Electricity:

Charge and Current:

• Electrical Current is the net flow of charged particles.

• In metals, the electric current is due to movement of electrons

• In Electrolytes ( a conducting solution), the mobile charges are positive and negative
ions, which are attracted to the oppositely charged electrodes. It is the movement of these
ions which generate the electrical current in electrolytes

Conventional Current and Electron Flow:

• Before electrons was discovered, it was assumed that positive charge flows from positive
to negative terminal. This is known as conventional current.

• Conventional current is where current flows from the positive to negative terminal (In all A
level questions, assume conventional current unless stated otherwise)

• However, we now know electrons flow around the circuit form the negative to positive
terminal, as electrons have a negative charge and are attracted to the positive terminal.

• This is electron flow, where electrons flow from the negative to positive terminal.

Charge, Current, Coulombs, Ammeters:

Current is the rate of flow of charge. This is shown through equation:

or Q = IT
• Current can be measured by connecting an ammeter in series in a circuit

• One Coulomb is the charge that passes a point in a circuit when a current of 1 amp
flows for one second.

• Elementary charge: Each electron has an elementary charge of 1.6 x 10 -19 C

Kirchoff’s first law:

The sum of currents entering a junction is equal to the sum of currents exiting a
junction in a circuit.
• Current is rate of flow of charge. Charge cannot disappear or get used up as the number
of electrons stay constant

• Kirchoff’s first law is based on the idea that current is conserved, it cannot be created or
destroyed.
Drift Velocity:

• Conduction electrons in a metal move around rapidly in random directions

• When a voltage is applied, the electrons gain an additional velocity along the wire

• The mean drift velocity v (of electrons/ charged carriers) is the average extra velocity
gained by the electrons

• The greater the value of the current ( the greater the rate of flow of charge), the greater
the value of v (average additional velocity gained by electrons)

I = nAve
• Current does not only just depend upon the mean drift velocity of the electrons.

• Current also depends on the cross sectional area of the metal. The greater the cross
sectional area, the greater the current (as more electrons can move past a point in the
circuit, increasing the charge)

• Current also depends on number density n of electrons in metal. The greater the
number density of electrons in a metal, the greater the current ( as there are more
electrons flowing, increasing the charge)

Number Density in Conductors, Semi-Conductors and Insulators:

• Metals have high number density of electrons, so drift velocities are low

• Semi conductors have a far smaller number density (far fewer free electrons), so drift
velocities are much higher

• For insulators, number density of electrons is close to zero

Circuit Symbols:
 EMF and PD:

Voltmeter must be connected across terminals of a component to measure the PD across

it; it must be connected in parallel with it

or W = VQ

1 volt is one joule of energy transferred per coulomb of charge.

Potential Difference- is the energy transferred per unit charge when electrical energy is
converted into another type of energy (e.g. lamp: electrical --> light + (heat))

Electromotive Force - is the energy transferred per unit charge when energy transferred
per unit charge when one type of energy is converted into electrical energy (e.g. battery:
chemical --> electrical). The electromotive force of a power supply is a measure of how
much energy is given to each unit of charge or the work it does in pushing 1 C of charge
around a complete circuit

Combining EMFs - when two or more sources of EMF are connected in series, their
voltages add up. They must be connected positive - to - negative otherwise the E.M.F.s
subtract

Resistance:

• Potential Difference is needed to push a current through a component

• The Electrical Resistance of the component tells us how difficult to make charge flow
through it

• The more Resistance there is, the more energy is needed to push the same number of
electrons through a part of the circuit
• One Ohm of resistance takes a p.d. of 1 volt to make a current of 1 amp to flow through
it. One Ohm is One Volt per Amp.

Ohm’s Law:

The current through a conductor is proportional to the potential difference across it,
provided physical conditions, such as temperature remains constant.

I-V Characteristics of Resistor at constant temperature:

• At constant temperature, current through a resistor is directly proportional to the PD

across it. It obeys Ohm’s law

I-V Characteristics of a Filament Lamp:

• The filament in a lamp is a fine metal wire inside the lamp

• The lamp does not just emit light but also emits heat energy

• An increase in current causes resistance of the filament to increase

• As current in the filament increases, the temperature of the filament (and amount of light
energy) also increases

• The increase in temperatures causes the positive ions in the metal filament to vibrate
more which makes it harder for conduction electrons to pass through the filament

• Therefore, as the temperature increases, the resistance increases

 I-V characteristics of a Light Emitting Diode (LED):

• A diode is a component which only allows current in one direction only, in reverse
direction only a very small current flows

• A light emitting diode only emits light when a large enough current passes through it in
the correct direction known as the ‘forward’ direction ( In diagram, current only flows in
forward direction when PD is above 0.4V)

• Diodes are connected so that the triangle in their circuit symbol points in the direction
that conventional current flows
 Advantages of using LEDs over filament lamps:

• Longer working life

• Switch on instantly (unlike energy saving bulbs)

• Operating with a low PD

Uses of LEDs:

• Small scale - Power light on electronic goods

• Large scale - Clusters of thousands of LEDs in traffic lights

Experiment to obtain the I-V characteristics of components:

• An Ammeter connected in series measures the current through a component

• A Voltmeter connected in parallel measures the PD across the resistor

• Reversing the connections to the resistors makes the current flow through in opposite
direction (useful for LED characteristics)

• Results of such an experiment can be plotted on an I-V graph

Resistivity:

• Some materials resist the flow of electrical current more than others. This property is
known as resistivity

• Resistivity is a property of a material, while Resistance is a property of an object

• Resistivity depends on the material. The structure may make it easy or difficult for charge
to flow.

• In general, resistivity also depends on environmental factors as well like temperature and
light intensity

Factors that determine resistance:

1. Length (L) The longer the wire, the more difficult it is to make current flow, the higher
the resistance

2. Area (A) The wider the wire, the easier it will be for the electrons to pass along it, the
lower the resistance

3. Resistivity (ρ) The higher the resistivity, the more the material resists the flow of
electrical current, the higher the resistance

This can be summarized in the following formula for resistance:

R = ρl/A
• Temperature also affects resistance, as seen earlier when looking at I-V characteristics

How Temperature affects Resistivity of Metals:

• Increase in temperature means an increase in resistance, as positive ions vibrate

more vigorously when temperature increases which makes it harder for conduction
electrons to pass through the metal e.g. Filament

• Therefore, an increase in the temperature increases the resistivity of the material

• Resistivity is directly proportional to temperature (in kelvin)

• Metals have a positive temperature coefficient i.e. as temperature goes up, resistivity
goes up

How Temperature affects Resistivity of Semi-Conductors:

• Semi conductors e.g. thermistors, diodes, LDRs demonstrate opposite behaviour to

metals

• As temperature increases, the number of ‘free electrons’ also increases, as more

electrons break free from their atoms

• Resistance and therefore resistivity therefore decreases when temperatures goes up

• Semi conductors have a negative temperature coefficient i.e. as temperature goes up,
resistivity goes down

• Thermistors have high resistance when cold and low resistance when hot

Resistance - Temperature characteristics for Metals and Semi-conductors

• Pure metal wire: Resistance increases gradually as temperature is increased

• NTC thermistor: Resistance decreases rapidly over a narrow range of temperature

Power:

Power is the rate of energy transferred or work done

P = IV or P = I2 R or

The Kilowatt Hour:

W = IVT
• Electrical energy is measured in units of kWhr so people can be charged for the amount
of electricity they use. At this very moment, 1 kWhr of energy costs about 7p

Energy = power x time

 kWhr = kW x hr = 1000 x 60 x 60 = 3 600 000 J

• This can be used to find out the costs of supplying electricity. First find out the energy
used in terms of kilowatt hours and then multiply this by the cost per kilowatt hour.

Fuses:

• Electrical appliances are protected from dangerous overloading by the fuse in the plug

• The fuse is made of thin copper wire in a ceramic casing

• Above a certain value of current, the wire becomes so hot that it melts, breaking the
circuit

• A fuse should therefore be chosen so that its rating is a little higher than the maximum
current drawn by the device when its operating correctly

• Most household appliances use fuses of 3A, 5A or 13A

• For example, if a plug of 1KW electric fire is connected to household mains (230V), what
fuse should be used?

I = P/ V = 1000/ 230 = 4.3 A

Therefore, a 5A fuse should be used. The fuse is rated slightly higher than maximum
current of 4.3A drawn by the device

Series and Parallel Circuits:

Kirchoff’s second law:

The sum of the e.m.f.s around any closed circuit loop is equal to the sum of p.d.s

• Kirchoff’s second law is based on the conservation of energy. The total amount of energy
put in (sum of e.m.f.s) is equal to the total amount of energy taken out (sum of p.d.s)

Resistors in Series:
 But V = IR, so:

Cancel the I's:

Resistors in Parallel:

Cancel the V's to get:

Internal Resistance of Sources of e.m.f:

• Current flows all the way round the circuit including the interior of the supply (from
negative to positive terminal - conventional current)

• The interior of a supply is made up of chemicals or metal wire, and must have resistance

• This is known as the internal resistance r of the power supply and is shown in the circuit
 Terminal PD + Lost Volts:

• Terminal PD refers to the PD across the terminals of the supply/ battery

• If the cell is not connected to a circuit, no current flows so the P.D. across the terminals

• As soon as the cell is connected to a circuit, the terminal P.D. decreases because the cell
has its own internal resistance, and as soon as some current flows, some of the energy is
used within the cell to overcome the internal resistance

• The energy wasted per coulomb overcoming the internal resistance is known as the ‘lost
volts’ (r is internal resistance)

E.M.F = P.D. Across Terminals + ‘Lost Volts’

E = IR + Ir = I(R+r) = V+ Ir
• Varying the value of R ( through a variable resistor), makes the current change. A graph
can be plotted to show this, showing the greater the current that flows from the supply, the
smaller its terminal PD, as the greater the current the greater the internal resistance
Y intercept = EMF Gradient = -R

• Therefore, it is crucial that most power supplies have a low internal resistance to reduce
‘lost volts’

• The idea of internal resistance can also be applied to voltmeters. Voltmeters should have
high internal resistances so only a tiny negligible current will flow, so its reading will
therefore indicate the e.m.f. of the supply by making the ‘lost volts’ as close to 0 as
possible
 Potential Dividers:

• The P.D. provided by a supply can be reduced by connecting two resistors across its
terminal

• The bigger resistor takes the bigger share of PD, the smaller resistor takes the smaller
share of PD. In other words, the Ratio of Resistances = Ratio of Voltages

• Variable resistors can therefore be used in potential divider circuits to produce a variable
PD

How resistance of a LDR is affected by intensity of light:

• Bright - Lower Resistance

• Dark - Higher Resistance

Why and How thermistors and LDRs are used in Potential Divider circuits:

• LDR - Shining light on the LDR will decrease its resistance, Vout will decrease

• Therefore, LDRs can be used in potential divider circuits to monitor changes in light
intensity

• This means that LDRs can be used in a potential divider control circuit to switch lights on
as it gets dark, as in the dark, the resistance increases, giving a higher voltage output so
the light will stay on. This is how street lights work

• NTC thermistor - Warming the NTC thermistor will decrease its resistance, Vout will
decrease
• Therefore, thermistors can be used in potential divider circuits to monitor changes in
temperature

• Thermistors can be used to control output from a heater. When the heater gets too hot,
the resistance will decrease, and the voltage output will fall, and the heater will therefore
switch off

• A datalogger can be used as well as it can record the changes in the output of the kettle
to produce a continuous record of temperatures