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24. Electric Current. Electric Current Conduction Mechanism Resistance & Ohm’s Law Electric Power Electrical Safety. How does electric current heat this light bulb filament? Where does the energy come from?. Collisions between e & ions. e accelerated by E. 24.1. Electric Current.
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24. Electric Current Electric Current Conduction Mechanism Resistance & Ohm’s Law Electric Power Electrical Safety
How does electric current heat this light bulb filament? Where does the energy come from? Collisions between e & ions. e accelerated by E.
24.1. Electric Current Current (I) = Net rate of (+) charge crossing an area. [ I ] = Ampere Electronics: I ~ mA Biomedics: I ~ A Steady current: Instantaneous current: + charges moving right Zero net current Net current charges moving left Both charges moving right
GOT IT? 24.1 • Which of the following representsa nonzero current? • What’s its direction? • a beam of electrons moves from left to right, • a beam of protons moves upward, • in a solution, positive ions move left & negative ions move right, • blood, carrying positive & negative ions at the same speed, moves up through a vein, • a metal car with no net charge speeds westward. I, R to L I, up I, L no I no I
Curent: A Microscopic Look v of charge carriers in media with E = 0 isthermal ( random with v = 0 ). For E 0, vd = v 0. drift velocity Charge in this volume is Q = n A L q. n = number of carriers per unit volume q = charge on each carrier
Example 24.1. Copper Wire A 5.0-A current flows in a copper wire with cross-sectional area 1.0 mm2, carried by electrons with number density n = 1.11029 m3. Find the electron’s drift speed. TIP: Big difference between vd ~ mm/s and signal speed ~ c.
Current Density Current can flow in ill-defined paths ( vd depends on position ), e.g., in Earth, chemical solutions, ionized gas, … Better description of such flows is by current density ( J ) = current per unit area [ J ] = A /m2
Example 24.2. Cell Membrane Ion channels are narrow pores that allow ions to pass through cell membranes. A particular channel has a circular cross section 0.15 nm in radius; it opens for 1 ms and passes 1.1104 singly ionized potassium ions. Find both the current & the current density in the channel. ~0.3 nm Lipid molecules ion channels ~ 4 times max. safe current density in household wirings AWG 10 :
24.2. Conduction Mechanism E 0 in conductor non-electrostatic equilibrium charges accelerated Collisions steady state conductivity Ohm’s law, microscopic version Ohmic material: independent of E resistivity [] Vm/A m [] (m)1
No band gap Small band gap Large band gap
Example 24.3. Household Wiring A 1.8-mm-diameter copper wires carries 15 A to a household appliance. Find E in the wire.
GOT IT? 24.2 • Two wires carry the same current I. • Wire A has a larger diameter, • a higher density of current carrying electrons, • & a lower resistivity than wire B. • Rank order • the current densities, • the electric fields, • the drift speeds in the two wires. JA < JB EA < EB vA < vB
Conduction in Metals Metal: ~ 108 106 m Atomic structure: polycrystalline. Carriers: sea of “free” electrons, v ~ 106 m/s E = 0: equal # of e moving directions v = 0. E 0: Collisions between e-e & e-ph vd~ const. Matter waves = relaxation time Steady state: Ohm’s law Due to Fermi statistics. Cu c.f., vth T
Ionic Solutions Electrolyte: Carriers = e + ions ~ 104 105 m Examples: Ions through cell membranes. Electric eels. Batteries & fuel cells. Electroplating. Hydrolysis. Corrosion of metal.
Plasmas Plasma: Ionized gas with e & ions as carriers. Examples: Fluorescent lamps. Plasma displays. Neon signs. Ionosphere. Flames. Lightning. Stars. Rarefied plasma (collisionless) can sustain large I with minimal E. E.g., solar corona.
Thermal motion dislodges an e ... Semiconductor Pure semiC: T = 0, no mobile charge carriers. T 0, thermally excited carriers, e & holes. increases with T … leaving a hole behind. Doped semiC: Mobile charge carriers from impurities. N-type: carriers = e. Impurities = Donors. E.g. P in Si. P-type: carriers = h. Impurities = Acceptors. E.g. B in Si. e & h move oppositely in E Phosphorous with 5 e Bound e jumps left, h moved to right P fits into Si lattice, leaving 1 free e
PN Junction Current flows in only 1 direction Depletion region No battery: e & h diffuse across junction & recombine. Junction depleted of carriers. Reverse bias: e & h pulled away from junction. Depletion region widens. I ~ 0. Forward bias: e & h drawn to junction. Depletion region vanishes. I 0.
Application: Transistor Large current change controlled by small signal (at gate): Amplifier, or Digital switch. Normally channel is closed ( I = 0 ) as one of the junctions is reverse biased. + V applied to gate attracts e to channel: I 0
Superconductor Onnes (1911): Hg = 0 below 4.2K. Muller et al (1986): TC ~ 100K. Current record: TC ~ 160K. TC = Applications: Electromagnets for strong B: Labs, MRI, LHC, trains … SQUIDS for measuring weak B. YBaCuO
24.3. Resistance & Ohm’s Law Ohm’s Law macrscopic version Open circuit: R I = 0 V Short circuit: R = 0 I V Resistor: piece of conductor made to have specific resistance. All heating elements are resistors. So are incandescent lightbulbs.
Table 24.2. Micrscopic & Macroscopic Quantities in Ohm’s Law E V J I R
Example 24.4. Starting Your Car A copper wire 0.50 cm in diameter & 70 cm long connects your car’s battery to the starter motor. What’s the wire’s resistance? If the starter motor draws a current of 170A, what’s the potential difference across the wire?
GOT IT? 24.3 • The figure shows 3 pieces of wire. • & (2) are made from the same material, while • (3) is made from material with twice the resistivity. • & (3) have twice the diameter of (2). • Which has the highest resistance? • If the same voltage is applied across each, • which will pass the highest current? (2) (1)
24.4. Electric Power Electric Power : for time independent V Power increase with R ( for fixed I ) Power decrease with R ( for fixed V ) No contradiction
Example 24.5. Lightbulb The voltage in typical household wiring is 120 V. How much current does a 100 W lightbulb draw? What’s the bulb’s resistance under these conditions?
Electric Power Transmission User safety low V. Transmission loss P = I 2R Low I , i.e., high V see Prob 56 VL< V because of power loss in wire
24.5. Electrical Safety TABLE 24.3. Effects of Externally Applied Current on Humans Current Range Effect -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.5 2 mA Threshold of sensation 10 15 mA Involuntary muscle contractions; can’t let go 15 100 mA Severe shock; muscle control lost; breathing difficult 100 200 mA Fibrillation of heart; death within minutes > 200 mA Cardiac arrest; breathing stops; severe burns Typical human resistance ~ 105. Fatal current ~ 100 mA = 0.1 A. A wet person can be electrocuted by 120V.
Large current thru operator No current thru operator Large current blows fuse Ground fault interupter