PHYSICS

13
Practice Set: Electric Currents and DC Circuits

Due: October 18, 2016, Tuesday at 10am

Questions:

1. When a flashlight is operated, what is being used up: battery current, battery voltage, battery
energy, battery power or battery resistance? Explain.

Battery energy is what is being used up. As charges leave the battery terminal, they have a
relatively high potential energy. Then as the charges move through the flashlight bulb, they lose
potential energy. The battery uses a chemical reaction to replace the potential energy of the
charges, by lowering the batterys chemical potential energy. When a battery is used up, it is
unable to give potential energy to charges.

2. Can a copper wire and an aluminum wire of the same length have the same resistance? Explain.

Resistance is given by the relationship R = P L /A. If the ratio of resistivity to area is the same for
both the copper wire and the aluminum wire, then the resistances will be the same.

3. If the resistance of a small immersion heater (to heat water for tea or coffee) was increased,
would it speed up or slow down the heating process? Explain.

We assume that the voltage is the same in both cases. Then if the resistance increases, the power
delivered to the heater will decrease according to P = V^2/ R. If the power decreases, the heating
process will slow down.

4. Explain why lightbulbs almost always burn out just as they are turned on and not after they have
been on for some time.

When a light bulb is first turned on, it will be cool and the filament will have a lower resistance
han when it is hot. This lower resistance means that there will be more current through the bulb
while it is cool. This momentary high current will make the filament quite hot. If the temperature
is too high, the filament will vaporize, and the current will no longer be able to flow in the bulb.

5. Which draws more current, a 100-W lightbulb or a 75-W bulb? Which has the higher resistance?

Assuming that both light bulbs have the same voltage, then since P= IV , the higher power bulb
will draw the most current. Likewise assuming that both light bulbs have the same voltage, since
P= V^2/ R , the higher power bulb will have the lower resistance. So the 100 W bulb will draw the
most current, and the 75 W bulb will have the higher resistance.

6. A 15-A fuse blows repeatedly. Why is it dangerous to replace this fuse with a 25-A fuse?

The 15-A fuse is blowing because the circuit is carrying more than 15 A of current. The circuit is
probably designed to only carry 15 A, and so there might be a short or some other malfunction
causing the current to exceed 15 A. Replacing the 15-A fuse with a 25-A fuse will allow more
current to flow and thus make the wires carrying the current get hotter. A fire might result, or
damage to certain kinds of electrical equipment. The blown fuse is a warning that something is
wrong with the circuit.
 7. The heating element in toaster is made of Nichrome wire. Immediately after the toaster is turned
on, is the current (Irms) in the wire increasing, decreasing, or staying constant? Explain.

When the toaster is first turned on, the Nichrome wire is at room temperature. The wire starts to
heat up almost immediately. Since the resistance increases with temperature, the resistance will
be increasing as the wire heats. Assuming the voltage supplied is constant, then the current will
be decreasing as the resistance increases.

8. What would happen if you mistakenly used an ammeter where you needed to use a voltmeter?

If you mistakenly use an ammeter where you intend to use a voltmeter, you are inserting a short
in parallel with some resistance. That means that the resistance of the entire circuit has been
lowered, and all of the current will flow through the low-resistance ammeter. Ammeters usually
have a fairly small current limit, and so the ammeter might very likely get damaged in such a
scenario. Also, if the ammeter is inserted across a voltage source, the source will provide a large
current, and again the meter will almost certainly be damaged, or at least disabled by burning out
a fuse.

Problems:

9. A current of 1.30 A flows in a wire. How many electrons are flowing past any point in the wire per
second?

I = Q/t = 1.30A = (1.30C/s) x (1 electron/1.60x10-19C) = 8.13x1018 electrons/s

10. What is the resistance of a 3.5-m length of copper wire 1.5 mm in diameter?

R = pL/A
R = (1.68x10^-8)(3)/(1.5/2000)^2pi
R = 0.029Ohms

11. An air conditioner draws a steady 8.0 A on a 220-V line. How much power does it require and how
much does it cost per month (30 days) if it operates 3.0 h per day and the MERALCO company
charges PHP 8.50 per KWh?

P = IV = (8.0A)(220V ) = 1760W

or 1.760 kW.

The time (in hours) the air conditioner is used per month is (3.0 h/d)(30 d) = 90 h, which at PHP
7.4176/ kWh would cost (1.760 kW) (90 h) (P 8.50/kWh) = PHP 1,346.40.

Note: Household current is actually alternating (ac) =, but our solution is still valid assuming the
given values for V and I are the proper averages (rms- root mean square).

12. Determine the total current drawn by all the devices in the circuits connected in parallel with 220-
V power-line from electric company. Will the 10-A fuse blow if we connect all the devices?
Light Bulb 100 W
Electric Fan 40 W
Hair Dryer 1200 W
Oven Toaster 80 W
Iron 1000 W
 Yes. I Total = I lightbul b + I EFan + I HDryer + I OToaster + I Iron
P
I=
V
I = P/V
I TotalI == 10.455A
1.0 A + 0.182A + 5.45A + 0.364A + 4.55A = 11.0A

13. Calculate the terminal voltage for a battery with an internal resistance of 0.900 and an emf of
8.50 V when the battery is connected in series with 81.0- resistor. Ans. V = 8.41 V

14. Four 1.5-V are connected in series to a 12- light bulb. If the resulting current is 0.45 A, what is
the internal resistance of each cell, assuming they are identical and neglecting the wires? Ans. r =
0.33

For the problems below, neglect the internal resistance of a battery unless the problem refers to it.

15. Four 240- light bulbs are connected in series. What is the total resistance of the circuit?
Req = 960

16. Four 240- light bulbs are connected in parallel. What is the total resistance of the circuit?
Req = 60

17. Determine (a) the equivalent resistance of the circuit shown below and (b) the voltage across
each resistor. R1 = 820, R2 = 680, R3 = 470 and V = 12.0 V.

(a) : Req = 840 (b) V470 = 6.7 V, V680 = V820 = 5.3 V

18. Determine the terminal voltage of each battery shown in the figure below.

Ans.: 18 V battery: V = 17.4 V; 12 V battery: V = 13.3 V

19. Using the diagram below, find

(a) the currents I1, I2, and I3.
(b) the potential difference between points a and d.
(c) the terminal voltage of each battery.

Answers:
(a) I1 = - 0.87 A; I2 = 2.6 A; I3 = 1.7 A
(b) Vad = - 25.7 V or 25.8 V
(c) 80 V battery: V = 77.4 V
45 V battery: 43.3 V

40

20. The total resistance is 15.0 k, and the batterys emf is 24.0 V. If the time constant is measured to
be 35.0 s, calculate (a) the total capacitance of the circuit and (b) the time it takes for the
voltage across the resistor to reach 16.0 V after the switched is closed.