Physics

Faculty of Computer Science

& Information Technology
Class & Laboratory Textbook
2
 Lecture: 1*
Outline Voltage, Current and Resistance
▪ Introduction.
▪ Voltage.
▪ Current.
▪ Resistance.
▪ Electric Circuit.
▪ Ohm’s Law.
▪ Energy and Power
* Floyd, T. L. (2014), Principles of Electric Circuits: Conventional Current Version, ch2-ch4, p. 26.
3
Introduction

4
 Electrical Charge
• Charge is symbolized by the letter Q.
• Materials with charges of opposite polarity are attracted to each other &
materials with charges of the same polarity are repelled.
 Coulomb’s law
• Coulomb’s law :
“A force (F) exists between two point-source charges 𝑸𝟏 , 𝑸𝟐 that is
directly proportional to the product of the two charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance (d) between the charges”.

𝑄1 𝑄2
𝐹=𝑘
𝑟2

➢K is the coulomb constant.

➢Electrical charge (Q) is measured in coulombs (C).
 Atomic Structure
• An atom is the smallest particle of an element
that retains the characteristics of that element.
• According to the classic Bohr model, an atom is
visualized as having a planetary structure that
consists of a central nucleus surrounded by
orbiting electrons.
• The nucleus consists of +ve charged particles
called protons and uncharged particles called
neutrons.

• The particles of -ve charge are called electrons, which orbit the nucleus.
 Atomic Structure
Hydrogen
➢For example
• The simplest atom is that of hydrogen,
which has 1 proton and 1 electron.

Helium
• The helium atom has 2 protons and 2
neutrons in the nucleus & 2 electrons
orbiting the nucleus.
 Atomic Structure
• All elements are arranged in the periodic table of the elements in order
according to their atomic number.
• The atomic number = the number of protons in the nucleus.
➢For example, hydrogen has an atomic number of 1 & helium has an atomic
number of 2.
❑ In their normal (or neutral) state, all atoms of a given element have the
same number of electrons as protons.
❑The +ve charges cancel the -ve charges, and the atom has a net charge of
zero, making it electrically balanced.
10
 Shells, Orbits, and Energy Levels
• In the Bohr model, electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom at
certain distances from the nucleus & are restricted to these
specific orbits.
• Each orbit corresponds to a different energy level within the
atom known as a shell. The shells are designated 1, 2, 3, and
so on, with 1 being closest to the nucleus.
• Electrons further from the nucleus are at higher energy
levels.
• The electrons can only absorb or emit a specific amount of energy that represents the
exact difference between the levels.
• If an electron absorbs a photon with sufficient energy (ionization energy), it escapes from
the atom and becomes a free electron. The atom is left with a net +ve charge and becomes
a +ve ion. An atom can acquire an electron, in which case it is called a -ve ion.
 Valence Electrons
• Electrons in orbits farther from the nucleus have higher energy
and are less tightly bound to the atom than those closer to the
nucleus.
• This is because the attraction force between +ve charged nucleus
& -ve charged electron decreases ↓ with increasing ↑ distance
from the nucleus.
• This outermost shell is known as the valence shell, and electrons in
this shell are called valence electrons.
• These valence electrons contribute to chemical reactions & they
determine the material’s electrical properties.
 The Copper Atom
• Copper (Cu) is the most commonly used metal in electrical applications, it has 29
electrons that orbit the nucleus in 4 shells.
• The number of electrons in each shell follows the formula 2𝑁 2 , where N is the
number of the shell.
• The 1st shell of any atom have 2 electrons.
• The 2nd shell up to 8 electrons.
• The 3rd shell up to 18 electrons.
• The 4th shell up to 32 electrons.
➢Copper atom has only one valence electron
in its 4th shell (the valence shell).
• The inner shells are called the core.
 The Copper Atom
• When the valence electron in the copper atom gains sufficient
thermal energy, it can break away from the parent atom and
become a free electron.
• In a piece of copper at room
temperature, a “sea” of these free
electrons is present.

• Free electrons make copper an

excellent conductor and make
electrical current possible.
 Categories of
Materials

Insulators Conductors Semiconductors

• They are poor • They have fewer free

• Materials that have a electrons than do
conductors of electric
large number of free conductors.
current; they are used to
electrons .
prevent current where it • Semiconductors have
is not wanted. four valence electrons in
• Characterized by one to
• Insulators have no free their atomic structures.
three valence electrons
electrons in their • They are the basis for
in their structure.
structure. electronic devices

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Voltage

17
 Voltage
• The work done per unit charge by the electric force when a charged body moves from 𝒂
to 𝒃 is equal to the potential at 𝒂 minus the potential at 𝒃.

𝑾𝒂→𝒃
𝑽𝒂𝒃 = = 𝑽𝒂 − 𝑽𝒃
𝒒𝟎

➢ 𝑽𝒂 & 𝑽𝒃 the potential at point 𝒂 and potential at point 𝒃.

• In electric circuits, the potential difference between two points is often called voltage.
 The Voltage Source
• A voltage source provides electrical energy
or electromotive force (emf), more
commonly known as voltage.
• Voltage sources can be either dc or ac. A
common symbol for a dc voltage source is
shown in Figure (a) and one for an ac
voltage source is shown in part (b).
Current

20
 Current
• Voltage provides energy to electrons, allowing them to move through a circuit.
• This movement of electrons is the current.
• Free electrons are available in all conductive and semiconductive materials.
• The outer-shell electrons are loosely bound to the positive metal ions in the
material, but because of thermal energy, they are free to move about the
crystalline structure of the metal.
• These electrons drift randomly in all directions within the structure of the
material.
 Current
• If a voltage is placed across a conductive or semiconductive material, the
repulsive force produced by the negative voltage at the left end causes the
free electrons (negative charges) to move toward the right.

• The attractive force produced by the positive voltage at the right end pulls the
free electrons to the right.

• The result is a net movement of the free electrons from the negative end of
the material to the positive end.
 Current
• Electrical current (I) is the rate of flow of charge.
• Current in a conductive material is determined by the number of
electrons (amount of charge, Q) that flow past a point in a unit of
time (t).
Ampere
𝑸 (A)
𝑰=
𝒕
 Example 1
• 10 coulombs of charge flow past a given point in a
wire in 2 s. What is the current in amperes?
Resistance

25
 Resistance
• When there is current through a material, the free electrons move
through the material and occasionally collide with atoms. These
collisions cause the electrons to lose some of their energy, thus
restricting their movement.
• The more the collisions → the more the flow of electrons is restricted.

• This restriction varies and is determined by the type of material.

• Resistance (R) is the opposition to current and is expressed in ohms
(Ω).
 Resistance

• Conductance (G) is the reciprocal of resistance.

• It is a measure of the ease with which current is established.
The formula is
1 Siemens
𝐺= (S)
𝑅
• For example, the conductance of a 22 KΩ resistor is:
1
𝐺= = 45.5 𝜇𝑆
22 𝑘Ω
 Resistors Color Codes
• Fixed Resistors are available with a large
selection of resistance values that are set
during manufacturing and cannot be changed
easily.
• Fixed resistors with value tolerances of 5% or
10% are color coded with four bands to
indicate the resistance value and the
tolerance.

For example, a 100 Ω resistor with a tolerance of

±5% can have an acceptable range of values from
a minimum of 95 Ω to a maximum of 105 Ω.
 Example 2
• Find the resistance value in ohms and the
percent tolerance for each of the color-coded
resistors shown in figure.
The Electric Circuit

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 The Electric Circuit
• A basic electric circuit is an arrangement of physical
components that use voltage, current, and resistance
to perform some useful function.

➢Direction of Current

• There are two accepted directions of electrical current:

❖Electron flow direction assumes that current is out of the − ve terminal of a voltage
source, through the circuit, and into the + ve terminal of the source.

❖Conventional current direction assumes that current is out of the + ve terminal of a

voltage source, through the circuit, and into the − ve terminal of the source.

✓We use conventional current direction.

Wire Resistance
• Although copper wire conducts electricity extremely well, it still has
some resistance, as do all conductors.
• The resistance of a wire depends on three physical characteristics:
(a) type of material, (b) length of wire (𝑙), (c) cross-sectional area (A)
and temperature can also affect the resistance.

𝜌𝑙
𝑅=
𝐴

• Unit of resistivity (𝝆) is Ω.m

• Each type of conductive material has a characteristic called its
resistivity, 𝜌, and is constant at a given temperature.
 Example 3
• Find the resistance of a 3 cm length of copper wire with a
cross-sectional area of 4 × 10-6 cm2. the resistivity of
copper is 1.724 × 10-8 Ω.m.

𝟏.𝟕𝟐𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟔 ×𝟑
𝑹= = 𝟏. 𝟐𝟗 𝜴
𝟒×𝟏𝟎−𝟔
Ohm’s Law

35
 Ohm’s Law
• Ohm’s law describes mathematically how voltage, current, and resistance in a circuit are related.
• Ohm’s law states that “current (I) is directly proportional to voltage (V) and inversely proportional to
resistance (R)”:
𝑉
𝐼=
𝑅
• For a constant value of R, if the value of V is increased , the value of I is increased ; if V is
decreased , I is decreases .
 Example 4
• Show that if the voltage in the circuit
is increased to three times its present
value, the current will triple in value.
 Example 5
• How many amperes of current are in the circuit?

• If the resistance in the circuit is changed to 47 Ω and the voltage to 50 V,

what is the new value of current?
 Example 6
• Calculate the current in the circuit.
 Example 7
• How many milliamperes are in the circuit of figure?
Energy and Power

41
 Energy and Power
• Energy is the ability to do work, and power is the rate at which energy is
used.
• Power (P) is a certain amount of energy (W) used in a certain time (t):

𝑊 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒
𝑃= Watt
𝑡 𝑆

• One watt (W) is the amount of power when one joule of energy is used in
one second.
 Example 8
• An amount of energy equal to 100 J is used in 5 s. What is the
power in watts?
 The Kilowatt-hour (kWh) Unit of Energy
• The joule has been defined as a unit of energy. However, there is another
way to express energy.
• Since power is expressed in watts and time in seconds, units of energy
called the watt-second (Ws), watt-hour (Wh), and kilowatt-hour (kWh)
can be used.
• When you pay your electric bill, you are charged on the basis of the
amount of energy you use, not the power. Because power companies
deal in huge amounts of energy, the most practical unit is the kilowatt-
hour.
• For example, a 100 W light bulb burning for 10 h uses 1 kWh of energy.
𝑊 = 𝑃𝑡 = 100 𝑊 10 ℎ = 1 𝐾𝑊ℎ
 Example 9
• Determine the number of kilowatt-hours (KWh) for each
of the following energy consumptions:
 Power in an Electric Circuit
• When there is current through resistance,
the collisions of the electrons produce
heat as a result of the conversion of
electrical energy .
• The amount of power dissipated in an electric circuit is dependent on the
amount of resistance and on the amount of current:
𝑃=𝐼𝑉
• For ohmic resistors, substituting V for IR 𝐼2 𝑖𝑠 𝐼 × 𝐼 :
𝑉 2
𝑃 = 𝐼2 𝑅 =
𝑅
Example 10
• Calculate the power in each of the three circuits.
 Example 11
• A 100 W light bulb operates on 120 V. How much current
does it require?