AS-LEVEL ELECTRICITY

Electricity: Is a form of energy resulting from the presence of

charges in an object.
Types of Electricity: There are two types of electricity, namely;
i. Static electricity (Electrostatics): Is when charges or
electrons make slight jumps from one object to another.
Charge (Q): Is the amount of electricity present in an object,
and it is given by the product of the current and the time for
which the current flows in the object. The unit is coulomb, C.
The Coulomb (C): Can be defined as the charge passing a point
in a wire each second when the current is exactly 1A.
The charge on an electron is -1.6 x 10-19 C
[1e = -1.6 x 10-19 C]
Hence; 1C of charge contains about 6.25 x 1018 electrons
6.25 x 1018e = 1C
For a steady current, Q = It [Q = charge, I = current and t= time]
Types of charge: There are two types of charge;
 i. Positive charge (proton)
ii. Negative charge (electron)
 Law of charges: States that like charges repel each other,
but unlike charges attract each other.
Electric field: Is the space around a charge where it
experiences a force
Electric field lines;
 Are imaginary lines that show the strength and direction of
force on charge.
 They are smooth curves that run from positive to negative
 They have arrows which run or point from positive to
negative
 A uniform field has the same distance between the plates
at all points.
 A radial field spreads outwards from the charge.
ii. Current electricity: Deals with the flow of charges through
a circuit; from a cell or battery through electrical
components and back to the cell or battery.
Electric Current (I): Is a flow of charge carriers per unit time.
The unit of electric current is Amps, A.
One Ampere is defined as the current in two infinitely long
straight wires 1m apart in a vacuum which produces a force of
2 x 10-7 Nm-1 on each wire.
Charge carriers: In a metal are free electrons in the metal.
Note that the charge on charge carriers is quantized; this
implies that the charge is not continuous but exists only in
discrete amounts.
There are two types of electric current, these are;
 Alternating current (ac); is very dangerous, has big
magnitude and can flow in different directions
 Direct current (dc); flows in one direction, it normally has
small values and is less dangerous.
Q
The Formula that relates current, time and charge is; I = t

For a current-carrying conductor, e.g. a wire of uniform cross-

sectional area with changing current, the current will be given
by; I = nAve or I = nAqv
[I = current, n = number density, q/e = charge
A = area of wire, v = drift velocity]
(Figures 8.9 & 8.10)
Number density (n): Refers to the total number of charge
carriers in the entire volume of the wire.
Drift velocity (v): Refers to the snail pace (speed) at which the
free electrons in the wire move.
q
From I = t

Suppose each charge carrier takes time t second to move from

one end to the other, then the length of the wire would be, s =
vt, and the volume occupied by each charge carrier in the wire
would be As = Avt.
Now the total number of charge carriers in the wire will be
nAvt and the total charge of all the charge carriers will be
qnAvt.
Substitute qnAvt for q in the current equation above,
qnAvt
I= t and this gives I = nAvq or I = nAve

Example: Determine the speed of the free electrons in a copper

wire of diameter 1mm carrying a current of 5A if the number of
free electrons per m3 in copper at room temperature is about
1029 and charge on an electron is -1.6 x 10-19C.
Data [I=5A n=1029 e or q=1.6 x 10-19C A= π r2 v=?]
I
From I = nAve, v= nAq Answer, v=4.0 x 10-4ms-1

Home work 01
1. Estimate the drift velocity of free electrons along a copper
wire of diameter 0.4mm carrying a steady current of 16A.
Assume that copper contains 1.0 x 1029 electrons per m3.
2. The average drift speed in a metal wire is 6.5 x 10-4 ms-1. The
cross-sectional area of the wire is 1.2mm2. There is about 8.5 x
1026 charge carriers (free electron) m-3. Calculate the current in
the wire.
3. Do the first 10 questions in chapter 8
Functions of some electrical components
A mains circuit: Consists of three wires, namely;
i. a live wire (line wire): Always carry current at about
230V, it is dangerous and must be treated with caution
and by a professional.
ii. a neutral wire: Completes the circuit by carrying
electricity back to the source at 0V, it is not dangerous
unless there is a problem with the circuit.
iii. an earth wire: Provides a low resistance path for excess
current to flow to the earth which helps to prevent
electric shock and other hazards.
Fuse: Is a short length of wire of material with a low melting
point, which melts and breaks the circuit when the current in it
exceeds the fuse rating.
Fuse rating: Is the maximum amount of current a fuse can carry
before it melts.
Trip switches: Are electrical devices found on the fuse box,
designed to turn off the power to the circuit with a fault, and
remains off until the fault is fixed.
 A switch or a fuse must be connected to the live wire for
the circuit to be switched off safely.
Light Emitting Diode (LED): Is an indicator lamp designed to
glow when a small current passes through it.
Diode: Is an electrical component that lets current flow through
it in one direction only. It rectifies current; this means that it
can change ac to dc if it is forward biased (its positive terminal
connected to positive terminal of battery).
 Electrical safety is a prerequisite to all because there exist
several hazards (dangers) about electricity.
Some Hazards of electricity include;
(a) Damaged insulation: Ensure not to touch electric cable that
is not properly insulated because electric shock is fatal.
(b) Overheating cables: Use bigger cable for bigger currents to
avoid heating effects of current (risk of fire).
(c) Damp conditions: Avoid damp conditions because water is a
conductor of electricity.
 (d) Excess current from overloading of plugs, extension leads,
single and multiple sockets when using a mains supply should
be avoided for risk of fire and shock.
Home work 02
1. a)Draw and label all of the circuit or electrical components
found in Table 8,1; e.g. Heater, Ammeter, Galvanometer,
Transistor, Diode, Fuse, Fixed Resistor, Variable Resistor, Lamp,
Electric Bell, Buzzer, Thermistor, dc Electric Cell, dc Battery, ac
power supply, ac Generator, dc Motor, Loud speaker,
Microphone, Earthed wire, Joined wires, Light Emitting Diode
(LED), Light Dependent Resistor (LDR), Switch etc.
b) Draw and label Current-Voltage graphs (I-V graphs) of these
electrical components and explain them;
i) Filament lamp (Figure 10.4)
ii) Ohmmic conductor (Figure 10.2)
iii) Diode (Figure 10.7)
iv) Thermistor (Figure 10.9)
Relationship between Electrical energy and Voltage
Electrical energy (E or W): Is the work done (energy expended)
when a charge moves through a given distance in a conductor.
W = QV or E = QV
Voltage (V): Is the electrical energy per unit charge converted
in a circuit. Unit is volt, V.
Voltage could be divided into two;
i. Electromotive force (emf): Of a source can be defined
as the electrical energy transferred per unit charge in
driving charge around a complete circuit.
ii. Potential difference (p.d.): Is the electrical energy per
unit charge converted to other forms of energy in a
circuit.
W
V= Q [V is emf or pd, Q is charge and W is energy]

Internal resistance, Lost volts and Terminal pd

Internal resistance (r): Is the resistance of a battery or cell due
to the chemicals between its terminals.
Terminal pd: Is the pd across the external resistor in a circuit.
Lost volt: Is the emf loss due to the internal resistance of the
cell or battery.
Note that a source of emf can supply maximum current
through a circuit when its internal resistance is equal to the
resistance in the external circuit.
Draw Figures 11.2 and 11.3 (Measurement of internal
resistance)
Ohm’s law: States that the current in a metallic
conductor is directly proportional to the potential across
it, if temperature is kept constant.
V V
V = IR R= I I= R

Home work 03
1 Copy Table 10.2
2. Do all of End of Chapter 10 questions (Exam style questions)
Electric circuit
Is closed loop of electrical components with a power supply
(source of voltage). There are two types of electric circuits;
Series and Parallel circuits.
i. In a Series Circuit (Voltage divider circuit): Has
components are joined end to end with each other. The
current will be the same at any point.
Kirchhoff’s second law (Law of conservation of energy): States
that the net emf of a circuit is equal to the sum of the pds in the
circuit.
A variable Potential Divider sometimes has two resistors in
series, so that the ratio of their resistances is equal to the ratio
of their p.ds.
R1 V1 R1
R2
= V2
V1 = ( Rt
)V

Emf = V1 + V2 IR = IR1 + IR2 Hence; R = R 1 + R2

Example, find V2 given that R1=25 Ω, R2=75Ω and V1=10V
75 x 10
V2 = 25

V2 = 30V
 ii. In a Parallel circuit, the components are placed side by
side to form two or more loops. The voltage will be the
same in the loops.
Kirchhoff’s first law (Law of conservation of charges): States
that the sum of current entering a junction is equal to the sum
of current leaving the junction.
V
I = I1 + I2 But I= R
V V V 1 1 1
R = R1 + R2 [Dividing by V] R = R1 + R2

Rt
I1 = ( R 1 )I I1R 1 = I2R 2

Advantages of parallel circuit over series circuit

 Combined resistance of two or more resistors is smaller
than the least among them in a parallel circuit, but the
combined resistance of resistors is large in a series circuit.
 A component in a parallel loop may be faulty and a good
one in the other loop can still function, but if a component
in a series circuit is damaged, the circuit will be broken and
other components will not function.
 Voltage is the same in all loop of a parallel circuit, but
voltage may be different in a series circuit.
Electrical Power (P): Is the rate at which electrical energy is
expended. The unit is Watt, W.
The Watt: Is the power of 1J of energy expended in 1s.
Power equations
W QV
P= t P= t P = VI P = V2/R P = I 2R

Home work 04:

1 Do the first 12 questions in chapter 9
2 Do of end of chapter 11 questions (Exam style questions)