Petinglay, Carlo T.

Pugay, Bianca M.
Ramos, Jandra C.
Rapacon, Mark Giane Dave D.

Ohm’s Law

In 1825, a German physicist and mathematician named Georg Simon Ohm began
publishing his important works. His first published his observation that the electromagnetic force
produced by a wire decreases as the length of the wire increases. This was then followed by his
second publication in 1827. During this year, he wrote a book entitled Die Galvanische Kette,
Mathematisch Bearbeitet which stands for The Galvanic Circuit Investigated Mathematically. In
this book, he presented one of the most important discovery regarding the physics of electricity
called Ohm’s law. He showed the relationship between electrical resistance, electrical force, and
electrical current in a mathematical way to better understand the rest of his work. Unfortunately,
in Ohm’s time, the use of mathematics is not the right approach to physics. Thus, he had a hard
time convincing other physicist that his work was right.

Ohm created his own circuit by using a thermocouple as the source of voltage, a
galvanometer to measure current, and wires. He knew back then that the voltage between
thermocouple terminals are inversely proportional to the temperature. With this circuit, Ohm
found out that the voltage (V) between two terminals of a current carrying conductor is directly
proportional to the current (I) flowing through it. The proportionality constant, R, is the
resistance of the conductor. He formulated this observation as a law which became the most
basic law of electricity.

In an electric circuit, the current that a battery can supply or push through on a wire is
predetermined by the electric potential difference of the battery. Greater battery voltages lead to
larger electric currents. With that being said, the current being supplied in a circuit is directly
proportional to the voltage of the battery, Thus, a battery whose voltage is twice than another
battery will lead to twice as much current than the other, when both batteries are connected to the
same circuit.
However, electric current is not only being determined by the voltage alone. It is also
determined by the electrical resistance of the conducting material. Electrical resistance, ​R​, is
determined as the ratio of the voltage applied across a piece of material to the current through the
V
material. In simple mathematical terms, R = I
. ​This relationship establishes that a small
amount of current being supplied by a large amount of voltage will produce a large ratio, thus,
high resistance to the moving charge. Moreover, the ratio, resistance, is a constant. Every
conducting piece of metal has the same resistance over a wide range of voltages and currents.
Therefore, the relationship between the three electrical elements is defined as what everybody
calls Ohm’s law.

Ohm’s Law states that the electrical resistance of a piece of material is the ratio ​V/I where
V is the voltage applied across a piece of material and I is the current through the material. This
ratio is known to be a constant. In other terms, ​the electric potential difference between two
points on a circuit is equivalent to the product of the current between those two points and the
total resistance of all electrical devices present between those two points. The SI unit of
resistance is an ​ohm ​( Ω) which is equivalent to one volt per ampere.

V V
R= I
I= R
V = IR

The equations presented above are the same expression of the Ohm’s Law. The
ohm’s law is also an important algebraic recipe for determining the current if the electric
potential difference and the resistance are present. Moreover, the equations indicate that there are
two main variables that would affect the amount of current in an electric circuit. Ohm’s law
states that ​the current in a circuit is directly proportional to the electric potential difference
impressed across its ends and inversely proportional to the total resistance offered by the external
circuit. An increased battery voltage (i.e. electric potential difference) leads to an increase in
current. Also, an increase in the resistance leads to less current. In a circuit, electric charge flows
at the greatest rates when the battery voltage is increased and the resistance is decreased. A
twofold increase in the battery voltage would lead to a twofold increase in the current, given that
all other factors are kept equal. And an increase in the resistance of the load by a factor of two
would cause the current to decrease by a factor of two to one-half its original value.

To the extent that a wire or an electrical device offers resistance to the flow of charges, is called
a resistor. The resistance can have a wide range of values. Resistors play an essential role in
electric circuits, where they limit the amount of current and establish the desired voltage levels.
Because the current in a circuit is affected by the resistance, resistors are often used in the
circuits of electrical appliances to affect the amount of current that is present in its various
components. By increasing or decreasing the amount of resistance in a particular ​branch of the
circuit, a manufacturer can increase or decrease the amount of current in that ​branch​. Kitchen
appliances such as electric mixers and light dimmer switches operate by altering the current at
the load by increasing or decreasing the resistance of the circuit. Pushing the various buttons on
an electric mixer can change the mode from mixing to beating by reducing the resistance and
allowing more current to be present in the mixer. Similarly, turning a dial on a dimmer switch
can increase the resistance of its built-in resistor and thus reduce the current.

Fig. 1. Arrow Analysis for Resistance

An arrow analysis can be be used between current, resistance and voltage, to further understand
the relationship between the three, and is used to troubleshoot and electrical circuit. This is used
when a circuit is blowing a fuse. The fuse is replaced and the voltage is measured to obtain what
amount of voltage is actually needed. As shown in Fig.1, If there was an increase in the voltage
before the fuse blowed out, then resistance could be checked to see if it is the right amount used.
If resistance was right, then the voltage really was the problem. It could be in the power supply,
alternator, or generator.

The Ohm's law equation is often explored in physics labs using a resistor, a battery pack, an
ammeter, and a voltmeter. An ammeter is a device used to measure the current at a given
location. A voltmeter is a device equipped with probes that can be touched to two locations on a
circuit to determine the electric potential difference across those locations. By altering the
number of cells in the battery pack, the electric potential difference across the external circuit can
be varied. The voltmeter can be used to determine this potential difference and the ammeter can
be used to determine the current associated with this ΔV. A battery can be added to the battery
pack and the process can be repeated several times to yield a set of I-ΔV data. A plot of I versus
ΔV will yield a line with a slope that is equivalent to the reciprocal of the resistance of the
resistor. This can be compared to the manufacturer's stated value to determine the accuracy of the
lab data and the validity of the Ohm's law equation.

More equipments used with the application of Ohm’s law are DC Power Supply, Digital
Multimeter, and Breadboard. The DC Power Supply delivers different voltages to a circuit that is
provided. There are black and red connectors, which show negative and positive output terminals
respectively. The power supply’s output voltage is controlled by a presence of a voltage knob.
Current is limited by a current knob, which should always be at its maximum settings. The
Digital Multimeter provides multiple functions which includes a voltmeter and an ammeter. To
use the multimeter as a voltmeter, the dial selector must be set to the position labeled as “V” and
as an ammeter with a position labeled as “A”. The breadboard is used for a quick construction of
a circuit. Resistors can be easily attached with the use of metal spring clips located in the middle
of the board.

References:
The Physics Classroom. (2016). Ohm's Law. Retrieved May 28, 2017, from
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circuits/Lesson-3/Ohm-s-Law
Cutnell, J. D., & Johnson, K. W. (2015). ​Cutnell & Johnson physics 10e:
international student version​ (10th ed.). Hoboken: Wiley
http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/ohmlawexperiments.html
Ohm’s Law (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.windowtintingin239.com/files/ohms_law.pdf
Experiment 2: Ohm’s Law (2013). Retrieved from
https://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/2014spring/PHY252/Lab2.pdf