University Physics with Modern Physics
Fifteenth Edition
Chapter 25
Current,
Resistance, and
Electromotive
Force
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Learning Outcomes
In this chapter, you’ll learn…
• the meaning of electric current, and how charges move in a
conductor.
• how to calculate the resistance of a conductor from its
dimensions and its resistivity or conductivity.
• how an electromotive force (emf) makes it possible for current to
flow in a circuit.
• how to do calculations involving energy and power in circuits.
• how to use a simple model to understand the flow of current in
metals.
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Introduction
• Electric circuits contain charges
in motion.
• In a flashlight, the amount of
current that flows out of the bulb
is the same as the amount that
flows into the bulb.
• It is the energy of the charges
that decreases as the current
flows through light bulbs.
• Circuits are at the heart of
modern devices such as
computers, televisions, and
industrial power systems.
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Current
• A current is any
motion of charge
from one region to
another.
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Direction of Current Flow
• A current can be produced by positive or negative charge flow.
• Conventional current is treated as a flow of positive charges.
• In a metallic conductor, the moving charges are electrons — but
the current still points in the direction positive charges would
flow.
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Signs of Charge Carriers
• In general, a conductor may contain
several different kinds of moving
charged particles.
• An example is current flow in an ionic
solution.
• In the sodium chloride solution
shown, current can be carried by both
positive sodium ions and negative
chlorine ions
• The total current I is found by adding
up the currents due to each kind of
charged particle.
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Current Density
• We can define a vector current density that includes
the direction of the drift velocity:
• The vector current density is always in the same
direction as the electric field, no matter what the signs
of the charge carriers are.
• Video Tutor Solution: Example 25.1
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Resistivity
• The resistivity of a material is the ratio of the electric
field in the material to the current density it causes:
• The conductivity is the reciprocal of the resistivity.
• The next slide shows the resistivity of various types of
materials.
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Resistivities at Room Temperature
(20 degrees Celsius)
super
resistant
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Circuit Boards and Resistivity
• The copper “wires,” or traces,
on this circuit board are
printed directly onto the
surface of the dark-colored
insulating board.
• Even though the traces are
very close to each other, the
board has such a high
resistivity that essentially no
current can flow between the
traces. theblackpartsare
can't
Soresistivethey
conduct
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Resistivity and Temperature (1 of 2)
• The resistivity of a metallic
conductor nearly always
increases with increasing
temperature.
• Over a small temperature
range, the resistivity of a
metal can be represented
approximately:
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Temperature Coefficients of
Resistivity
Material [(Celsius
alpha, in units −per
C) 1 ] degree
Aluminum 0.00039
Carbon (graphite) −0.0005
Copper 0.00393
Iron 0.0050
Lead 0.0043
Silver 0.0038
Tungsten 0.0045
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Resistivity and Temperature (2 of 2)
• The resistivity of graphite (a semiconductor) decreases with
increasing temperature, since at higher temperatures, more
electrons “shake loose” from the atoms and become mobile.
• Measuring the resistivity of a small semiconductor crystal is a
sensitive measure of temperature; this is the principle of a type
of thermometer called a thermistor.
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Superconductivity
• Some materials show a phenomenon
called superconductivity.
• As the temperature decreases, the
resistivity at first decreases
smoothly, like that of any metal.
Below a certain critical
temperature Tc a phase transition
occurs and the resistivity suddenly
drops to zero.
• Once a current has been established
in a superconducting ring, it continues
indefinitely without the presence of
any driving field.
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Resistance and Ohm's Law
• The resistance of a conductor is R = L A .
• The potential across a conductor is given by Ohm’s law: V = IR.
• Video Tutor Demonstration: Resistance in Copper and Nichrome
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Resistors Are Color-Coded for Easy
Identification (1 of 2)
• This resistor has a resistance of 57 kΩ with a
tolerance of ±10%.
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Resistors Are Color-Coded for Easy
Identification (2 of 2)
Color Value as Value as
Digit Multiplier
Black 0 1
Brown 1 10
10 squared
2
Red 2 10
10 cubed
3
Orange 3 10
10 to the4fourth
Yellow 4 10
10 to the5 fifth
Green 5 10
10 to the6sixth
Blue 6 10
10 to the seventh
7
Violet 7 10
10 to the 8eighth
Gray 8 10
10 to the9 ninth
White 9 10
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Ohmic Resistors
• For a resistor that obeys Ohm’s law, a graph of current
as a function of potential difference (voltage) is a
straight line.
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Nonohmic Resistors
• In devices that do not obey Ohm’s law, the relationship of
voltage to current may not be a direct proportion, and it
may be different for the two directions of current.
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Electromotive Force and Circuits (1 of 2)
• Just as a water fountain requires a pump, an electric
circuit requires a source of electromotive force to
sustain a steady current.
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Electromotive Force and Circuits (2 of 2)
• The influence that makes current flow from lower to higher
potential is called electromotive force (abbreviated emf and
pronounced “ee-em-eff”), and a circuit device that provides emf
is called a source of emf.
• Note that “electromotive force” is a poor term because emf is
not a force but an energy-per-unit-charge quantity, like potential.
• The SI unit of emf is the same as that for potential, the volt (1 V
= 1 J/C).
• A typical flashlight battery has an emf of 1.5 V; this means that
the battery does 1.5 J of work on every coulomb of charge that
passes through it.
• We’ll use the symbol ϵ (a script capital E) for emf.
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Internal Resistance
• Real sources of emf actually
contain some internal
resistance r.
• The terminal voltage of the
12-V battery shown at the
right is less than 12 V when it
is connected to the light bulb.
• Video Tutor Solution: Example 25.5
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Table 25.4 Symbols for Circuit
Diagrams
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Potential Changes
• The figure shows how the
potential varies as we go
around a complete circuit.
• The potential rises when the
current goes through a
battery, and drops when it
goes through a resistor.
• Going all the way around the
loop brings the potential
back to where it started.
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Energy and Power in Electric Circuits
• The box represents a circuit
element with potential difference
Vab = Va − Vb between its terminals
and current I passing through it in
the direction from a toward b.
• If the potential at a is lower than at
b, then there is a net transfer of
energy out of the circuit element.
• The time rate of energy transfer is
power, denoted by P, so we write:
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Power
• The upper rectangle represents a
source with emf ϵ and internal
resistance r, connected by ideal
wires to an external circuit
represented by the lower box.
• Point a is at higher potential than
point b, so Va > Vb and Vab is
positive.
P = VabI
P = I − I 2r
• Video Tutor Solution: Example 25.8
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Metallic Conduction
• Electrons in a conductor are free to
move through the crystal, colliding at
intervals with the stationary positive
ions.
• The motion of the electrons is
analogous to the motion of a ball
rolling down an inclined plane and
bouncing off pegs in its path.
• Video Tutor Solution: Example 25.11
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