Steady Electric Currents

Current Density and Ohm’s Law

• Consider the steady motion of one kind of
Charge carriers, each of charge q (which is –ve
for electrons), across an element surface Δs with
a velocity u, as shown in Fig. 5–1. If N is the
number of charge carriers per unit volume, then
in time Δt, each charge moves a distance u Δt,
and the amount of charge passing through the
surface Δs is:

• Since current is the time rate of change of

Steady Electric Currents 2
 Current Density and Ohm’s Law
charge, we have:

• In Eq. (5—2) we have written Δs=anΔs as a

vector quantity. It is convenient to define a vector
point function, volume current density, or
simply, current density, J, in amperes per
square meter:

• so that Eq. (5—2) can be written as:

Steady Electric Currents 3

Current Density and Ohm’s Law
• The total current I flowing through an arbitrary
surface S is then the flux of the J vector through
S:

• Noting that the product Nq is in fact free per

charge volume, we may rewrite Eq. (5—3) as:

• Which is the relation between the convection

current density and the velocity of the charge
carrier.
Steady Electric Currents 4
 Current Density and Ohm’s Law
• In case of conduction currents there may be
more than one kind of charge carriers (electrons,
holes and ions) drifting with different velocities.
Eq. (5—3) should be generalized to read:

• The conduction currents are the result of the drift

motion of charge carriers under the influence of
an applied electric field. The atoms remain
neutral (ρ = 0). It can be justified analytically that
for most conducting materials the average drift
Steady Electric Currents 5
Current Density and Ohm’s Law
velocity is directly proportional to the electric
field intensity. For metallic conductors we write:

• where μe is the electron mobility measured in

(m2/V·s). It is 1.4 × 10−4 (m2/V·s) for aluminum
and 5.2 × 10−3 (m2/V·s) for silver. From Eqs. (5—
3) and (5—19) we have:

• where ρe=−Ne is the charge density of the

drifting electrons and is a −ve quantity.
Steady Electric Currents 6
Current Density and Ohm’s Law
Eq. (5—20) can be rewritten as:

• where the proportionality constant σ = − ρeμe, is

a macroscopic constitutive parameter of the
medium called conductivity.
• For semiconductors, conductivity depends on
the concentration and mobility of both electrons
and holes:

Steady Electric Currents 7

 Current Density and Ohm’s Law
• where subscript h denotes a hole. In general, μe
≠ μh. For germanium, typical values are μe =
0.38, μh = 0.18; for silicon, μe = 0.12, μh = 0.03.
(m2/V·s).
• Eq. (5—21) is a constitutive relation of a
conducting medium. Isotropic materials for which
the linear equation Eq. (5—21) holds are called
ohmic media. The unit for σ is ampere per volt
meter (A/V·m) or siemens per meter (S/m).
Copper, the most commonly used conductor,
Steady Electric Currents 8
Current Density and Ohm’s Law
has a conductivity 5.80 × 107 (S/m). On the other
hand, the conductivity of germanium is around
2.2 (S/m), and that of silicon is 1.6 × 10−3 (S/m).
The conductivity of semiconductors is highly
dependant of (increases with) temperature. Hard
rubber, a good insulator, has a conductivity of
only 10−15 (S/m). However, note that, unlike the
dielectric constant, the conductivity of materials
varies over a very wide range. The reciprocal of
conductivity is called resistivity, in ohm-meters
Steady Electric Currents 9
 Current Density and Ohm’s Law
(Ω·m). We prefer to use conductivity; there is
really no compelling need to use both
conductivity and resistivity.
• We recall Ohm’s Law from circuit theory that the
voltage V12 across a resistance R, in which a
current I flows form point 1 to point 2 is equal to ,
that is:

• Here R is usually a conducting material of given

length; V12 is the voltage between two terminals
Steady Electric Currents 10
Current Density and Ohm’s Law
1 and 2; and I is the total current flowing from
terminal 1 to terminal 2 through a finite cross-
section.
• Eq. (5—23) is not a point relation. Although there
is little resemblance between Eq. (5—21) and
Eq. (5—23), the former is generally referred to
as the point form of Ohm’s law. It holds at all
points in space, and σ can be a function of
space coordinates.
• Let us use the point form of Ohm’s law to derive
Steady Electric Currents 11
 Current Density and Ohm’s Law
the voltage-current relationship of a piece of
homogenous material of conductivity σ, length l,
and uniform cross-section S, as shown in Fig.
5—3. Within the conducting material, J=σE,
where both J and E are in the direction of
current flow. The potential difference or voltage
between terminals 1 and 2 is:

• or:

Steady Electric Currents 12

 Current Density and Ohm’s Law
• The total current is:

• or:

• Using Eqs. (5—24) and (5—25) in Eq. (5—21),

we obtain:

• or:

Steady Electric Currents 13

Current Density and Ohm’s Law
• which is the same as Eq. (5—23) From Eq. (5—
26) we have the formula for resistance of a
straight piece of homogeneous material of a
uniform cross section dor steady current (d.c.):

• We could have started with Eq. (5—23) as the

experimental Ohm’s law and applied it to a
homogeneous conductor of length l and uniform
cross-section S. Using the formula in Eq. (5—
27), we could derive a point relationship in Eq.
Steady Electric Currents 14
Current Density and Ohm’s Law
(5—21).
• The conductance, G, or the reciprocal of
resistance, is useful in combining resistances in
parallel. The unit for conductance is (Ω−1), or
siemens (S):

• From circuit theory we know the following:

a) When Resistances R1 and R2 are connected in
series (same current), the total resistance R is:

Steady Electric Currents 15

Current Density and Ohm’s Law
b) When resistances R1 and R2 are connected in
parallel (same voltage), we have:

c) or:

Steady Electric Currents 16

Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
• In Section 3—2 we pointed out that static electric
field is conservative and that the scalar line
integral of static electric intensity around any
closed path is zero, that is:

• For an ohmic material, J=σE, Eq. (5—31)

becomes:

• Equation (5—32) tells us that a steady electric

current cannot be maintained in the same
Steady Electric Currents 17
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
direction in a closed circuit by an
electrostatic field. A steady current in a circuit
is the result of motion in charge, which, in their
paths, collide with atoms and dissipate energy in
the circuit. This energy must come from a
nonconservative field, since a charge carrier
completing a closed circuit in a conservative field
neither gains nor loses energy. The source of
the nonconservative field may be electric
batteries (conversion of chemical energy to
electric energy), electric generators (conversion
Steady Electric Currents 18
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
of mechanical energy to electric energy),
thermocouples (conversion of thermal energy to
electric energy), photovoltaic cells (conversion of
light energy to electric energy), or other devices.
These electrical energy sources, when
connected in an electric circuit, provide a driving
force for charge carriers. This force manifests
itself as an equivalent impressed electric field
intensity Ei.
• Consider an electric battery with electrodes 1
Steady Electric Currents 19
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
and 2, shown schematically in Fig. 5—4.
Chemical action creates a cumulation of +ve and
−ve charges at electrodes 1 and 2, respectively.
These charges give rise to an electrostatic field
intensity E both inside and outside the battery.
Inside the battery, E must be equal in and
opposite in direction to the nonconservative Ei
produced by chemical action, since no current
flows in the open-circuited battery and the net
force acting on the charge carriers must vanish.
The line integral of the impressed field intensity
Steady Electric Currents 20
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
Ei from the −ve to the +ve electrode(from
electrode 2 to electrode 1 Fig. 5—4) inside the
battery is customarily called the electromotive
force (emf) of the battery. The SI unit for emf is
volt, and an emf is not a force in newtons.
Denoted by γ, the electromotive force is the
measure of the strength of the nonconservative
source. We have:

The conservative electrostatic field intensity E

Steady Electric Currents 21
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
satisfies Eq.(5-31)

Combining Eqs.(5-33) and (5-34), we have:

Or
• In Eqs.(5-35) and (5-36) we have expressed the
emf of the source as a line integral of the
conservative E and interpreted it as a voltage
rise. In spite of the nonconservative nature of Ei,
Steady Electric Currents 22
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
the emf can be expressed as a potential
difference between the +ve and –ve terminals.
This was what we did in arriving at Eq.(5-24).
• When a resistor in the form of Fig. 5-3 is
connected between terminals 1 and 2 of the
battery, completing the circuit, the total electric
field intensity (electrostatic E caused by charge
cumulation, as well as impressed Ei caused by
chemical action), must be used in the point form
of Ohm’s law. We have, instead of Eq.(5-21),
Steady Electric Currents 23
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law

where Ei exists inside the battery only, while E

has a nonzero value both inside and outside the
source. From Eq.(5-37) we obtain:

• The scalar line integral of Eq.(5-38) around the

closed circuit yields, in view of Eqs.(5-31) and
(5-33),

Steady Electric Currents 24

Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
• Eq.(5-39) should be compared to Eq.(5-32),
which holds when there is no source of
nonconservative field. If the resistor has a
conductively σ, length l, and uniform cross
section S, J=I/S and the right side of Eq.(5-39)
becomes RI. We have:

• If there are more than one source of

electromotive force and more than one resistor
(including the internal resistances of the
Steady Electric Currents 25
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
sources) in the closed path, we generalize
Eq.(5-40) to:

• Eq.(5-41) is an expression of Kirchhoff’s

Voltage Law. It states that, around a closed
path in an electric circuit, the algebraic sum
of the emf’s (voltage rises) is equal to the
algebraic sum of the voltage drops across
the resistances. It applies to any closed path in
Steady Electric Currents 26
Electromotive Force and Kirchhoff’s
Voltage Law
a network. The direction of tracing the path can
be arbitrarily assigned, and the currents in the
different resistances need not be the same.
Kirchhoff’s voltage law is the basis for loop
analysis in circuit theory.

Steady Electric Currents 27

 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law
• The principle of conservation of charge is one
of the fundamental postulates of physics.
Electric charges may not be created or
destroyed; all charges either at rest or in motion
must be accounted for at all times. Consider an
arbitrary volume V bounded by surface S. A netg
charge Q exists within this region. If a net
current I flows across the surface out of this
region, the charge in the volume must decrease
at a rate that equals the current. Conversely, if a
net current flows across the surface into the
Steady Electric Currents 28
 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law
region, the charge in the volume must increase
at a rate equal to the current. The current
leaving the region is the total outward flux of the
current density vector through the surface S. We
have:

• Divergence theorem, Eq. (2—115), may be

invoked to convert the surface integral of J to the
volume integral of ·J. We obtain, for a
stationary volume:
Steady Electric Currents 29
 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law

• In moving the derivative of ρ inside the volume

integral, it is necessary to use partial
differentiation because ρ may be a function of
time as well as of space coordinates. Since Eq.
(5—43) must hold regardless of the choice of V,
the integrands must be equal. Thus we have:

• This point relationship derived from the principle

of conservation of charge is called the equation
Steady Electric Currents 30
 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law
of continuity.
• For steady currents, charge density does not
vary with time, ∂p/∂t = 0. Eq. (5—44) becomes:

• Thus steady electric currents are divergenceless

or solenoidal. Equation (5—45) is a point
relationship and holds also at points where ρ=0
(no flow source). It means that the field lines or
streamlines of steady currents close upon
themselves, unlike those of electrostatic field
Steady Electric Currents 31
 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law
intensity that originate and end on charges. Over
any enclosed surface, Eq. (5—45) leads to the
following integral form:

• which can be written as:

• Equation (5—47) is an expression of

Kirchhoff’s current law. It states that the
algebraic sum of all the currents flowing out
of a junction in an electric circuit is zero.
Steady Electric Currents 32
 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law
Kirchhoff’s current law is the basis for node
analysis in circuit theory.
• In Section 3—6, we stated that charges
introduced in the interior of a conductor will
move to the conductor surface and redistribute
themselves in such a way as to make ρ=0 and
E=0 inside under equilibrium conditions. We are
now in a position to prove this statement and to
calculate the time it takes to reach an
equilibrium. Combining Ohm’s law, Eq. (5—21),
Steady Electric Currents 33
 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law
with the equation of continuity and assuming a
constant σ, we have:

• In a simple medium, ·E=ρ/∊, and Eq. (5—48)

becomes:

• The solution of Eq. (5—49) is:

• where ρ0 is the initial charge density at t=0. Both

Steady Electric Currents 34
 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law
ρ and ρ0 can be functions of the space
coordinates, and Eq. (5—50) says that the
charge density at a given location will increase
with time exponentially. An initial charge density
ρ0 will decay to 1/e or 36.8% of it’s value in a
time equal to:

• The time constant τ is called the relaxation

time. For a good conductor such as copper—
σ=5.80 × 107 (S/m), ∊≅∊0=8.85 × 10−12 (F/m)– τ
Steady Electric Currents 35
 Equation of Continuity and
Kirchhoff’s Current Law
equals 1.52×10−19 (s), a very short time indeed.
The transient time is so brief that, for all practical
purposes, ρ can be considered zero in the
interior of a conductor—see Eq. (3—69) in
Section 3—6. The relaxation time for a good
insulator is not infinite but can be hours or days.

Steady Electric Currents 36

Power Dissipation and Joule’s Law
• Under the influence of an electric , conduction
electrons in a conductor undergo a drift motion
macroscopically. Microscopically, these
electrons collide with atoms on lattice sides.
Energy is thus transmitted from the electric field
to the atoms in thermal vibration. The work Δw
done by an electric field E in moving a charge q
a distance Δl is qE·(Δl), which corresponds to a
power:

Steady Electric Currents 37

Power Dissipation and Joule’s Law
• where u is the drift velocity. The total power
delivered to all the charge carriers in a volume
dv is:

• which, by virtue of Eq. (5—18) is:

• or:

• Thus the point function E·J is a power density

Steady Electric Currents 38
Power Dissipation and Joule’s Law
under steady-current conditions. For a given
volume V the total electric power converted into
heat is:

• This is known as Joule’s Law. (Note that the SI

unit for P is watt, not joule, which is the unit for
energy or work.) Equation (5—53) is the
corresponding point relationship.
• In a conductor of constant cross section, dv = ds
dl, with dl measured in the direction J. Equation
Steady Electric Currents 39
Power Dissipation and Joule’s Law
(5—54) can be written as:

• where I is the current in the conductor. Since R =

VI, we have:

• Equation (5—55) is, of course, the familiar

expression for ohmic power representing the
heat dissipated in resistance R per unit time.

Steady Electric Currents 40