Page1of8

DrHarishKumarHG,Lecturer,GovernmentGirlsPUCollege,Shikaripura.

CHAPTER III:
CURRENT ELECTRICITY

ELECTRIC CURRENT
The net amount of charge flowing across
the area constitutes electric current.
If q is the net amount of charge flowing
across the area in time t then electric current (I)
is given by
q
I
t
=
Let Q be the net charge flowing across
a cross section of a conductor during the time
interval t. Then, the current at time t across the
cross-section of the conductor is defined as the
value of the ratio of Q to t in the limit of t
tending to zero.


Note:
In SI units, the unit of current is ampere (A).

ELECTRIC CURRENTS IN CONDUCTORS
In solid conductors the atoms are tightly
bound to each other so that the current is carried
by the negatively charged electrons.
In the case when no electric field is
present due to thermal motion the electrons
while moving collide with the fixed ions and
therefore the direction of its velocity after the
collision is completely random. Thus on the
average, the number of electrons travelling in
any direction will be equal to the number of
electrons travelling in the opposite direction. So,
there will be no net electric current.

If we connect two ends of the conductor
to a battery, then the battery provides a potential
difference across the ends of the conductor. This
provides an electric field inside the conductor
from + to end. This field causes electrons to
accelerated towards + end. This is called drift.
Thus electric current will be there in the
conductor only when we connect a battery to the
conductor.

OHMS LAW
Current through the conductor is always
directly proportional to the potential difference
across its two ends provided temperature and
other physical quantities remain constant.
Imagine a conductor through which a
current I is flowing and let V be the potential
difference between the ends of the conductor.
Then Ohms law states that

where the constant of proportionality R is called
the resistance of the conductor.

Note:
The SI units of resistance is ohm, and is denoted
by the symbol
Page2of8

DrHarishKumarHG,Lecturer,GovernmentGirlsPUCollege,Shikaripura.

The resistance R not only depends on the

material of the conductor but also on the
dimensions of the conductor.

VARIATION OF RESISTANCE WITH LENGTH
AND AREA
At constant temperature the resistance of
conductor is
1. Directly proportional to its length l
2. inversely proportional to the cross-
sectional area.
R l

1
R
A
=
l
R
A
=
The constant of proportionality
depends on the material of the conductor but not
on its dimensions. is called resistivity.

CURRENT DENSITY
It is defined as Current per unit area
I
J
A
=

Note: SI unit of current density is Am
-2


RELATION BETWEEN CURRENT DENSITY J
AND ELECTRIC FIELD E
Let E is the magnitude of uniform
electric field in the conductor of length is l. then
the potential difference V across its ends is
V = El.
From Ohms law
V = I R
But
l
R
A
=
I l
V
A

=
But V= E l
I l
El
A

=
E J =
But
1

= , where is called electrical

conductivity.
J E =

Note:
Resistivity is measured in -m
Conductivity is measured in
-1
m
-1
or S m
-1
(siemen per meter)

DRIFT VELOCITY
The average speed acquired by the free
electrons inside the conductor when subjected to
electric field is called drift velocity.

DRIFT OF ELECTRONS
In the absence of electric field electrons
moves in a random direction. If we consider all
the electrons, their average velocity will be zero
if there are N electrons and the velocity of the
i
th
electron (i = 1, 2, 3, ... N) at a given time is v
i
,
then


Page3of8

DrHarishKumarHG,Lecturer,GovernmentGirlsPUCollege,Shikaripura.

Consider now the situation when an
electric field is present. Electrons will be
accelerated due to this field by

where e is the charge and m is the mass of an
electron. Consider again the i
th
electron at a
given time t.
If v
i
was its velocity immediately after
the last collision, then its velocity V
i
at time t is
(1)
If is the average time between
successive collision called relaxation time, then
Thus, averaging Eq. (1) over the N-electrons at
any given time t gives us for the average
velocity v
d
(drift velocity)
i.e.
.
And
d
eE
v
m
=

RELATION BETWEEN J AND E IN TERMS OF
RELAXATION TIME AND FREE ELECTRON
DENSITY

Consider a conductor of length x and
area of cross section A. The electric field inside
the conductor is E.
If t is the time taken by the free
electrons to move through a distance x, then
d
x
v
t

If n is the number of free electrons per
unit volume, then total number of electrons in
this volume N = nAx
Since each electrons carries charge e,
then total charge in this volume Q = nAxe
Therefore, current
Q nA xe
I
t t

= =


I= n A e v
d

But
d
eE
V
m
=
2
I ne
E
A m

=



2
ne
J E
m

=


(
I
J
A
= )
J E =
Where,
2
ne
m

= is the electrical conductivity.

Note
Current density is a vector quantity

MOBILITY
It is defined as the ratio of magnitude of drift
velocity to the electric field.
i.e.
d
v
E
=
but
d
eE
V
m
=
e
m

=
Page4of8

DrHarishKumarHG,Lecturer,GovernmentGirlsPUCollege,Shikaripura.

Note
S I unit of mobility m
2
V
-1
s
-1


LIMITATIONS OF OHMS LAW
1. V ceases to be proportional to I

2. The relation between V and I depends on the
sign of V. In other words, if I is the current for a
certain V, then reversing the direction of V
keeping its magnitude fixed, does not produce a
current of the same magnitude as I in the
opposite direction.


3. The relation between V and I is not unique,
i.e., there is more than one value of V for the
same current I




RESISTIVITY OF VARIOUS MATERIALS
Metals have low resistivities in the range
of 10
8
m to 10
6
m.
insulators like ceramic, rubber and
plastics having resistivities 10
18
times greater
than metals or more. In between the two are the
semiconductors.

RESISTOR COLOUR CODES
The resistors have a set of co-axial
colored rings on them whose significance are
listed in Table. The first two bands from the end
indicate the first two significant figures of the
resistance in ohms. The third band indicates the
decimal multiplier. The last band stands for
tolerance or possible variation in percentage
about the indicated values. Sometimes, this last
band is absent and that indicates a tolerance of
20%






Page5of8

DrHarishKumarHG,Lecturer,GovernmentGirlsPUCollege,Shikaripura.

TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF RESISTIVITY

The resistivity of a material is found to
be dependent on the temperature. The resistivity
of a metallic conductor is approximately given
by,

Where
T
is the resistivity at temperature T and

0
is the resistivity at reference temperature T
0
,
is called temperature co-efficient of
resistivity.

Note
is measured in K
-1
.
For metals, is positive
Some materials like Nichrome (which is an
alloy of nickel, iron and chromium) exhibit a
very weak dependence of resistivity with
temperature (Fig). Manganin and constantan
have similar properties. These materials are
thus widely used in wire bound standard
resistors


ELECTRICAL ENERGY, POWER
Consider a conductor with end points A and B,
in which a current I is flowing from A to B. The
electric potential at A and B are denoted by
V(A) and V(B) respectively.
Since current is flowing from A to B,
V(A) > V(B)
and the potential difference across AB is
V = V(A) V(B) > 0.
In a time interval t, an amount of charge
travels from A to B is Q = I t.
The potential energy of the charge at A, is = Q
V(A) and similarly at B, it is = Q V(B).
Thus, change in its potential energy Upot is
Upot = Final potential energy Initial
potential energy
= Q[(V (B) V (A)] = Q V
= I Vt < 0
If charges moved without collisions through the
conductor, then change in KE is K = U
pot

i.e. K = I Vt > 0
In actual conductor mobile charge carrier
collide with the ions. As a result mobile charge
carrier gains the energy and is shared with the
atoms. The atoms vibrate more vigorously, i.e.,
the conductor heats up.
Thus, in an actual conductor, an amount
of energy dissipated as heat in the conductor
during the time interval t is,
W = I Vt
The energy dissipated per unit time is the power
dissipated
P = W/t and we have,
P = I V
Using Ohms law V = IR, we get
P = I
2
R = V
2
/R
This is the power loss (ohmic loss) in a
conductor of resistance R carrying a current I



Page6of8

DrHarishKumarHG,Lecturer,GovernmentGirlsPUCollege,Shikaripura.

COMBINATION OF RESISTORS
SERIES COMBINATION

Two resistors are said to be in series if
only one of their end points is joined
Consider two resistors R
1
and R
2
in
series. Here the same current I flows through R
1

and R
2
.
By Ohms law:
Potential difference across R
1
= V
1
= I R
1
,
And Potential difference across R
2
= V
2
= I R
2
.
The potential difference V across the
combination is V
1
+V
2
.
Hence,
V = V
1
+ V
2
= I (R
1
+ R
2
)
This is as if the combination had an equivalent
resistance R
eq
, which by Ohms law is
1 2
( )
eq
V
R R R
I
= = +
If we had n resistors connected in series, then
1 2 3
.....
eq n
R R R R R = + + + +

PARALLEL COMBINATION
Two or more resistors are said to be in
parallel if one end of all the resistors is joined
together and similarly the other ends joined
together
Consider now the parallel combination of two
resistors R
1
and R
2
. I
1
, I
2
are the currents
through R
1
and R
2.

The potential difference between A and B is
given by the Ohms law applied to R
1

V = I
1
R
1

Also, Ohms law applied to R
2
gives
V = I
2
R
2
Here,
I = I
1
+ I
2

1 2
V V
R R
= +
1 2
1 1
R R
= +
If the combination was replaced by an
equivalent resistance Req, we would have, by
Ohms law
eq
V
I
R
=
1 2
1 1 1
eq
R R R
= +

Similarly for n number of resistors in parallel,
1 2
1 1 1 1
......
eq n
R R R R
= + +

CELLS

Basically a cell has two electrodes,
called the positive (P) and the negative (N).
They are immersed in an electrolytic solution
The positive electrode has a potential difference
V
+
(V+ > 0) between itself and the electrolyte
solution. Similarly, the negative electrode
Page7of8

DrHarishKumarHG,Lecturer,GovernmentGirlsPUCollege,Shikaripura.

develops a negative potential (V

) (V

0)
relative to the electrolyte. When there is no
current, the electrolyte has the same potential
throughout, so that the potential difference
between P and N is
V
+
(V

) = V
+
+ V

.
This difference is called the electromotive force
(emf) of the cell and is denoted by . Thus
= V
+
+V

> 0

EMF:
It is the potential difference between
positive and negative electrode of a cell in an
open circuit. i.e. when no current flows through
the circuit.

INTERNAL RESISTANCE (r) OF A CELL
The opposition offered by a electrolyte of cell is
called internal resistance.

RELATION BETWEEN CURRENT AND
INTERNAL RESISTANCE OF CELL

Consider a resistor R connected across
the cell (Fig). If R is finite, I is not zero. In that
case the potential difference between P and N is
V = V
+
+ V

I r
V = I r
But V = I R
IR = I r
I
R r

=
+

Note:
For short circuit, R = 0, then I = I
short
I
short
= / R
When r = R, then power dissipated is maximum.

CELLS IN SERIES

Consider first two cells in series. let
1
,

2
are the emfs of the two cells and r
1
, r
2
their
internal resistances, respectively.
Let V(A), V (B), V (C) be the potentials at points
A, B and C shown in Fig.
Then the potential difference between
the positive and negative terminals of the first
cell is V (A) V (B)
Hence

Similarly

Hence, the potential difference between
the terminals A and C of the combination is

V
AC
= (
1
+
2
) I (r
1
+ r
2
) (1)
If we wish to replace the combination by
a single cell between A and C of emf
eq
and
internal resistance r
eq
, we would have
V
AC
=
eq
I r
eq
(2)
Comparing 1 and 2, we get

eq
=
1
+
2

and r
eq
= r
1
+ r
2


Page8of8

DrHarishKumarHG,Lecturer,GovernmentGirlsPUCollege,Shikaripura.

CELLS IN PARALLEL
Consider a parallel combination of the
cells. Let V (B1) and V (B2) be the potentials at
B1 and B2, respectively.
Then, considering the first cell, the
potential difference across its terminals is V (B1)
V (B2). Hence
(1)


Similarly for second cell we have
(2)
Adding 1 & 2, we get

If we want to replace the combination by
a single cell, between B
1
and B
2
, of emf
eq
and
internal resistance r
eq
, we would have
V =
eq
I r
eq

Hence



If there an n cells of emf
1
, . . .
n
and of
internal resistances r
1
, . . . r
n
respectively,
connected in parallel, then