Current Electricity

1. Flow of charge constitutes electric current. Positive charge always flows from higher potential to lower potential till the potentials become equal. But if there is an agency which does some amount of work to maintain the potential difference between the points then we can get sustained electric current. Cell is one such device which does some work to maintain this potential difference. 2. Electromotive force is not a force. Rather it is the work done in driving one unit of charge once round the circuit. Its unit therefore is joule/coulomb i.e. volt. We define one volt as the emf of that cell which does one joule of work in driving one coulomb of charge once round a closed circuit. Later on you will see that emf is also the terminal pot. diff. of a cell when the cell is sending no current. 3. When current flows through a conductor which has free electrons, the free electrons in their journey collide with the fixed positive ions and lose energy. This energy appears as heat and this is the reason why the conductors get heated when electric current passes through them. These collisions are the cause of electrical resistance. The average time between two successive collisions is called the average relaxation time . 4. Drift velocity is the average velocity with which free electrons get drifted towards the positive end ofthe conductor under the influence of an external field. It is eE given by v d = ; where m is the mass of an electron and is the average
m

relaxation time 5. Current is the rate of flow of charge and is given by I =

q . The unit of current is t

ampere. One ampere actually means that charge is flowing at the rate of one coulomb per second. 6. Current through a conductor is given by I = Anev d where A is the area of cross section of the conductor, n is the no. of free electrons per unit vol. of the conductor. 7. Ohms Law states that the current I flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the pot. diff. V applied across its ends provided the temperature, mechanical strain and other physical conditions remain constant. i.e. V I or

V = RI or

V = R where R is known as the resistance. I

8. Those conductors which follow ohms law are called ohmic conductors and those which do not are called non-ohmic conductors. The characteristic of all ohmic conductors is that the graph between I and V will be linear and must necessarily pass through the origin. 9. Unit of resistance is pronounced as ohm. One ohm resistance is that resistance across which if a pot. diff. of one volt is applied, the current through it will be one amp.

10. Resistance of a conductor is directly proportional to its length and inversely proportional to its area of cross section. i.e. R
l l or R = . is known as A A

the resistivity of the material. Resistivity is also known by the name Specific Resistance. It is defined as the resistance of a unit cube of the material. Remember that resistivity is a material property but resistance is not. Unit of m Resistivity is Ohm m. Resistivity of a material is given by = 2 . i.e. the ne resistivity of a material depends upon the number density of free electron and the average relaxation time. 11. Inverse of resistance is known as conductance and inverse of resistivity is known as conductivity. The unit of conductance is mho or Siemen. Unit of conductivity is Siemen m-1 12. Current density is nothing but the current per unit area of cross section of the conductor. It is denoted by J J =
I and its unit is Am-2 A

13. If the temperature of the conductor is increased, the ions in the metal vibrate with a greater amplitude and hence the probability of collision with an electron increases. This decreases the and hence the resistance increases in metals. There are substances like semiconductors in which the resistance decreases with the increase of temperature, The mechanism in the case of semiconductors is totally different as we shall see when we study that chapter. The temperature R 2 R1 coefficient of resistance = where R2 is the resistance at higher R1 ( t 2 t1 ) temperature t2 1negative. 14. Thermistors are resistances, which have a high value of i.e. they show a large variation of resistance with a little change in temperature. They are used to measure temperature or used for safety against rise of temperatures. 15. For resistances in series, remember that the current through all the resistances is the same but the pot. diff. across each resistor depends on the value of the resistance. The effective resistance is given by Rs = R1 +R2 + R3 + .In this case the effective resistance Rs is greater than the greatest resistance in the circuit. 16. For resistances in parallel, remember that the pot. diff. across each resistor is the same but the current carried by each resistor dpends upon the value of the resistance. R = R + R + R + ...... p 1 2 3 the least resistance in the circuit.
1 1 1 1

The effective resistance Rp is lesser than

17.

Colour Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Grey White

Number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Colour Gold Silver No colour

Tolerence 5% 10% 20%

18. Internal resistance of a cell is the resistance offered by the electrolyte and the plates of the cell. This resistance is taken in series with the external resistance. It is given by r =
E V XR V

where r is the internal resistance, R is the external

resistance, E is the emf of the cell and V is the terminal potential difference when the cell is sending a current through the external resistance R 19. Kirchhoffs first law which is also known as the junction law, states that the algebraic sum of currents at any junction in a circuit is zero. 20. Kirchhoffs second law which is also known as the loop law states that in any closed loop in an electrical circuit, the sum of the emfs is equal to the algebraic sum of the products of the resistances and the respective currents flowing through them. A sign convention has to be followed. The sign convention is that you may traverse the loop in any direction of your choice, but while traversing, if you encounter a cell, the emf should be taken as positive if you are going from negative to positive plate inside the cell and negative if you are traversing from positive to negative plate inside the cell. The product of resistance and current is to be taken positive if the current is in the same direction as you are traversing and negative if the current is opposite to the direction of your traverse.
P R P Q = 21. For a balanced Wheatstone Bridge, Q = S which is same as R S

22. Heat produced by a current I flowing through a resistance R for a time t is given by H = I2Rt. This can also be written as H =
V2 t R

or H = VIt
V2 or P = VI R

23. Electric Power is given by P = I2R. This can also be written as P =

24. Remember that the current through the external resistor R and also the power dissipated by the external resistor R is maximum when the external resistance is equal to the internal resistance r of the cell. 25. Amperes Swimming Rule According to this rule, if we imagine that a man is swimming with his face downward along the wore in the direction of the current flow, so that the current enters his feet and leaves at his head, then the North pole of the magnetic needle will be deflected towards his left hand 26. F = q (v xB ) where F is the force experienced by a charge moving with a velocity v in a magnetic field B.

27. From the above relation we define the magnetic field B as B = qv sin . Hence Magnetic field B at a point is the force on a unit charge moving with a unit velocity perpendicular to the field. The unit of magnetic field is Tesla. One Tesla therefore is the magnetic field at a point if a charge of one coulomb experiences a force of one Newton while moving through that point in a direction perpendicular to the field with a velocity of 1ms-1 28. Bio-Savarts Law - dB =

0 Idl sin where I is the current through the current 4 r2 element of length dl and is the angle between the current element and the line
joining the point at which dB is being measured. r is the distance of the point from the current element

29. Magnetic field at the centre of a circular coil of n turns having a radius r and nI carrying a current I is given by B = 0 2r 30. Magnetic field due to a straight conductor carrying current I is given by 0 I ( sin 1 + sin 2 ) . There are three special cases . Viz (i) When the conductor 4a is of infinite length and the point P lies near the centre of the conductor, then 2I 1 = 2 = 90 0 Hence B = 0 where a is the perpendicular distance of the 4 a point from the conductor. (ii) When the conductor is of infinite length but the point lies near one end of the conductor, then 1 = 90 0 and 2 = 00 . Thus B = 0 and (iii) when the point lies on the conductor, then 1 = 2 = 180 0 . 4a Hence the magnetic field on any point on the conductor is zero. 31. Maxwells cork screw rule If we imagine a right handed cork screw placed along the current carrying linear conductor, be rotated such that the screw moves in the direction of the current, then the direction of rotation of the screw gives the direction of the magnetic field.

32. Magnetic field at any point at a distance r on the axis of a circular coil of radius a carrying a current I is given by B =

0 Ina2
2( a 2 + x 2 ) 2
3

. There are two special

cases. (i) When the point lies at the centre of the circular coil, then x = 0. Hence, nI B = 0 . Please note that this is the same B which we got in point No. 29. 2a (ii) When the point lies very far away from the centre of the coil, i.e. x>>a, then 2nIA 0 2 M B= 0 = . Here M = nIA and is called the magnetic dipole 4 x 3 4 x 3 moment of the loop which you will study later in magnetism. 33. Amperes circuital law states that the line integral of the magnetic field induction B around any closed path in vacuum is equal to times the total current 0 threading the closed path. i.e. B.dl = I 0 34. Magnetic field inside a long solenoid having n turns per unit length and carrying a current I is given by B = 0 nI . This is the same formula for a toroid. 35. When a charged particle moving with a uniform velocity is subjected to an electric field perpendicular to the velocity vector, then the path followed by the charged particle will be a parabola. 36. Force on a particle having a charge q and moving with a velocity v in a uniform magnetic field B is given by F = q (v xB ) 37. Force on a particle having a charge q and moving with a velocity v in a region having a uniform magnetic field B and a uniform electric field E is given by F = q( E + v xB ) . This force is known as Lorentz Force. 38. Remember that a charged particle at rest in an electric field will experience a force qE. But a charged particle at rest in a magnetic field experiences absolutely no force. For the charged particle to experience any force in a magnetic field it is essential that the particle must have been moving with a velocity. 39. When a charged particle moving with a uniform velocity is subjected to an magnetic field perpendicular to the velocity vector, then the path followed by the charged particle will be a circle. The plane of the circle will be perpendicular to the plane containing the magnetic field and the velocity vector. If the velocity vector is making an angle with the magnetic field, then the particle will move along a helical path. The cyclotron frequency is given by =
1 2m

Bq m

or =

Bq 2m

. The Time period is T = = Bq . Please note that the cyclotron frequency does not depend upon the velocity of the charged particle. It only depends upon the charge, mass and the intensity of the magnetic field.

B 2 q 2 r02 40. Maximum K.E. of a charged particle in a cyclotron is given by K .E . = . 2m So, we see that the max. K.E. is limited by the size (r0) of the cyclotron.

41. Cyclotron can not be used to accelerate electrons. The reason is that the mass of an electron is very small. Therefore a small increase in K.E. increases its velocity very large. At relativistic velocity, the mass of the particle is given by m0 m= v 2 . Therefore as the v becomes comparable to c, m keeps on 1 2 c increasing with increasing v. Hence the cyclotron frequency keeps changing continuously and becomes out of step with the frequency of the oscillator. 42. The force on a current carrying conductor in a magnetic field is given by F = Il XB or the magnitude of the force is IlBSin . This shows that if = 00, there is no force on the conductor. i.e. if the linear conductor carrying current is placed parallel to the conductor, then the force on the conductor is zero. Again if = 900, the force is maximum. i.e. if the conductor is placed perpendicular to the magnetic field, the force on the conductor is maximum. The direction of the force is given by the rule of cross product of vectors. 43. It is interesting to note that the force on a wire carrying current in a uniform magnetic field, is independent of its shape but depends upon the vector length joining the beginning and the end of the current carrying wire. 44. The force per unit length of a conductor between two parallel infinite conductors carrying currents I1 and I2 and separated by a distance r is given by 2I1 I 2 F= 0 . The force will be attractive when the currents in both conductors 4 r are flowing in the same direction and it will be repulsive if the conductors are carrying currents in opposite directions. It is very interesting to note that if the two parallel conductors are of finite length and are unequal in length, then the force will be governed by the length of the short conductor. The force on the long 0 2 I 1 I 2 l conductor = The force on the short conductor = where l is the 4 r length of the short conductor. 45. From the above we come to the definition of an Ampere. One ampere is that much current, which when flowing through each of the two parallel uniform linear conductors placed in free space at a distance of one metre, from one another, will attract or repel each other with a force of 2x10-7 N per metre of their lengths. 46. Torque on a current carrying rectangular coil in a magnetic field is given by = IBACos , where A is the area of the coil and is the angle which the plane of the coil makes with the magnetic field. 47. The advantage of a radial field in the construction of a galvanometer is that at all positions of the coil, can be taken as zero, and hence cos is always = 1 irrespective of the position the coil.

48. The basic equation of a galvanometer is nIBA = k or I =

k where n in the nBA

number of turns in the galvanometer coil, A is the area of the coil and k is the restoring torque per unit angle of twist of the phosphor bronze suspension. So, we see that I i.e. I = G , where G =
k , which is a constant for a nBA

given galvanometer and is called the Galvanometer Constant. 49. Current sensitivity of a galvanometer is defined as the deflection produced ini the nBA galvanometer when a unit current is flowing through it. i.e. I s = = .
I k

50. Voltage Sensitivity of a galvanometer is defined as the deflection produced in the galvanometer when one volt is applied across its terminals. It is given by
Vs = nBA kR

51. Here we see that to increase the sensitivity of a galvanometer, we should (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (i) increase the number of turns of the coil use very strong magnetic field increase the area of the coil use a suspension fiber of low value of k.

The value of n can not be increased beyond a certain value as it increases the resistance of the galvanometer and a galvanometer with a high resistance will not be sensitive. The value of B can certainly be increased to a great extent by using a strong hose-shoe magnet. The area of the coil can not be increased beyond a certain limit as then it would cease to be in a uniform magnetic field. moreover it will make the galvanometer bulky and unwieldy. The value of k can certainly be decreased. k depends upon the elastic property of the suspension fiber. This is the reason why quartz or phosphor-bronze is used as suspension fibers because these materials have very low values of k and are conducting too.

(ii) (iii)

(iv)

52. When a low resistance shunt is connected across a galvanometer in parallel, then the galvanometer is converted into an ammeter. Therefore an ammeter is a very low resistance device. 53. When a high resistance shunt is connected in series with a galvanometer, then the galvanometer is converted into a voltmeter. Hence voltmeter is a very high resistance device.