Lesson 1.

2 – Energy
Sources
Current Electricity
 Table of Contents
Nature of Electrical Current

AC v. DC

Resistance (is not futile)

Ohm’s Law

Power Dissipated by a Resistor

Series & Parallel Circuits

 What is Current?
Current is the flow of electrical charge.

Charge (Coulombs)
Current (Amperes)

I = q/t
Time (Seconds)

Current does not flow spontaneously.

Water does not flow through a pipe unless there is a

difference in pressure at the ends of the pipe.

Similarly, electrical current will not flow through a

conductor unless there is a voltage difference
pushing the flow.
 AC/DC
Current may be direct (DC), which means
it continuously flows in the same
direction through a wire…

... Or current may be alternating (AC),

which means that the direction of flow
rapidly shifts back and forth.

Batteries supply DC voltage; wall plugs

AC.

Either way, electron flow speed is actually

incredibly slow, at about 0.01 cm/s!
 Resistance
Resistance – property of a conductor
which is a measure of how much the
object hinders the flow of charge.

Symbol: R

Unit: Ohm (Ω)

Resistance depends on both the

material used as well as its shape.
 A note about current
direction
Note that on the previous slide, current was
depicted going toward the right.

What was really going on was that electrons were

moving to the left.

Wait, what?

The convention for the direction of current was

established in the 18th century, who defined current
to be the direction of the flow of positive charge.

Today we know that charge carriers are electrons,

whose charge is negative, yet we adhere to the
century’s old convention.

Guess who came up with this (as we know now,

incorrect) convention? Hint: If you have his picture
in your wallet, you’re probably pretty happy!
Thanks,
Ben
Franklin!
 Ohm’s Law
So electrical current increases with
voltage, but decreases with resistance:
I ~ V/R

If current I is measured in amps,

voltage V is measured in volts, and
resistance R is measured in ohms, the
constant of proportionality equals 1,
and we can write I = V/R, or

V = IR
Power Dissipated
in a Resistor
Recall the defining equations for power
and voltage: P = W/t and V = W/q

Solving the latter for W and

substituting that expression into the
former yields P = Vq/t

But q/t = I

So, the power dissipated by a resistor

may be written

P = IV
Example Problem
What’s the resistance and current
through a 60-W light bulb plugged into a
110-V wall socket?

P = IV  I = P/V = 60 W
/110 V =
0.545 A

V = IR  R = V/I = 110 V
/0.545 A =
2
 Circuits
All functioning circuits are composed of
one or more complete loops.

Note: “Closed circuit” means a

complete loop with no gaps or
disconnections; “open circuit” means
an incomplete loop.
“Closed Circuits” v. “Closed
store”
Note: the words “open” and “closed”
pretty much mean the opposite thing
when applied to circuits compared to
when applied to stores.

A “closed circuit” is one that is “open

for business”!
 Series Circuits
If two or more components of a circuit
lie along the same path, they are said
to be “in series”.

Consider a simple circuit with a power

supply and two resistors in series:
In this case,

Rtotal = R1 + R2
+ R1
V R2
-
 Example: Find the current going through
this circuit as well as the voltage across
each resistor.
Rtotal = R1 + R2 = 20.0 Ω

+ 12.0 Ω V = IR, so Itotal = V/Rtotal

120 V
- Itotal = 120 V
/20 Ω = 6.0 A
8.0 Ω

V1 = ItotalR1 = (6 A)(12
Ω) = 72 V

V2 = ItotalR2 = (6 A)(8 Ω)
= 48 V
 Note: We can use
the same value of
+ 12.0 Ω current I for Itotal,
120 V I1, and I2 since
-
there’s only one
8.0 Ω
path, and thus the
current is the
same everywhere.
 V1 = 72 V

Also note: the

+ 12.0 Ω voltages across
individual
120 V
- components in the
8.0 Ω circuit add up to
the total voltage
supplied.

V2 = 48 V
So, for a series
circuit:
Total Rtotal = R1 + R2 + R3
Resistan +…
ce
Total Vtotal = V1 + V2 + V3
Voltage +…

Total Itotal = I1 = I2 = I3 =
Current …
Parallel Circuits:
What if more than one path is
available for the current?

R1

R2

+ -
V
 Parallel Circuits:
What if more than one path is
available for the current?
I1
In this case,
R1 the current
forks: ITotal
splits into I1
I2
and I2.
R2
ITotal

+ -
V
 Since both
resistor #1 and
resistor #2 have
direct
connection to
the voltage
R1 supply, the
voltage across
both resistors
equals the total
voltage:
R2
V1 = V2 = VTotal

+ -
V
 Since both
resistor #1 and
resistor #2 have
direct
connection to
the voltage
R1 supply, the
voltage across
both resistors
equals the total
voltage:
R2
V1 = V2 = VTotal

+ -
VTotal
 Since both
resistor #1 and
V1 = VTotal resistor #2 have
direct
connection to
the voltage
R1 supply, the
voltage across
both resistors
equals the total
voltage:
R2
V1 = V2 = VTotal

+ -
VTotal
 Since both
resistor #1 and
V1 = VTotal
resistor #2 have
direct
connection to
the voltage
R1
V2 = VTotal supply, the
voltage across
both resistors
equals the total
R2 voltage:

V1 = V2 = VTotal

+ -
VTotal
 So how does the total
equivalent resistance RTotal
relate to R1 and R2?

R1

R2

+ -
V
 So how does the total
equivalent resistance RTotal
relate to R1 and R2?
V1 = VTotal
Apply Ohm’s Law
I1 to each individual
resistor:
R1
V2 = VTotal VTotal = I1R1 VTotal =
I2R2
I2
Now solve both
R2 equations for
ITotal current:

I1 = Vtotal/R1 I2
+ - = Vtotal/R2
V
We know I =I
 So how does the total
equivalent resistance RTotal
relate to R1 and R2?
V1 = VTotal
Apply Ohm’s Law to
I1 the whole circuit:
R1 VTotal = ITotalRTotal, or
V2 = VTotal
ITotal = Vtotal/RTotal
I2
Now set both our
R2 expressions for Itotal
equal to each other:
ITotal
Vtotal/RTotall = Vtotal/R1 +
Vtotal/R2
+ -
V
 So how does the total
equivalent resistance RTotal
relate to R1 and R2?
V1 = VTotal
Apply Ohm’s Law to
I1 the whole circuit:

R1 VTotal = ITotalRTotal, or
V2 = VTotal
ITotal = Vtotal/RTotal
I2
Now set both our
expressions for Itotal
R2
equal to each other:
ITotal
Vtotal/RTotal = Vtotal/R1 +
Vtotal/R2
+ -
So, 1/RTotal = 1/R1 + 1/R2
V
Example Problem: What is the
total equivalent resistance of
the circuit below?
1/RTotal = 1/R1 + 1/R2

So, 1/RTotal = 1/12 Ω + 1/8

12.0 Ω
Ω

Solve for Rtotal:

Rtotal = 4.8 Ω
8.0 Ω

+ -
120 V
 Wait – How can a total resistance be
less than the values of the individual
resistors in the circuit???
Consider a flowing river.

Now imagine digging a narrow trench, parallel to the river.

Even though the trench is narrow, you’ve now provided

an avenue for the water to flow that it did not have
before, so the total rate of water flow increases.

Similarly, when you add a resistor in parallel to an

existing circuit path, you’re adding a new avenue for
current to flow. Since overall current goes up, total
resistance goes down (even though you just added a
resistor.)
 Example Problem Continued: So
what currents would the
ammeters below measure?
We’ve already calculated Rtotal = 4.8
A1 Ω.
12.0 Ω Ammeter A will measure ITotal:

Itotal = Vtotal/Rtotal = /4.8 Ω = 25

120 V

A
A2
Ammeter A1 will measure I1:
8.0 Ω
A I1 = Vtotal/R1 = /12 Ω = 10 A
120 V

Ammeter A2 will measure I2:

+ - I2 = Vtotal/R2 = /8 Ω = 15 A
120 V

120 V Note: ITotal = I1 + I2, as it

should!
So, for a parallel
circuit:
Total 1/Rtotal = 1/R1 + 1/R2 +
Resistance 1/R3 + …
Total Vtotal = V1 = V2 = V3 =
Voltage …

Total Itotal = I1 + I2 + I3 + …
Current
 Series v. Parallel
Suppose each resistor in the circuits below
is the filament of a light bulb. In which
circuit will the bulbs glow brighter, or will all
the bulbs glow the same?

V
-

Since each bulb

gets the full
+ voltage of the
power supply,
V the bulbs in the
-
parallel circuit
will glow
brighter.
 Series v. Parallel
What happens to the other bulbs if one bulb
in each circuit goes out?

V
-

V
-
 Series v. Parallel
What happens to the other bulbs if one bulb
in each circuit goes out?
If one bulb
goes out in
the series
+ circuit, there
is no longer
V a closed
- loop, and all
the bulbs go
out.

V
-
 Series v. Parallel
What happens to the other bulbs if one bulb
in each circuit goes out?
If one bulb
goes out in
the series
+ circuit, there
is no longer
V a closed
- loop, and all
the bulbs go
out.
If one bulb goes out
+ in the parallel circuit,
the other bulbs
V remain on closed
- loops experiencing
the same voltage, so
they don’t change.
 A combination circuit
may contain some series
and some parallel
elements…
 What is the current measured
by the ammeter below?

10 Ω 20 Ω

25 Ω 30 Ω
A

+ -
120 V
 These two are in series, and can be
replaced with a single resistor with
value RT given by: RT = R1 + R2 = 10
Ω + 20 Ω = 30 Ω

10 Ω 20 Ω

25 Ω 30 Ω
A

+ -
120 V
 These two are in series, and can be
replaced with a single resistor with
value RT given by: RT = R1 + R2 = 10
Ω + 20 Ω = 30 Ω

30 Ω

25 Ω 30 Ω
A

+ -
120 V
 These two are in parallel, and can be replaced
with a single resistor with value RT given by:

1/RT = 1/R1 + 1/R2:

1/RT = 1/(30 Ω) + 1/(30 Ω)
Solve for RT: RT = 15 Ω 30 Ω

25 Ω 30 Ω
A

+ -
120 V
 These two are in parallel, and can be replaced
with a single resistor with value RT given by:

1/RT = 1/R1 + 1/R2:

1/RT = 1/(30 Ω) + 1/(30 Ω)
Solve for RT: RT = 15 Ω

25 Ω 15 Ω
A

+ -
120 V
 25 Ω 15 Ω
A

+ -
120 V
 These two are in series, and can be
replaced with a single resistor with
value RT given by: RT = R1 + R2 =
25 Ω + 15 Ω = 40 Ω

25 Ω 15 Ω
A

+ -
120 V
 These two are in series, and can be
replaced with a single resistor with
value RT given by: RT = R1 + R2 =
25 Ω + 15 Ω = 40 Ω

40 Ω
A

+ -
120 V
 40 Ω
A V T = I T RT

IT = VT /RT = (120 V)/(40 Ω)

+ -
=3A
120 V
Consider the following combination circuit in
which each resistor is the filament of an
identical light bulb.
What would happen if you removed light 1?
Light 2? Light 3?

2 3