Lecture 4

Electrodynamics

Moving charges (Current)

Ohms law

Resistance (and Energy)
Objectives

To define current

To define resistance and describe a
resistor

To describe ohmic materials
 Moving Charges

Metallic conductor - free electrons

Random motion of free electrons

Same number moving to the left and right

No net motion along the conductor
 Moving Charges

Potential difference
across a wire sets up an
electric field

Electric field: volts/meter

Example: Wire length =
1.5 m, voltage = 1.5 v

Electric field =
1 volt/meter =
1 Newton/Coulomb
 Moving Charges

The electric field will push the free electrons in one
direction

Electrons will move in the direction opposite of field

No net acceleration by free electrons due to collision
- average drift velocity
 Electric
Current

Net motion of charges in one direction: electric

current

Current is the rate of flow of positive charges

I=Q/t

Unit for current: amperes = coulomb/sec

Current depends on the flow rate of charges

Varying flow rate, varying current
Current

Flow of current is
synonymous to flow of
cars in a highway.

Cars Charges

Highway Conductor

Current Volume of
traffic
 Current Flow in Different
Materials
Conductors

N-type P-type
semiconductors semiconductors
 Current and Current Density

Current is a macroscopic
quantity

To describe current
microscopically, use
current density

Current density = J =
amount of current per
unit area
Units: amperes per I


J = lim
square meter A 0 A
 Current Density
Current density may be
function of position, i.e.,
current flow through a
material may be non-
uniform

Current flow through a wire

 Example

In a span of 10 sec, 4 x 1015 electrons move past a
certain point inside a circular wire with radius 1mm.

What is the average current through the wire?

What is the average current density?

I = Q/t
Q = 4 10 15 1 .602 10 19 = 64 .08 10 4 = 640 .8 C
64 .08 10 4
I= = 64 .08 A
10
I 64 .08 10 6 A
J= = = 20 .4
3 2
A (1 10 ) m2

Potential difference applied
Resistance across a conductor current tp
flow

Increased voltage, increased in
E field, increased drift velocity,
increased current

Different conductors passes
through different amount of
current even with constant
potential difference

Same conductors with
different dimensions also
passes different amount of
current

Conductor characteristic:
resistance
Resistance
Resistance is the ability of any material to
limit the amount of current that may
pass through it if there is a potential
difference applied across it

The unit of measurement is ohm () or

volt/ampere
Resistor

A device that exhibits resistance is
called a resistor
 Resistance and Resistivity

Resistance depends on length and cross-
sectional area of the conductor

Normalized resistance: resistivity
L
R =
A
 Resistance and Resistivity
L
R =

Resistivity, , units: ohm-meter A

Resistivity is taken at a certain temperature

Temperature coefficient of resistivity:
determines how much the resistivity change
per temperature degree (in ppm/C)

Positive temp coefficient:
resistivity increases with temperature
 Resistivity and Conductivity
 Conductivity - ability of a material to
pass current
 Conductivity = 1/resistivity
 = 1/
 Units for conductivity : (-m)-1
Resistivity of Some Materials
(in m)

Silver 1.47x10-8

Steel 20x10-8

Nichrome 100x10-8

Pure Silicon 2300

Amber 5x1014

Wood 108 1011
 Ohms Law

Impressing different
values of voltage
across a conductor
causes different values
of currents to flow

Plotting the current vs.
voltage will yield a
straight line where
slope = resistance
 Ohms Law
The voltage (or
potential difference)
across an ideal
conductor is
proportional to the
current through it.
George Simon Ohm
V= IR
 Ohms Law

Ohmic materials linear Volt-Ampere characteristics

Non-ohmic materials non-linear VI characteristics
 Energy and Power

Consider the electric circuit inside a flashlight

The bulb can be modeled as a resistance

Potential at the point where current enters the load is
higher than where current leaves
 Energy and Power

When electric charges passes through the
bulb, they lose energy because they move
from a region with high potential to a region
with low potential

The decrease in energy must be accompanied
by increase in another form of energy

For the light bulb, the energy lost by the
charges is converted to heat and light.

In a resistor, energy is converted to heat
 Energy and Power

Collisions of free electrons result in thermal vibrations
heat

Power consumed by a resistor = energy lost per unit
charge x number of charges passing per second

Power = Voltage x Current
Note:
Voltage Current
Energy Charge
=
Ch arg e Second
Energy
= = Power
Second
Example