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Electrical Circuits. An electric circuit is composed of 3 elements Conductor, potential difference, closed loop An electrical circuit without a load that has some resistance is essentially a short circuit (Think about the batteries in the simulation)
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Electrical Circuits • An electric circuit is composed of 3 elements • Conductor, potential difference, closed loop • An electrical circuit without a load that has some resistance is essentially a short circuit • (Think about the batteries in the simulation) • (An ammeter has very little resistance. Think about my poor ammeters in a circuit with no loads or other resistance.)
Electrical Circuits • In a series electric circuit all of the electrons must flow through the same elements • In a parallel electric circuit electrons may flow through different circuit elements
Electrical Circuits In a series electric circuit, the voltage drops as it flows through each resistive circuit element
Resistors in Series: Building Analogy R1 = Lamp 6 steps R1 R2 = Lamp Elevator (battery) 11 steps R3 = Lamp R2 3 steps To go from the top to the bottom floor, all people must take the same path. So, by definition, the staircases are in series. With each flight people lose some of the potential energy given to them by the elevator, expending all of it by the time they reach the ground floor. So the sum of the V drops across the resistors the voltage of the battery. People lose more potential energy going down longer flights of stairs, so long stairways correspond to high resistance resistors. The double waterfall is like a pair of resistors in series because there is only one route for the water to take. The longer the fall, the greater the resistance.
Ohm’s Law: Ohm's Law …says that, for many materials under a wide range of conditions, the voltage, V, and current, I, are linearly related, which implies resistance, R, is independent of V and I. • When does it not apply? (Most important case)
Questions When a battery is connected to a complete circuit, charges flow in the circuit almost simultaneously. Why?
Resistance and Ohm’s Law • Resistance is the impedance to the flow of charge • Resistance is defined as the ratio of potential difference to current • R = V/I Unit is the Ohm, Ω • A device is said to obey Ohm’s Law of its resistance is independent of the Voltage
Find Resistance of a material • Depends on four factors • R ∞ Temp • R ∞ RHO (ρ) resitivity • R ∞ Length • R ∞ A-1 (cross-sectional Area)
Low resistance • Short • Fat • cold
High Resistance • Long • Thin • Hot
Parallel Circuit • More than one path for the flow of charge • More room for the flow of charge so Resistance goes down • Voltage must stay the same since all charges have the same drop