Direct Current Circuits INTRODUCTION In the previous chapter, when we studied electrostatic fields, we learned that within a conductor an electrostatic field cannot be sustained; the source changes move to the surface and the conductor forms, a single equipotential. We will now look at conductors within which an electric field can be sustained, because a power source maintains a potential difference across the conductor, allowing charges to con- ‘inually move through it. This ordered motion of charge through a conductor is called electric current.ELECTRIC CURRENT Picture a piece of metal wire, Within the metal, electrons are zooming around at speeds of about a million m/s in random directions, colliding with other electrons and positive ions in the lattice. This constitutes charge in motion, but it doesn’t constitute net movement of charge, becauise the electrons ‘move randomly. If there’s no net motion of charge, there's no current, Howevaw if we were to create a potential difference between the ends of the wire, meaning if we set up an electric field, AV the electrons would experience an electric force, and they would start to drift through the wire. This is current. Although the electric field would travel through the wire at nearly the speed of light, the electrons themselves would still have to make their way through a crowd of atoms and other free electrons, so their drift speed, v,, would be relatively slow: on the order of a millimeter per second. To measure the current, we have to measure how much charge crosses a plane per unit time. If an amount of charge of magnitude AQ crosses an imaginary plane in a time interval Al, then the current is, 1282 At If the amount of current is changing during the time interval AY, then the equation above gives the average current. We can define the instantaneous current as 4Q ai Because current is charge per unit time, it's expressed in coulombs per second, One coulomb per second is an ampere (abbreviated as A), or amp. $01 C/s= 1A. Although the charge carriers that constitute the current within a metal are electrons, the direction of the currentiis taken to be the direction in which postive charge carriers would move. (This conven- tion dates back to Benjamin Franklin’s experiments, before the electron had been discovered. Itis the accepted convention, and is used on the AP Physics Exam.) So, if the conduction electrons drift to the right, we'd say the cuzrent points toward the left. 252 BH CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMRESISTANCE Let's say we had a copper wire and a glass fiber that had the same length and cross-sectional area, and that we hooked up the ends of the metal wire to a source of potential difference and measured the resulting current. If we were to do the same thing with the glass fibet, the current would probably be too small to measure, but why? Well, the glass provided more resistance to the flow of charge. If the potential difference is AV and the current is I, then the resistance is, rev T ‘On the equation sheet for the free-response section, this information will be represented as follows: V=IR ‘This is known as Ohm's Law. Ohm’s Law is not a.“law” in the sense that all circuit elements follow it. Only certain conductors do, and these devices are called “ohmic.” Devices for which the ratio ‘AV/lis not constant are called “non-ohmic.” A light bulb is an example of a non-ohmic device. Notice that if the current i large, the resistance is low, and ifthe current is small, then resistance is high. ‘The A in the equation above is often omitted, but you should always assume that, in this context, V=AV = potential difference, also called voltage. Because resistance is voltage divided by current, itis expressed in volts per amp. One volt per amp is one ohm (©, omega). So, 1V/A = 10. Resistivity ‘The resistance of an object depends on two things: the material it’s made of and its shape. For ex- ample, again think of the copper wire and glass fiber ofthe same length and area. They have the same shape, but their resistances are different because they ‘re made of different materials. Glass has a much, greater intrinsic resistance than copper does; it has a greater resistivity. Each material has its own. characteristic resistivity, and resistance depends on how the material is shaped. For a wire of length Land cross-sectional area A made of a material with resistivity p, resistance is given by: L Raf A ‘The resistivity of copper is around 10+ © m, while the resistivity of glass is much greater, around 10°? Om. Example 1.1 A cylindrical wire of radius 1 mm and length 2m is made of platinum (resistivity = 1 x 10? Qm). Ifa voltage of 9 V is applied be- teen the ends of the wire, what will be the resulting current? RECT CORRENT CIRCUITS HD 253ELECTRIC CIRCUITS An electric current is maintained when the terminals of a voltage source (a battery, for example) are connected by a conducting pathway, in what's called a cireuit. If the current always travels in the same direction through the pathway, its called a direct current. The job of the voltage source is to provide a potential difference called an emf, or electromotive force, which drives the flow of charge. The emt isnt really a force, i's the work done per unit charge, and it’s measured in volts. To try to imagine what's happening in a circuit in which a steady-state current is maintained, let's follow one of the charge carriers that’s drifting through the pathway. (Remember we're pretending that the charge carriers are positive.) The charge is introduced by the positive terminal of the battery and enters the wire, where it’s pushed by the electric field. t encounters resistance, bumping into the relatively stationary atoms that make up the metals lattice and setting them into greater motion. So the electrical potential energy that the charge had when it left the battery is turning, into heat. By the time the charge reaches the negative terminal, al of its original electrical potential energy is lost. In order to keep the current going, the voltage source must do positive work on the charge, forcing it to move from the negative terminal toward the positive terminal. The charge is now ready to make another journey around the circuit. EneRcy anp Power When a carrier of positive charge q drops by an amount V in potential, it loses potential energy in the amount qV. If this happens in time f, then the rate at which this energy is transformed is equal to (qV)/4 = (q/)V. But g/t is equal to the current, I, so the rate at which electrical energy is transferred is given by the equation P=V This equation works for the power delivered by a battery to the circuit as well as for resistors. The power dissipated in a resistor, as electrical potential energy is turned into heat, is given by P = IV, but, because of the relationship V = IR, we can express this in two other ways: P=IV=KIR)=PR PslV= Resistors become hot when current passes through them; the thermal energy generated is called joule heat 254 WE CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMCircutt Anatysis ‘We will now develop a way of specifying the current, voltage, and power associated which each ele- ‘ment in a circuit. Our circuits will contain three basic elements: batteries, resistors, and connecting, wires. As we've seen, the resistance of an ordinary metal wire is negligible; resistance is provided by devices that control the current: resistors. All the resistance of the system is eomcentrated in the resistors, which are symbolized in a circuit diagram by this symbol: i= Batteries are denoted by the symbol: st where the longer line represents the positive (higher potential) terminal, and the shorter line is the negative (lower potential) terminal, Sometimes a battery is denoted by more than one pair of such . II € —. Here's a simple circuit diagram: R ‘The emf (¢) of the battery is indicated, as is the resistance (R) of the resistor. Determining the cur- rent in this case is straightforward, because there’s only one zesistor, The equation V = IR, with given by €, gives us ' pet R Combinations of Resistors ‘Two common ways of combining resistors within a cizcuit is to place them either in series (one after the other), DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS HH 255or in parallel (that is, side-by-side): In order to simplify the circuit, our goal is to find the equivalent resistance of combinations. Resis- tors are said to be in series if they all share the same current anc if the total voltage drop across them is equal to the sum of the individual voltage drops. < Roost Resistors are said to be in parallel if they all share the same voltage drop, and the total current entering the combination is split among the resistors. Imagine that a current [enters the combination. 1t spits; some of the current, I, would go through R,, and the remainder, J, would go through R, 256 CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS © EXAM‘This idea can be applied to any number of resistors in parallel (not just two): The reciprocal of the ‘equivalent resistance for resistors in parallel is equal to the sum of the reciprocals of the individual resistances: 1 “ER Example 11.2 Calculate the equivalent resistance for the following circuit: € #--—— ANY WW. LAW —! 60 Example 11.3 Determine the current through each resistor, the voltage drop across each resistor, and the power given off (dissipated) as heat in each resistor of this circuit: coe WW eae 60. DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS BE 257258 CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMDIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS Mm 259as Example 114 For the following circuit, {@) In which direction will current flow and why? (b) What's the overall emf? (©) What's the current in the circuit? (@)_At what rate is energy consumed by, and provided to, this circuit? &=4V €,=12V : 4] HK ' ie 32 10 260° BE CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMExample 11.5 All,eal batteries contain internal resistance, r. Deteanine the current in the following circuit when the switch $ is closed. Example 11.6 A:student has three 30.0 resistors and an ideal 90 V bat- tery. (A battery is iden! if it has a negligible internal resistance.) Compare the current drawn from—and the power supplied by—the battery when the resistors are arranged in parallel versus in series. DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS M261Example 11,7 A voltmeter isa device that’s used to measure the voltage between two points ina circuit, An ammeter is used to measure current. Determine the readings on the voltmeter (denoted —@)—) and the am- meter (denoted —@)—) in the circuit below. 262 MH CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMExample 11.8 The diagram below shows a point 2 at potential V = 20 \V connected by a combination of resistors to a point (denoted G) that is grounded. The ground is considered 10 be at potential zero. If the potential at point is maintained at 20 V, what is the current through R,? R,=42 ANY yy seh |e R,=6Q DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS BE 263,Kirchhoff’s Rules ‘When the resistors in a circuit cannot be classified as either in series or in parallel, we need another ‘method for analyzing the circuit. The rules of Gustav Kirchhoff (pronounced "Keer-koft”) can be ap- plied to any circuit: The Loop Rule. The sum of the potential differences (positive and negative) that traverse any closed loop in a circuit must be zero. ‘The Junction Rule. The total current that enters a junction must equal the total current that leaves the junction. (This is also known as the Node Rule.) The Loop Rule just says that, starting at any point, by the time we get back to that same point by following any closed loop, we have to be back to the same potential. Therefore, the total drop in potential must equal the total rise ip potential. Put another way, the Loop Rule says that all the de- i ‘creases in electrical potential energy (for example, caused by resistors in the direction of the current) must be balanced by all the increases in electrical potential energy (for example, caused by a source ‘of emf from the negative to positive terminal). So the Loop Rule is basically a statement of the Law ‘of Conservation of Energy. Similarly, the Junction Rule simply says that the charge (per unit time) that goes into a junction f ‘must equal the charge (per unit time) that comes out. This is basically a re-statement of the Law of i Conservation of Charge. In practice, the Junction Rule is straightforward to apply. The most important things to remember about the Loop Rule can be summarized as follows: | + When going across a resistor in the same direction as the current, the potential drops { by IR. i * When going across a resistor in the opposite direction from the current, the potential i increases by IR i * When going from the negative to the positive terminal of a source of emf, the poten- i tial increases by &, i | i + When going from the positive to the negative terminal ofa source of emé, the poten- tial decreases by é. i Example 11.9 Use Kirchhoff’s Rules to determine the current through i R, in the following circuit: Ry =302 264 TB CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMDIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS mE 265Example 11.10 In the circuit diagram below, Resistors O and @ have fixed resistances (R, and R,, respectively), which are known. Resistor ® is a variable (or adjustable) resistor, and the resistance of Resistor @ is unknown, € Show that if Resistor @ is adjusted until the ammeter shown registers no current through its branch, then RR=RR, (This circuit arrangement is known as a Wheatstone bridge.) 266 WH CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAM.DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS Bl 267RESISTANCE—CAPACITANCE (RC) CIRCUITS Capacitors are typically charged by batteries. Once the switch in the diagram on the left is closed, electrons are attracted to the positive terminal of the battery and leave the top plate of the capacitor. Electrons also accumitlate on the bottom plate of the capacitor, and this continues until the voltage across the capacitor plates matches the emf of the battery. When this condition is reached, the current stops and the capacitor is fully charged. current Careine or DiscHarGinG a Capacitor IN AN RC Cincuit When a battery is hooked up to an uncharged capacitor and current begins to flow, the current is Not constant. So far, we have assumed that the currents in our circuits have been constant, but RC circuits are different. Charging a Capacitor ‘Consider the RC circuit shown below, where the charge on the capacitor is zero: ‘When the switch is closed (time t = 0), there is no charge on the capacitor, which means that there's ro voltage across the capacitor, so Kirchhoff’s Loop Rule gives us & — IR = 0, and the initial current in the circuit is I = 6/R, But, as time passes, charge begins to accumulate on the capacitor, and a volt- age is created that opposes the emf ofthe battery. At any time f after the switch is closed, Kirchhoft’s Loop Rule gives us: 8-I(R- Vi) =0 where I(t) is the current at time t and V(#) is the voltage across the capacitor at time f. Since Vib) = QU)/C and ike) = dQ(t)/dt, the equation above becomes e-RIQ_Q.9 , AQ_cE-@ ac at RC ‘We will solve for Q(f) using separation of variables. 268 BE CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS © EXAM |Ce-q=Cee * q)=Ce(1-e ¥) ‘This gives us an equation, 4(t), for how the charge on the capacitor changes over time. ‘The product Cé is equal tothe final charge on the capacitor (remember that Q = CV). The quantity RC that appears in the exponent is called the time constant for the circuit and is represented by r=RC Therefore, letting Q, replace the quantity Cé, the equation above becomes OH)=Q0-e"") (Eq. 1) What does the time constant, ¢, say about the circuit? Tt says that, after a time interval of + has lapsed, the charge on the capacitor is Qa) =Q,(1 7") =O, (1-e7) =0.63Q, ‘Therefore, the greater the value of r, the more slowly the capacitor charges. By differentiating Eq. 1 with respect tof, tic © ote AQ Qi gor W grr at RCO OR ‘we can get the current in the circuit as a function of time: a= Eq. 2) Therefore, the charge builds up gradually on the capacitor, DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS Bt 2691 add... (0.86)Q:}-- (0.63)Q¢ capacitor ‘aWw) charge on 7 2 time,t——> as the current in the citcuit drops gradually to zero: : | b=ER Mt) i s ° | be. Hi 2 BE (03700 ft (0.14), 3 Discharging a Capacitor j Consider the RC circuit shown below, where the charge on the capacitor is Q,z ~ s& I +o, ; c I 2% ‘ ‘When the switch is closed (time ¢ = 0}, the voltage across the capacitor is V, = Q,/C, so V,~ IR = 0, and the initial current in the circuit is J, = V,/R. Butas time passes, charge leaks off the capacitor and its voltage decreases, which causes the current to decrease. | The equation for Q(t) can be derived by the method of separation of variables as in the charging i example, Itis ' Olt) =Qer"** = Que" ‘The voltage across the plates as a function of time is and, by using the equation I(t) = -dQ/ad, the current in the circuit is = re Me, ROR 270 HW CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMExample 11.11. In the circuit below, € =20 V, R = 10000, and C = 2 mF. If the capacitor is initially uncharged, how long will it take (after the switch Sis closed) for the capacitor to be 99% charged? Example 11.12 4uF Capacitors 1 and 2, of capacitance C, = 6 uF and C, = 24 ul, respectively, are connected in a circuit as shown above with a resistor of resistance R= 20 and two switches. Capacitor 1 is initially charged to a voltage YV, = 30 V, and capacitor 2 is initially uncharged, Both of the switches $ are then closed simultaneously. (a), What is the initial current in the circuit? (b) What are the final charges on each of the capacitors 1 and 2 after equilibrium has been reached? DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS Bi 271272 BE CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMCHAPTER 11 REVIEW QUESTIONS “The answers and explanations can be found in Chapter 14. Section 1: Muttiete Croice 1. Awire made of brass and a wire made of silver have the same length, but the diameter of the brass wire is 4 times the diameter of the silver wire. The resistivity of brass is 5 times greater than the resistivity of silver. If R, denotes the resistance of the brass wvire and R, denotes the resistance of the silver ‘wire, which of the following is true?” (A) Rem TR $Ry aR, BR eR 2. For an ohmic conductor, doubling the volt- ‘age without changing the resistance will cause the current 10 (A) decrease by a factor of 4 (B) decrease by a factor of2 (©) remain unchanged (D) increase by a factor of 2 (increase by a factor of 4 3, Ifa 60-watt light bulb operates at a voltage ‘of 120 V, what is the resistance of the bulb? (a) 20 (®) 300 ( wa D) 7200 72000 4, Abattery whose emf is 40 V has an intemal ‘resistance of 5 Q. If this battery is connected toa 150 resistor R, what will the voltage rop across R be? (A) 10V (B) 30V () 40V (D) 50V ® 7V 20 ao—| —ob Determine the equivalent resistance between points and b. (a) 01679. (B) 0250 (© 0393.2 (D) 150 @) 20 ‘Three identical light bulbs are connected to a source of emf, as shown in the diagram above, What will happen if the middle bulb burns out? (A) All the bulbs wall go out. {B) The light intensity ofthe other two ‘bulbs will decrease (but they won't g0 out). (©) The light intensity of the other two ‘bulbs will increase. (D) The light intensity of the other two ‘bulbs will emain the same. (© More current will be drawn from the source of em DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS M273‘How much energy is dissipatett as heat in. 20 sby a 1000 resistor that carries a current AN, of 05? 40 370 (A) 50] AMY NW ©) 100) 80 © Boy i RA My @) 500) ne ©) 10005 2a 10. What is the voltage drop across the 12-ohm 200 resistor in the portion ofthe circuit shown CM ; above? " 200uF 500 atv TT (8) 36V av © 4Vv © RV What i the time constant forthe circuit © wv above? (A) dots 8. (B) 0.025s (©) 0.045 22 20 20 () ocee ©) O1s ‘What is the current through the 8-ohm resis- tor in the circuit shown above? (a) 054 () 104 (C) 1254, (D) 15A (380A 274 ME CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAM(a) ©) © @ (3) SectION I: FREE RESPONSE 1. Consider the following circuit: 200 L - 1000 €=120 == 100. At what rate does the battery detiver energy to the cixcuit? Find the current through the 20 0 resistor. (Determine the potential difference between points a and b. (ii) At which of these two points is the potential higher? Find the energy dissipated by the 100 9 resistor in 10's, Given that the 100 0 resistor is a solid cylinder that's 4 cm long, composed of a material whose resistivity is 0.45 0m, determine its radius. DIRECT CORRENT CIRCUITS BE 2752. The diagram below shows an uncharged capacitor, two resistors, and a battery whose emfis €. > ‘The switch S is turned to point a at time t = 0 (Express all answers in terms of C,r,R, &, and fundamental constants.) (@) Determine the current through rat time t= 0. (©) Compute the time required for the charge on the capacitor to reach one-half its final value. (©) When the capacitor is fully charged, which plate is positively charged? (@) Determine the electrical potential energy stored in the capacitor when the current through r is zero, a 4 When the current through ris zero, the switch Sis then moved to Point b; for the following parts, LE ‘consider this event time ¢ = 0. (©) Determine the current through R as a function of time. (8 Find the power dissipated in R asa function of time. (g) Determine the total amount of energy dissipated as heat by R. 276 BL CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAMDIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS SUMMARY GeneRAL INFORMATION + Current isthe flow rate of charge: = 22 at +The resistance of length of material depends on the resistivity, length, and cross- ‘The units are amps (A) sectional area: R=, The unt of resistance aze ohms (0) + Many electrical devices obey Ohm’s Law: AV = IR + Power is the rate that electrical energy is transferred: P= IV = [°R = Circuits wit Resistors + The equivalent resistance of resistors added in series is the sum of the resistance of each device: R,, = R, +R, +..= YR, ‘+ The reciprocal of the equivalent resistance of resistors added in parallel is the sum viiit 1 of the reciprocals of each resistor: LE Kircntorr’s Rutes: 1. The Loop Rule. The sum of the potential differences around a closed loop in a cir- ‘cuit must be zero: SV =0 2, ‘The Junction (Node) Rule. The total current that enters a junction must equal the {otal current that leaves the junction. Circurts wit Resistors AND Capacitors (RC Circutts) ‘+ When a battery is connected to a resistor and uncharged capacitors in a cizait, the ‘charge builds up on the capacitor exponentially. This is due to the fact that as more ‘charge is added to the capacitor it becomes more difficult for additional charge to be added. The equation for the charge buildup is q(t) =Ce(1—e ** + The quantity RC is called the time constant: ¢= RC DIRECT CURRENT CIRCUITS BI 277* During this time the current is decreasing exponentially because the capacitor is acting like an opposing battery as it charges up. The equation for the current is et W)=£(eF (e) Re) ‘+ When a charged capacitor that has an initial voltage, V,, and initial charge, Qu, : is connected in a circuit to a resistor both the charge on the plate and the current i through the circuits decrease exponentially. The equations for the charge and the current are given by: Ot) = 0,06) and 1) = F867) 278 MH CRACKING THE AP PHYSICS C EXAM