PHYSICS REVISION

ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS
Current (A) the rate of flow of the negatively charged electrons around
the circuit
Voltage (V) the amount of electrical energy carried per unit charge of
electrons
Resistance () how difficult it is for the current to flow a result of the
moving electrons colliding with the atoms of the conductor (minimised by
using shorter, thicker wires)
Power (W) the rate at which energy is transformed
Ammeter used to measure current, connected in series with the other
components
Voltmeter used to measure voltage, connected in parallel with the other
components
Current (I) = Voltage (V)/ Resistance (R)
Power (P) = Current2 (I) x Resistance (R)

CIRCUITS

Electrical circuits can be arranged in two ways:

Series
Parallel

Current is the same

everywhere
Voltage of the circuit is the
sum of the voltage across
the components

Current of the circuit is the

sum of the current of each
branch
Voltage is the same
everywhere and equal to
the power supply

CURRENT, RESISTANCE AND VOLTAGE

In a circuit with a resistor (use variable to change resistance) at a constant
temperature, current flowing is directly proportional to the voltage in a
circuit and the resistance never changes. The resistance of a filament
lamp increases as the temperature of its filament increases with the
voltage. As a result the current flowing through a filament lamp is not
directly proportional to the voltage across it instead becoming gradually
less steep. Current and resistance are also inversely proportional.