Ohm’s Law: Resistance and Simple Circuits Quiz

PDF page 946: If voltage drives current, what impedes it? The electric property that impedes current (crudely similar to friction and air resistance) is called resistance . Collisions of moving charges with atoms and molecules in a substance transfer energy to the substance and limit current. Resistance is defined as inversely proportional to current, or

PDF page 946: This relationship is also called Ohm’s law. Ohm’s law in this form really defines resistance for certain materials. Ohm’s law (like Hooke’s law) is not universally valid. The many substances for which Ohm’s law holds are called ohmic. These include good conductors like copper and aluminum, and some poor conductors under certain

PDF page 946: circumstances. Ohmic materials have a resistance that is independent of voltage and current . An object that

PDF page 946: has simple resistance is called a resistor, even if its resistance is small. The unit for resistance is an ohm and is given the symbol (upper case Greek omega). Rearranging gives , and so the units of resistance are 1 ohm = 1 volt per ampere:

PDF page 946: circumstances. Ohmic materials have a resistance that is independent of voltage and current . An object that

PDF page 946: Figure 20.8 shows the schematic for a simple circuit. A simple circuit has a single voltage source and a single

PDF page 946: This important relationship is known as Ohm’s law. It can be viewed as a cause-and-effect relationship, with voltage the cause and current the effect. This is an empirical law like that for friction—an experimentally observed phenomenon. Such a linear relationship doesn’t always occur.

PDF page 945: What drives current? We can think of various devices—such as batteries, generators, wall outlets, and so on—which are necessary to maintain a current. All such devices create a potential difference and are loosely referred to as voltage sources. When a voltage source is connected to a conductor, it applies a potential difference that creates an electric field. The electric field in turn exerts force on charges, causing current.

PDF page 947: Resistances range over many orders of magnitude. Some ceramic insulators, such as those used to support power lines, have resistances of or more. A dry person may have a hand-to-foot resistance of , whereas the resistance of the human heart is about . A meter-long piece of large-diameter copper wire may have a resistance of , and superconductors have no resistance at all (they are non-ohmic). Resistance is related to the shape of an object and the material of which it is composed, as will be seen in Resistance and Resistivity. Additional insight is gained by solving for yielding 20.17 This expression for can be interpreted as the voltage drop across a resistor produced by the flow of current . The phrase drop is often used for this voltage. For instance, the headlight in Example 20.4 has an drop of 12.0 V. If voltage is measured at various points in a circuit, it will be seen to increase at the voltage source and decrease at the resistor. Voltage is similar to fluid pressure. The voltage source is like a pump, creating a pressure difference, causing current—the flow of charge. The resistor is like a pipe that reduces pressure and limits flow because of its resistance. Conservation of energy has important consequences here. The voltage source supplies energy (causing an electric field and a current), and the resistor converts it to another form (such as thermal energy). In a simple circuit (one with a single simple resistor), the voltage supplied by the source equals the voltage drop across the resistor, since , and the same flows through each. Thus the energy supplied by the voltage source and the energy converted by the resistor are equal. (See Figure 20.9.)

PDF page 947: Resistances range over many orders of magnitude. Some ceramic insulators, such as those used to support power lines, have resistances of or more. A dry person may have a hand-to-foot resistance of , whereas the resistance of the human heart is about . A meter-long piece of large-diameter copper wire may have a resistance of , and superconductors have no resistance at all (they are non-ohmic). Resistance is related to the shape of an object and the material of which it is composed, as will be seen in Resistance and Resistivity. Additional insight is gained by solving for yielding 20.17 This expression for can be interpreted as the voltage drop across a resistor produced by the flow of current . The phrase drop is often used for this voltage. For instance, the headlight in Example 20.4 has an drop of 12.0 V. If voltage is measured at various points in a circuit, it will be seen to increase at the voltage source and decrease at the resistor. Voltage is similar to fluid pressure. The voltage source is like a pump, creating a pressure difference, causing current—the flow of charge. The resistor is like a pipe that reduces pressure and limits flow because of its resistance. Conservation of energy has important consequences here. The voltage source supplies energy (causing an electric field and a current), and the resistor converts it to another form (such as thermal energy). In a simple circuit (one with a single simple resistor), the voltage supplied by the source equals the voltage drop across the resistor, since , and the same flows through each. Thus the energy supplied by the voltage source and the energy converted by the resistor are equal. (See Figure 20.9.)

PDF page 947: Resistances range over many orders of magnitude. Some ceramic insulators, such as those used to support power lines, have resistances of or more. A dry person may have a hand-to-foot resistance of , whereas the resistance of the human heart is about . A meter-long piece of large-diameter copper wire may have a resistance of , and superconductors have no resistance at all (they are non-ohmic). Resistance is related to the shape of an object and the material of which it is composed, as will be seen in Resistance and Resistivity. Additional insight is gained by solving for yielding 20.17 This expression for can be interpreted as the voltage drop across a resistor produced by the flow of current . The phrase drop is often used for this voltage. For instance, the headlight in Example 20.4 has an drop of 12.0 V. If voltage is measured at various points in a circuit, it will be seen to increase at the voltage source and decrease at the resistor. Voltage is similar to fluid pressure. The voltage source is like a pump, creating a pressure difference, causing current—the flow of charge. The resistor is like a pipe that reduces pressure and limits flow because of its resistance. Conservation of energy has important consequences here. The voltage source supplies energy (causing an electric field and a current), and the resistor converts it to another form (such as thermal energy). In a simple circuit (one with a single simple resistor), the voltage supplied by the source equals the voltage drop across the resistor, since , and the same flows through each. Thus the energy supplied by the voltage source and the energy converted by the resistor are equal. (See Figure 20.9.)

PDF page 947: Resistances range over many orders of magnitude. Some ceramic insulators, such as those used to support power lines, have resistances of or more. A dry person may have a hand-to-foot resistance of , whereas the resistance of the human heart is about . A meter-long piece of large-diameter copper wire may have a resistance of , and superconductors have no resistance at all (they are non-ohmic). Resistance is related to the shape of an object and the material of which it is composed, as will be seen in Resistance and Resistivity. Additional insight is gained by solving for yielding 20.17 This expression for can be interpreted as the voltage drop across a resistor produced by the flow of current . The phrase drop is often used for this voltage. For instance, the headlight in Example 20.4 has an drop of 12.0 V. If voltage is measured at various points in a circuit, it will be seen to increase at the voltage source and decrease at the resistor. Voltage is similar to fluid pressure. The voltage source is like a pump, creating a pressure difference, causing current—the flow of charge. The resistor is like a pipe that reduces pressure and limits flow because of its resistance. Conservation of energy has important consequences here. The voltage source supplies energy (causing an electric field and a current), and the resistor converts it to another form (such as thermal energy). In a simple circuit (one with a single simple resistor), the voltage supplied by the source equals the voltage drop across the resistor, since , and the same flows through each. Thus the energy supplied by the voltage source and the energy converted by the resistor are equal. (See Figure 20.9.)