E.m.f, internal resistance and terminal p.

d
Any component that supplies electrical energy is a source of electromotive force or e.m.f. 𝜺.
It is measured in volts (J𝐶 −1 ). The e.m.f. of a dry cell is 1.5V and a car battery is 12V.

The e.m.f. of the cell is the total work done by the cell (including work done on the internal
resistance and external load) per coulomb of charge that flows.

𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙

𝑒. 𝑚. 𝑓 =
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒

The energy gained by the charge comes from the chemical energy of the battery.

All power supplies have some resistance between their terminals, called internal resistance,
𝒓. This causes the charge circulating in the circuit to dissipate some electrical energy in the
power supply itself.
The p.d across the internal resistance is sometimes called the lost volts, 𝑽𝒓 .
The p.d across the load R is 𝑽.
Therefore by the law of conservation of energy:

𝜺= 𝑽𝒓 + 𝑽
P.d. across the load :

𝑽=𝜺 - 𝑽𝒓
If the current that flows is I, the lost voltage is equal to Ir.

𝑰𝑹 = 𝜺 − 𝑰𝒓
𝑽 = 𝜺 − 𝑰𝒓
𝑽 is the terminal potential difference. The terminal potential difference is the p.d between
the terminals of the cell when current is being delivered.
The e.m.f. of a car battery is 12V. It must have a very low internal resistance as the starter
motor requires a current of over 150A!
A large internal resistance – typically 50MΩ may be advantageous in a laboratory high-
voltage power supply for safety reasons, keeping the current to a fraction of a milliamp.

Finding the e.m.f and internal resistance for a cell

Step 1 : Set up the circuit and shown in the diagram using cell of 1.5V.
Step 2 : Starting with the variable resistor rheostat at its highest value (to minimise heating
effect).
Step 3 : Record current I in the cell and the voltage V, across its terminals, for different
settings of the rheostat. Use table below.

Step 4 : If you plot a graph of V against I, this will have a gradient equals to − 𝑟 and an
intercept of 𝜺 when I = 0.

𝑽 = (−𝒓)𝑰 + 𝜺
y = mx + c

Current/A Voltage/V Resistance=Voltage/Current