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Unit 11 Electricity 9-1 GCSE

- For electrical charge to flow through a circuit, the circuit must be closed and there must be a potential difference provided by a battery or power source. Current is defined as the flow of electrical charge over time and is calculated using the equation Q=It, where Q is charge, I is current, and t is time. The current has the same value at any point in a closed loop circuit and is determined by the potential difference and resistance of the components in the circuit according to the equation V=IR, where V is potential difference, I is current, and R is resistance. A component's resistance can change based on the current passing through it, its temperature, its length, the intensity of light shining on it, or

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55 views2 pages

Unit 11 Electricity 9-1 GCSE

- For electrical charge to flow through a circuit, the circuit must be closed and there must be a potential difference provided by a battery or power source. Current is defined as the flow of electrical charge over time and is calculated using the equation Q=It, where Q is charge, I is current, and t is time. The current has the same value at any point in a closed loop circuit and is determined by the potential difference and resistance of the components in the circuit according to the equation V=IR, where V is potential difference, I is current, and R is resistance. A component's resistance can change based on the current passing through it, its temperature, its length, the intensity of light shining on it, or

Uploaded by

Jordan Daniel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Electrical Charge:

- For charge to flow:


o Circuit must be closed (no open switches)
o There must be a source of potential difference (battery/cell)
Electrical Current
- Current is the flow of electrical charge
- Greater the rate of flow of charge, greater current
𝑄𝑄 = 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼
Where Q is the charge flow, in coulombs C, I is the current, in amperes A and t is
the time in
seconds s.
- In a single closed loop, the current has the same value at any point
- The current (I) through a component depends on both the resistance (R) of the
component
and the potential difference (V) across the component.
- The greater the resistance of the component the smaller the current for a given
potential
difference (pd) across the component.
- Current, potential difference or resistance can be calculated using the equation:
𝑉𝑉 = 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼
- Where V is the potential difference in volts V, I is the current in amperes A,
and R is the
resistance in ohms Ω.

Resistors
- If the resistance is constant, an ohmic conductor, current is directly
proportional to the
potential difference, in this case the graph is linear.
- If the resistance of components such as lamps, diodes, thermistors and LDRs is
not constant
it changes with the current through the component, so the graph is nonlinear, for
example,
the resistance of a filament lamp increases as the temperature of the filament
increases and
the current through a diode flows in one direction only, so it has a higher
resistance in the
reverse direction.

How does the resistance change?


- With current
o As current increases, electrons (charge) has more energy
o When electrons flow through a resistor, they collide with the atoms in the
resistor
o This transfers energy to the atoms, causing them to vibrate more
o This makes it more difficult for electrons to flow through the resistor
 So resistance increases, and current decreases
- With temperature
o Normal wires - See above, the same process occurs as atoms vibrate when hot
o Thermistor
 In hotter temperatures the resistance is lower
 These are often used in temperature detectors/thermostats
- With length
o The greater the length, the more resistance and the lower the current
o Electrons have to make their way through more resistor atoms, so it is harder
than
using a shorter wire
- With light
o LDR (Light Dependent Resistor)
 The greater the intensity of light, the lower the resistance
 So the resistance is greatest when it is dark
 These are used in automatic night lights.
- With voltage
o Diodes
 Diode allows current to flow freely in one direction
 In the opposite direction, it has a very high resistance so no current can flow

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