiplier Tolerance(%)
Black 0 1
Brown 1 101
Red 2 102
Orange 3 103
Yellow 4 104
Green 5 105
Blue 6 106
Violet 7 107
Gray 8 108
White 9 109 27x 5% Ω
Gold 10 -1
5
Silver 10-2 10
No colour 20
Electrical Resistivity and Its temperature
dependence
Depending on the electrical resistivity, materials are classified into:
(i) Conductors: Resistivity in the range of Ωm to Ωm. The resistivity over a limited range
of temperatures is given by
,
where is the resistivity at temperatureT, is the
resistivity at temperature and is the temperature coefficient of resistivity. S.I unit of α
is . For metals, is positive.
 (ii) Semi conductors: The resistivity is between that of conductors and insulators.
Resistivity decreases with increase in temperature.
 (iii) Insulators: Resistivity is times that of metals. The resistivity decreases with
increase in temperature.
Electrical Energy and Power
 Electrical power is the rate at which electric energy is converted
into heat energy.
P= VI = R= .
 Electric power is transmitted from power stations via transmission
cables. The energy loss through transmission is called transmission
loss. It can be minimised by transmitting electric power at low
current and high voltage through a transmission line.
 Power dissipated, = = , where P is the device power.
Combination of Resistors

(i) Series combination of resistors

If three resistors of resistances ,combined in series,

Effective resistance, R=
The potential drop across the combination, V= + .
(ii) Parallel combination
If three resistors of resistances combined in parallel,

Effective resistance +
The current through the combination = +
 Comparison of EMF and Potential difference

EMF Potential
(i) EMF is the maximum potential difference
between the two electrodes of the cell when
Difference
no current is drawn from the cell,i.e, when (i) P.D is the difference of potentials between
the circuit is open. any two points in a closed circuit.
(ii) It is independent of the resistance of the (ii) It is proportional to the resistance between
circuit. the given points.
(iii) The term emf is used only for the source of (iii) It is measured between any two points of
the emf. the circuit.
(iv) It is greater than the potential difference (iv) However, P.D is greater than emf when the
between any two points in a circuit. cell is being charged.