SP10 – Electricity and Circuits Current vs Potential difference

 current is a flow of charge measured

Current through a component
 the flow of electric charges  potential difference is the energy used
 measured in amperes/amps (A) between two points in a circuit, therefore
 has same value at any point in a single measured between two points either side
closed loop of a component
 the flow of charge = current x time o we describe this as the potential
o C=Axt difference measured across a
component
Electrical conductors
 material that allows electric currents to Charge flow + Resistance
pass through it  when charge flows in an electric circuit,
 all metals are electrical conductors size of current is affected by two things
 has lots of charges that are free to move o the resistance: if the resistance is
 in metals the charges that are free to move increased, the current will decrease
are electrons o the potential difference: if the
 electric current through the metal is the potential difference is increased the
flow of the delocalised electrons current will increase
 resistance is measured in ohms – 
Electrical insulators
 material that doesn’t allow electric Measuring resistance
currents to pass through  R=V/I
 plastic and glass are electrical insulators  to measure the resistance of a component,
 has no free electrons measure the potential difference across
 no charges are free to move and carry a the component
current  use an ammeter to measure the current
flowing through a component
Potential difference  the longer the wire, the higher the
 measured in volts (V) / also called voltage resistance
 energy transferred to the electrical
components in a circuit when the charge Ohmic conductors
carriers pass through them  current through an ohmic conductor (at a
 measured using voltmeter constant temp.) is directly proportional to
the potential difference across the resistor
Ammeters o this means that the resistance
 measures the flow of current that passes remains constant as the current
through it changes
 have to be connected in series with the
electrical component which current you Wires + Resistance
are measuring  size of wire
o increasing length of wire increases
Voltmeters the resistance of the wire
 measure voltage between two points in a o decreasing the cross-sectional area
circuit of the wire increases its resistance
o between two points either side of a o short, wide wires have less
component resistance than long, narrow wires
 must always be connected in parallel with
the two points being measured  wire thickness
o cross-sectional area of a circular
wire is = r2
 o x2 the thickness of wire x4 it’s  fuses get hot and melt when the current in
cross-sectional area a circuit becomes dangerously large. this is
an important safety feature of circuits

Charge flow Disadvantages of heating effect

 charge flows from the energy source and  energy is wasted when electricity is
through the rest of the circuit and its transferred from a power plant to our
components – like lamps and heaters homes because the transmission wires
 flow of current transfers energy from the heat up
energy source to the components  some components work less efficiently
when they get hot
Energy transfer
 components that transfer energy to their Circuit diagrams
surroundings
o lamp emits light into its
surroundings
 energy transferred = charged moved x
potential difference
o J=CxV

Power
 total energy transferred
o E=Pxt
o E=VxIxt
 power
o P=IxV
o P = I 2R
o P=E/t

Heating effect
 electric current does work to move
through a resistor
 some KE of electrons moving through the
resistor is transferred to heat energy
o this is due to collisions between the
electrons and the ions present in
the resistor
o we can reduce heat energy lost in a
circuit by using low resistance wires
Diodes
Advantages of electric heating  a component that only allows current to
 we can use electric current to generate flow through it in one direction
useful heat
o e.g. a kettle to boil water Rectifiers
 lightbulbs use filaments with a high  turns on alternating current to a direct
resistance. the filaments get very hot when current
a current flows through them which makes  diodes act as rectifiers as they diode block
them emit light the alternating current when it changes
direction

Thermistors
  its resistance changes with its temp
 increasing temp decreases resistance Alternating Current
 thermistor used to turn a heater off when  electric current repeatedly changes
a house reaches certain temps direction
 in the UK, the electricity from the plug
LDRs sockets is a source of alternating current
 light dependant resistor o this mains electricity supply has a
 resistance changes with light intensity frequency of 50Hz and is about
 increasing light intensity decreases 230V
resistance
 LDRs used to switch lights on when it gets Direct current
dark or to know whether or not a camera  electric current flows in only one direction
phone need to use “flash”  batteries and cells are sources of direct
Potential difference current
 total voltage = total potential difference
across components Mains Electricity
 charges of buckets of water  live wire is brown
o think of the moving charges having o carries 230V
energy being like people carrying o provides alternating potential
buckets of water difference from the mains
o at the start of the journey the electricity supply
buckets are filled by the energy  neutral wire is blue
source o at / close to earth potential (0V)
o when the people carry the buckets o completes the circuit and carries
around the circuit, they empty a current away from appliance
little bit of water into every  earth wire has green and yellow stripes
component that they pass o 0V potential and only carries a
o the people carrying the water current if there is a fault
empty water into each component o a safety wire to stop appliance
so that their bucket is empty when becoming live
they return to the source
Power label
Resistance  can be used to calculate the current
 consider a bucket full of water with a hole required by the appliance using the
in the bottom equation:
o water drains out the bucket o power = potential difference x
o if a second hole is drilled into the current
bucket the water (like adding  230V is the potential difference across the
another resistor in parallel) will mains power supply in the UK
drain faster
o it doesn’t matter how narrow the Work done per second
second hole is (how high it’s  We can work out how much energy an
resistance is) it is always faster for appliance transfers using the power rating
water to flow through two holes and the equation:
instead of one o energy = power x time
 e.g. 100W lamp will use 100J of energy per
Parallel circuits in practice second
 each component can be switched on and
off separately National Grid
 if one component breaks, current still flows  power stations
through the others
 o create an electric current, which is 13A are available, the most suitable
an energy carrier fuse is the 5A fuse
 larger power stations are
more efficient than smaller Metal Cases
power stations because they  lots of electrical appliances, such as
can burn lots of fuel at very toasters, have metal casing
high temperatures. this  if there is a fault in the appliance, one of
creates very hot steam that the wires may touch the metal case. metals
can turn the turbines conduct electricity, so anyone touching the
 steam turbines are more case could then receive an electric shock
efficient at higher
temperatures Earth wire
o power stations produce electricity  an earth wire is a low resistance wire that
at a V of 25,00V connects the metal case to the ground
 step-up transformers  if the casing is touched by a wire inside the
o increase the potential difference to appliance, current will flow through the
400,00V earth wire
 this reduces the current and  because the resistance of the earth wire is
this reduces how much heat low, a very high current will flow through
is lost when it’s being it, breaking the fuse in the device. this will
transported across the stop the flow of current and make the
country appliance safe
 this increases the efficiency
of the National Grid system Dangers of the Live Wire
 step-down transformers and our homes  electric shock
o to get electricity to a safer voltage o from the mains electricity supply
(230V) in our homes, step-down could be fatal
transformers reduce the voltage to  connecting live wire to earth wire
a lower value o the live wire and the earth wire can
never be in contact because this
Circuit breakers would remove the safety feature of
 special devices that switch off the flow of the earth wire
current if the current is higher than a o this would also take a huge amount
certain value of current, which would overpower
 circuit breakers do the same job as fuses the fuse
but can be used lots of times  the fuse would melt and
could explode
Fuses  dangerous even when power is off
 contain thin wire that melts if the current o live wire can still be dangerous
flowing through an appliance is too high when the mains switch is open (i.e.
 this breaks the circuit and stops the flow the plug socket or light switch is
electric current turned off)
o this is because it might still hold
Fuse ratings some potential difference
 tell us the level where a fuse will begin to o if you touched the live wire, your
melt. the fuse chosen should have a value body would supply a link between
just above the normal current that an the supply and the ground
electrical appliance uses o this is an electric shock
o e.g. if the operating current is 3.9A
and fuses with values of 3A, 5A or SP11 – Static Electricity
Like charges repel
  an object can be positively charges or o areas to receive ink are positively
negatively charged charged and the ink is negatively
 like charges repel each other charged, which ensures an even
 two positive charges will repel each other coat of ink in the right places
 two negative charges will repel each other  insecticide spraying
o insecticide is given an electrostatic
Opposite charges attract charge when it is released
 unlike charges attract each other o the insecticide is then attracted to
 negative charge and positive charge attract the earth so moves away from the
each other sprayer
o there is a repulsion between the
Losing/gaining electrons droplets of insecticide which means
 electrons are negatively charged the droplets don’t clump together
 an object that loses electrons becomes o this gives an even layer of
positively charged and an object that gains insecticide on the ground
electrons becomes negatively charged
Dangers of sparkling
Sparks  fuelling cars
 when there is a difference between the o when fuel is pumped through a
positive and negative charge of two hose into a car it rubs against the
objects, there is a potential difference hose
between the two objects. this potential o this results in an electrostatic
difference causes a rapid transfer of charge building up due to friction
charge. energy is stored in an electrostatic  imperfections and gaps
store and a spark is produced o there are imperfections in the fuel
 in clouds during a storm, charge builds up and gaps in the hose system so
and creates lightning, which is an example charged fuel can escape as vapour
of a spark o when gas leaks a tiny spark can
Rubbing an object ignite the vapour which can leave
 causes electrons to jump from one object catastrophic, explosive
to the other. this causes both objects to consequences
become charged  earthing
o it is important to make sure the
Charged rod hose supplying the fuel to the car is
 a plastic rod can be charged by rubbing it earthed
with a cloth o this reduces the risk of sparking
 the charges rod will attract a gentle stream from happening
of water falling from a tap
 the charged rod can move an empty Electric shocks
aluminium drink can. The charge on the  electric charge can sometimes build up on
rod attracts or repels the electrons in the an object
metal, moving the can  this results in a potential difference
between you and the charged object
Isolated objects  when you touch the charged object, a
 conductors allow charge to flow to earth, current can flow from the object to you,
so they would not maintain this charge this can detect your skin as a sharp pain –
 we call objects with no conducting path to an electric shock
earth isolated objects
Static electricity
Uses of static electricity
 photocopying
  one object becomes positive, one becomes
negative
o this results in a static electric force
between the objects

Electric fields
 charges objects create invisible electric
fields around themselves, just like magnets
create magnetic field around themselves
 if another electrically charged object
enters an electric field, the charged object
will feel a force acting on it

Electric field direction

 the direction of an electric field is the
direction that a positively charged object
would move at that point in the field
 the direction of an electric field is shown
on a diagram by arrows drawn onto the
electric field lines

Depends on charge and distance

 the closer the object is to the charged
object, the stronger the electric field
 the higher the charge of the object, the
stronger the electric field