Electricity
Electric charge
• A body becomes positively charged, when it loses some of its electrons
• A body becomes negatively charged, when it gains some extra electrons
➢ Like charges repel and unlike charges attract
• Force between charges ↑ when:
o Any of the charges ↑
o Distance between the charges ↓
Conductors
• Materials which contain free electrons that flow through them
• Their electrons are so loosely bound to the atoms
• So electrons can move freely between atoms
• Metals are the best conductors
• Example: copper, silver, aluminium
• Free electrons also make metals very good conductors of heat
Insulators
• Materials which contain no free electrons that flow through them
• Their electrons are all tightly bound to the atoms and are not normally free
to move
• Most non- metals are insulators
• Example: glass, wood, rubber, plastic
• An insulator should be perfectly dry
• Moisture can destroy the insulation by conducting electric charges
Semiconductors
• Materials which are poor conductors when cold
• But better conductors when warm
Methods of charging a body
a) Charging by rubbing
• Polythene and Perspex are both materials which become charged with static
electricity when rubbed with a dry wool cloth
• When polythene rod rubbed with a dry cloth:
o Polythene pulls electrons away from atoms on the surface of the cloth
o Polythene becomes negatively charged (has more electrons than
normal)
o Cloth becomes positively charged (less electrons)
• When perspex rod rubbed with a dry cloth:
o Cloth pulls electrons away from rod
o Cloth becomes negatively charged (has more electrons than normal)
o Perspex becomes positively charged (less electrons)
➢ Like charges repel and unlike charges attract
• Force between charges ↑ when:
o Any of the charges ↑
o Distance between the charges ↓
b) Charging by contact
• When charged body touches an uncharged object, the two bodies will share
the charge
• Both will carry a part of the same type of charge
c) Charging by induction
• A charged Perspex rod can attract a small piece of aluminium foil placed just
underneath it
• Free electrons in the aluminium are attracted towards the positively charged
rod
• Top end of the foil becomes negatively charged
• Bottom end becomes positively charged (due to positive ions)
• Charged rod therefore attracts the top end of the foil and repels the bottom
end
• As the top end is closer to the rod, the force of attraction is the stronger than
the force of repulsion
• Thus foil is pulled towards the rod
Producing an opposite charge by induction
• Charged rod can be used to give a nearby conductor a charge of the opposite
type
• Here the rod is Perspex (carries positive charge)
• Conductor is a metal sphere and it is mounted on an insulating stand
• Bring the charged rod near the conductor.
• Conductor becomes polarized (negative electrons are attracted towards the
positively charged rod leaving positive ions at the other end)
• However, the conductor remains neutral (since it didn’t gain or lose charges
from surroundings)
• Connect the conductor to earth by touching it by a finger (or a wire
connected to the earth)
• This allows electrons to flow from earth and removes the charge at the far
end
• Disconnect the earth connection (by removing the finger or the wire)
• Finally, remove the charging rod, the conductor is now charged with an
opposite charge
Earthing
• If enough charge builds up on something, electrons may be pulled through
air and cause sparks, which can be dangerous
• To prevent charge building up, objects can be earthed
• They can be connected to the ground by a conducting material so that
unwanted charges flows away
• An aircraft and its tanker must be earthed during refuelling
• As the fuel rubs along the pipe, charge might build up
• One spark could be enough to ignite the fuel vapour
• So, the aircraft is refuelled on a particular day when the tyres and wheels are
wet
• Because water acts like a conductor and the extra charge will flow to the
earth through the tyres
Amount of charge carried by a charged body
Quantity of charge, Q
• Amount of electric charge carried by the extra electrons (or extra positive
charges) on the charged body
Q=ne
Unit of charge – Coulomb (C)
where n – number of extra electrons
e – charge of one electron
𝑒 = 1.6 x 10−19 C
Electric field
• Electric field is a property that exists near charged bodies
• If we consider a charged body as shown in figure, there is an electric field
produced by this body in the space around it
• If a small positive test charge is placed in the field of the charged object, it
will experience a force produced by the field of the object
• This force can be attractive or repulsive depending on the charge on the
charged body
Electric field is the region in space in which an electric charge placed in the
field experiences a force
• Electric field strength is proportional to the density of lines of field
• Field is stronger where the lines are close to each other
• Field lines come out from a positive charge and go in a negative charge
Electric field close to a positive point charge
Electric field close to a negatively charged sphere
Electric field between two parallel plates with opposite charges on them
Electric field between two opposite point charges
Electric field between two negative point charges
Forces on charged particles in an electric field
• Electric field from positive to negative
• When an alpha particle or a beta particle enters the space between two
charged metal plates, they will be deflected by the electric field
• Radioactive atoms like Uranium, Radium are unstable
• Unstable atoms emit alpha, beta, gamma radiations
• Alpha particles are positively charged
• Beta particles are negatively charged
• Gamma rays have no electrical charge
• Alpha particle (positively charged) is attracted by the negative plate and is
repelled by the positive plate
• Beta particle (negatively charged) is attracted by the positive plate and is
repelled by the negative plate
• GM (Geiger- Mueller) detector is a radiation detection and measuring
instrument
• A radiation detector is placed at different positions as shown in figure to
investigate the deflection of the particles
• When the reading of the detector gives the highest count rate, this indicates
the direction in which the particles are deflected
Electric current
• When the terminals of a battery are connected to a light bulb, electrons flow
from the negative pole of the battery to the positive pole.
• Flow of electrons is called current.
Also it is the amount of charge flowing in the circuit per unit time.
Q
𝐼=
t
Where I – electric current (Ampere, A)
Q - amount of charge (Coulomb, C)
t – time taken (seconds, s)
If t= 1 s, I = Q
Electromotive force (emf)
Electric energy gained by each Coulomb of charge as it is pushed by the battery.
Potential difference
Electric energy lost by each Coulomb of charge as it passes in certain component
in a circuit and appears as heat or light.
Unit of emf or potential difference – Volts
1 Joule
1 Volts =
Coulomb
• 1 volt is the potential difference between two points in a conductor when one
joule of energy is consumed to move one coulomb of charge from one point
to the other.
Ammeters
Instruments used to measure electric current.
• Connected in series
• Very low resistance
Voltmeters
Instruments used to measure the potential difference between two points in a
circuit.
• Connected in parallel
• Very high resistance
Resistance
• Provide resistance to the current flow
• In simple circuits, reduces current
• In complicated circuits, such as those in radios, TVs and computers, they
keep currents and p.d.s at the levels needed for other components to work
properly.
p. d across conductor (V)
Resistance =
current through conductor (A)
1 kilohm (1kΩ) = 1000 Ω
1 megohm (MΩ) = 1000 000 Ω
Factors affecting Resistance
• Length
As length ↑, resistance ↑
• Cross-sectional area
As area ↑, resistance ↓
Thin wire has more resistance than a thick wire
• Material
A nichrome wire has more resistance than a copper wire of same size
• Temperature
For metal conductors, as temperature ↑, resistance ↑
For semiconductors, as temperature ↑, resistance ↓
Resistance and heating effect
Heating effect when current flows in a resistance
• Occurs due to the collision of electrons with atoms as they pass through a
conductor
• Electrons lose energy
• Atoms gain energy
• So atoms vibrate faster
• Faster vibrations means a higher temperature
• This principle is used in heating elements, light bulbs with filaments
• Heating elements are normally made of nichrome
RESISTORS
Variable Resistor
• Used for varying current
• Rotary (circular) variable resistor- called potentiometer
• Used to control volume in a circuit
• By adjusting the resistance, can control the current in the circuit
• Called rheostat
• Used to control the brightness of a lamp
• By adjusting the resistance, can control the current in the circuit
Thermistor
• High resistance when cold
• Low resistance when hot
• As temperature ↑, resistance ↓
• Made of semiconductor materials
• Used in some electrical thermometers to detect temperature change
Light-dependent resistors (LDRs)
• High resistance in the dark
• Low resistance in the light
• As light energy falls on it ↑, resistance ↓
• Used in electronic circuits which switch lights on and off automatically
• Made of semiconductor materials
Diode
• High resistance in one direction
• Low resistance in other direction
• So allow current flow only in one direction
• Made of semiconductor materials
Symbols
Ohm’s law
At constant temperature, the potential difference across any component is directly
proportional to the current passing through it.
VαI
V=RI
where R – constant of proportionality
called Resistance
p. d across conductor (V)
Resistance =
current through conductor (A)
SI unit is Ohm (Ω)
Variation of current with p.d. in a metal conductor
• Conductor used- nichrome wire
• To maintain steady temperature, immersed in large amount of water
• Using the variable resistor, adjust the reading in voltmeter as 1.0 V
• Measure the value in ammeter
• Again adjust the value of variable resistor and fix 2.0 V in voltmeter
• Again measure the value in ammeter
• Repeat the procedure till 5.0 V
• Calculate the resistance using the equation
p. d across conductor (V)
Resistance =
current through conductor (A)
• Plot the V- I graph
• That means, resistance of nichrome wire is 5.0 Ω
Graphical representation of Ohm’s law
