Charge and current

A challenge
In pairs:
Using only the items provided, make the bulb light in as
many different ways as you can.
Sketch every configuration you try, whether it works or
not. (pictures, not circuit diagrams)
Charge is a fundamental property
Electric charge is present inside all ordinary matter.
e = 1.6 x 10-19 coulombs, but typically huge number of free charges

Charge is a conserved quantity.

Action-at-a-distance (concept of a force field)

Current electricity
Charges, whether static or moving, cannot be seen
directly.

In pairs:
What different, perceptible effects might indicate an
electric current?
Moving charges constitute an
electric current

Q
I
t
Current is the rate of flow of charge past a point.
I = current an amps, Q = charge in coulombs.
Conventional current
Conventional current flows + to – (Benjamin Franklin)
Charge carriers can be
• ions (in electrolytes)
• holes (in semiconductors)
• electrons (in metals)

Electrons (discovered 1897) flow in opposite direction to

conventional current.

Can we? Should we? … change every book and educated

mind in the world? What’s meant by a convention in science?
Measuring current
Circuit diagrams
Conventional symbols

Standard procedure for building circuits

1. consider series circuit, starting at + terminal of supply and
working around to – terminal. Some components require
attention to polarity e.g. meters, diodes.
2. add parallel branches, again working from + to -.
The rope model
Energy is transferred from battery to lamp.

What happens when there’s

• More than one battery
• More than one lamp … in series?
• More than one lamp … in parallel?

Strengths & weaknesses of this model?

Experimenting with circuits
series and parallel, batteries and bulbs, ammeter(s)

Students learn
• rules for current (current the same everywhere in
series circuits, adds with parallel branches)
• semi-quantitative idea of resistance

Current in a simple circuit is larger if

• voltage of the supply is larger
• resistance in the circuit is smaller
Drinking straws
What’s inside a straw? What is it doing?

(Air. The molecules move randomly,

but there is no net movement!)
 Can you make the air flow?

(A force is needed to make anything start moving and,

if there are resistive forces, to keep it moving.)

What if the pressure is bigger?

What if there are two straws?
Straws of different shapes?
Current, voltage and resistance
Current in a simple circuit will be larger if
• voltage of the supply is larger
• resistance in the circuit is smaller
l
R
A
where R is resistance,  is resistivity of the material, l is its length
and A is its cross-sectional area.
The same relationships apply in networks of identical
resistors.
Support, references
www.talkphysics.org
SPT 11-14 Electricity & Magnetism
Ep1 Developing an electric circuit model
Ep2 More about electric currents
Ep3 Adding elements to circuits

David Sang (ed., 2011) Teaching secondary physics ASE / Hodder

Phet simulations Electricity, Magnets & Circuits
Practical Physics Guidance pages e.g. Models of electric circuits