Lecture #3

OHM’S Law - Ohm’s Law states that the current flowing through a resistor (conductor) is directly
proportional to the potential difference across its ends, inversely proportional to its resistance, provided
the physical state such as temperature etc. of the resistor (conductor) remains constant.

The formula for Ohm’s law in several forms

I = V/R = E/R V=IR R = V/I
Where: I is current through the resistor, in ampere.
V is voltage (potential difference) across the resistor, in volt.
E is the electromotive force (open-circuit voltage) of the ideal battery, in volt.
R is resistance of the resistor, in Ω
Note: use letter E instead of Vt to refer to total voltage of the ideal battery
Simon Georg Ohm describes mathematically how voltage, current, and resistance in a circuit are related.
It is used in the equivalent form depending on which quantity you need to determine. In this section, you
will learn each of these forms.

Power and Energy in Electrical Circuit

W=Pt P = W/t = I V = I2 R = V2/R
Where: P is energy expended or dissipated per unit time, in watt.
W is amount of electrical energy converted to heat energy, in joule (watt-sec),
commercially in kilowatt-hour (kW-hr). t is time in sec during which the circuit is on
operation.

Combination of Resistors

I. Series Circuit

a. Current is constant
I = I1 = I2 = I3 =………= In
 b. Voltages are additive
E = V1 + V2 + V3 +………+ Vn
c. Powers are additive P = P1 + P2 + P3 +………+ Pn
d. Total resistance
from V = V1 + V2 + V3 +………+ Vn
then IR = I1R1 + I2R2 + I3R3 +………+ InRn currents cancelled out
R = R1 + R2 + R3 + …….. + Rn

II. Parallel Circuit

a. Voltage is constant
E = V1 = V2 = V3 =……= Vn
b. Currents are additive
I = I1 + I2 + I3 +……+In
c. Powers are additive
P = P1 + P2 + P3 +………+ Pn
d. Total resistance
from I = I1 + I2 + I3 +……+ In
then E/R = V1/R1 + V2/R2 + V3/R3 +……+ Vn/Rn voltages cancelled out
1/R = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 + ……… + 1/Rn
or R = 1/(1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 + ……… + 1/Rn)
or G = G1 + G2 + G3 + ……. + Gn
Note: letter symbols without subscripts refer to total or equivalent values

The Voltage Divider Formula for Series Circuit

V1 = I R1 = (E/R) R1
R = R1 + R2
V1 = E R1 / (R1 + R2)
 V2 = I R2 = (E/R) R2
V2 = E R2 / (R1 + R2)

Note: For three or more resistors connected in series

Vn = E Rn / (R1 + R2 + R3 + ……. + Rn)

The Current Divider Formula for Parallel Circuit

I1 = V1/R1 = E/R1
V1 = E = I R and R = 1/(1/R1 + 1/R2) = R1R2/(R1+R2)
I1 = I R/R1 = IR1R2/[(R1+R2)R1]
I1 = I R2/(R1 + R2)

I2 = V2/R1 = E/R2
V2 = E = I R and R = 1/(1/R1 + 1/R2) = R1R2/(R1+R2)
I2 = I R/R2 = IR1R2/[(R1+R2)R2]
I2 = I R1/(R1 + R2)

Note: for three or more resistors connected in parallel

In = (IR1R2…Rn-1)/(R1R2…Rn-1+R2R3…Rn+RnR1………Rn-2)

Drill 1. An electric oven uses 5 amp when 110-volt are applied to its terminal. What is the resistance of the
oven?
Solution: Applying Ohm’s Law R = E/I = 110 volts / 5 amp = 22 Ω

Drill 2. A small pilot bulb with a resistance of 2400 Ω is connected across 120-volt power line. How much
is the current?
Solution: Applying Ohm’s Law I = E/R = 120 volts / 2400 Ω = 0.05 amp

Drill 3. Calculate the power in a circuit where the source of 100 volts produces a current of 2 amp?
Solution: Apply P = IE = 100volts (2 amp) = 200 watts

Drill 4. How much current is needed for a 24 Ω resistance to dissipates 600 watts?
Solution:
Apply P = I2R ; I2 = P/R ; I = 5 amp

Drill 5. A 6-volt battery is charged at the rate of 5 amp for 24 hours. What is the amount of energy charge
in kW-hr?
Solution: Apply W = P t = I E t = 5 amp (6 volts) (24 hrs) = 720 watt-hr = 720 watt-hr (1 kW/1000 watts)
W = 0.72 kW-hr

Drill 6. An electric motor runs for 8 hours daily from a constant 240-volt line. If the average currents are
25 amp for 3 hours, 35 amp for 4 hours, and 45 amp for 1 hour, a. compute for the daily electrical energy
consumption. If it operates for 26 days a month, b. determine the monthly energy cost for a rate of
Php9.93 per kW-hr.
Solution: a. Apply W = P t = I E t
For the first 3 hours W1 = [25 amp (240 volts) (3 hrs) watt-hr] (1 kW/1000 watts) = 18 kW-hr
For next 4 hour W2 = [35 amp (240 volts) (4 hrs) watt-hr] (1 kW/1000 watts) = 33.6 kW-hr
For the last 1 hour W3 = [45 amp (240 volts) (1 hr) watt-hr] (1 KW/1000 watts) = 10.8 kW-hr
For 8 hours of operation per day W = W1 + W2 + W3 = 18 + 33.6 + 10.8 = 62.4 kW-hr per day
b. For 26 days of operation per month W = 62.4 kW/day (26 days) = 1622.4 kW-hr per month
Monthly Energy Cost = Energy consumption per month (Cost of energy per kW-hr)
Monthly Energy Cost = 1622.4 kW-hr/month (Php9.93/kW-hr) = Php16110.432/month

Drill 7. A series circuit consisting of R1 = 1 Ω, R2 = 3 Ω, and R3 = 5 Ω resistors are connected to a battery of

negligible internal resistance. If the electromotive force of the battery is E = 24 volts, calculate: a. the total
equivalent resistance; b. the current drawn from the battery; c. the voltage across each resistor; d. the
power dissipated by each resistor; e. the total power dissipated by the circuit.

Solution: a. R = R 1 + R2 + R 3 = 1 + 3 + 5 = 9 Ω
b. I = E/R = 24/9 = 2.6667 amp
c. For series circuit, the current is constant
I = I1 = I2 = I3
V1 = I1 R1 = I R1 = 2.6667 x 1 = 2.6667 volts
V2 = I2 R2 = I R2 = 2.6667 x 3 = 8 volts
V3 = I3 R3 = I R3 = 2.6667 x 5 = 13.3333 volts
 d. We can use any of the three formula, P = I V = I2 R = V2/R
P1 = I1 V1 = I12 R1 = V12/R1 = 2.6667 x 2.6667 = 7.1113 watts
P2 = I22 R2 = 2.66672 x 3 = 21.3333 watts
P3 = V32/R3 = 13.33332/5 = 35.5554 watts

e. P = P1 + P2 + P3 = 7.1113 + 21.3333 + 35.5554 = 64 watts

or P = I2 R = 2.66672 x 9 = 64 watts
or P = I E = 2.6667 x 24 = 64 watts
or P = E2/R = 242/9 = 64 watts
Note: when solving for total power, use total voltage E = 24 volts

Drill 8. In Drill 7, if R3 is a variable resistor (commonly use in volume control of audio system), to what value
should it be adjusted so that the total power dissipated to the circuit is 80 watts? What is the total current?
Solution: P = E2/R ; R = E2/P = 242/80 = 7.2 Ω
R = R1 + R2 + R3 ; R3 = R - R1 – R2 = 7.2 – 1 – 3 = 3.2 Ω
I = E/R = 24/7.2 = 3.3333 amp
or, P = I E ; I = P/E = 80/24 = 3.3333 amp

Drill 9. In Drill 7, the three resistors are connected to a 12-V source. The voltage drop across R1 and R2
together is 8 volts, and the voltage drop across R2 and R3 together is 9 volts. If the total resistance is 80 Ω,
what is the resistance of each of the three resistors?
Solution: Let us form three equations to solve three unknown voltages
V1 + V2 = 8 ----- eq.①
V2 + V3 = 9 ----- eq.②
V1 + V2 + V3 = 12 ----- eq.③
Solving the equations simultaneously
eq.③ – eq.①
V1 + V2 + V3 = 12
-V1 – V2 = -8
V3 = 4 volts
from eq.②
V2 + V3 = 9
V2 = 9 – V3 = 9 – 4 = 5 volts
from eq.①
V1 + V2 = 8
V1 = 8 – V2 = 8 – 5 = 3 volts
I = E/R = 12/80 = 0.15 amp (constant current)
R1 = V1/I1 = 3/0.15 = 20 Ω
R2 = V2/I2 = 5/0.15 = 33.3333 Ω
R3 = V3/I3 = 4/0.15 = 26.6667 Ω