NAME:__________________________ SCORE: _______

GRADE 12 ______________________ DATE:_________

Virtual Activity 1: Voltage, Current and Resistance

A. Use https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/voltage-current-resistance-and-ohms-law/all and click “ Voltage Explained” .
Answer the questions that follow.

1.What is voltage and its symbol? In what unit can it be represented?

________________________________________________________________________________
2. Who is the Italian physicist that invented the first chemical battery?
_________________________________________________________
3. What will happen if there is no voltage in a circuit?
________________________________________________________________________________
4. When describing voltage, current, and resistance, a common analogy is a water tank. What is represented by the following?
a. water amount: _________ b. water flow: ___________ c. water pressure: ________
5. If there is more voltage, what will happen to current and brightness of the bulb/lamp?
________________________________________________________________________________
6. What term is also referring to voltage? ____________________
7. What instrument can measure voltage? ______________________ How can it measure voltage?
(Explain and include the diagram.)

8. What does 1Volt mean? _____________________________________________________

9. As voltage decreases, brightness of bulb __________________ because __________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

10. What will happen to the lamp if there is too much voltage and current? _______________

B. Use https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/voltage-current-resistance-and-ohms-law/all and

click “What is Electric Current?” and “ Current Explained”. Answer the questions that
follow.

1. What is current and its symbol? In what unit can it be expressed?

________________________________________________________________________________
2. What does 1Ampere mean? _______________________________________________
3. What is the difference between closed circuit and open circuit?
________________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the difference between conventional current and electron flow? Include the diagram

5. What is used to form the circuit? _______________________________

6. What are the types of electricity? ______________________________________________
7. When and where is AC or DC used? Include the diagram.
 8. What is used to transport electricity from power stations to cities and homes? Give two reasons.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
9. Can we use a combination of AC and DC in an appliance? Justify your answer.
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
10. What are inverters? _____________________________________________________________
11. What instrument measures current? ___________________
12. How is it used? Include the diagram. _________________________________________
13. How can you control the flow of current? _________________________________________

14. What will happen to the LED? Why? ______________________________________________

15. Describe and give the function of the following.

Description Function

Cheap energy monitor plug

Fuse

Circuit breaker

II. Picture Analysis: RESISTANCE

Consider two water tanks, one with a narrow pipe and one The narrow pipe "resists" the flow of water through it even
with a wide pipe. though the water is at the same pressure as the tank with the
wider pipe.

In electrical terms, this is represented by two circuits with

equal voltages and different resistances.

⮚ Which of the two will allow less charge to flow?

____________________________
⮚ What does it mean when there is less charge to flow
in a circuit?
__________________________________

1. What is resistance and its symbol? _______________________________

2. In what unit can it be expressed? ________________________________
3. What does 1 Ohm mean? ____________________________________________________________

A. Read the article about Electrical Resistivity and answer the questions that follow.
Electrical Resistivity

The flow of charge through wires is often compared to the flow of water through pipes. The resistance to
the flow of charge in an electric circuit is analogous to the frictional effects between water and the pipe
surfaces as well as the resistance offered by obstacles that are present in its path. It is this resistance that
hinders the water flow and reduces both its flow rate and its drift speed. Like the resistance to water flow,
the total amount of resistance to charge flow within a wire of an electric circuit is affected by some clearly
identifiable variables.

First, the total length of the wires will affect the amount of resistance. The longer the wire, the more
resistance that there will be. There is a direct relationship between the amount of resistance encountered
by charge and the length of wire it must traverse. After all, if resistance occurs as the result of collisions
between charge carriers and the atoms of the wire, then there is likely to be more collisions in a longer
wire. More collisions mean more resistance.

Second, the cross-sectional area of the wires will affect the amount of resistance. Wider wires have a
 greater cross-sectional area. Water will flow through a wider pipe at a higher rate than it will flow through a
narrow pipe. This can be attributed to the lower amount of resistance that is present in the wider pipe. In
the same manner, the wider the wire, the less resistance that there will be to the flow of electric charge.
When all other variables are the same, charge will flow at higher rates through wider wires with greater
cross-sectional areas than through thinner wires.

Equation:

A third variable that is known to affect the resistance to charge flow is the material that a wire is made
of. Not all materials are created equal in terms of their conductive ability. Some materials are better
conductors than others and offer less resistance to the flow of charge. Silver is one of the best conductors
but is never used in wires of household circuits due to its cost. Copper and aluminum are among the least
expensive materials with suitable conducting ability to permit their use in wires of household circuits. The
conducting ability of a material is often indicated by its resistivity. The resistivity of a material is dependent
upon the material's electronic structure and its temperature. For most (but not all) materials, resistivity
increases with increasing temperature. The table below lists resistivity values for various materials at
temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius.

Resistivity
Material (ohm•meter)
Silver 1.59 x 10-8
Copper 1.7 x 10-8
Gold 2.2 x 10-8
Aluminum 2.8 x 10-8
Tungsten 5.6 x 10-8
Iron 10 x 10-8
Platinum 11 x 10-8
Lead 22 x 10-8
Nichrome 150 x 10-8
Carbon 3.5 x 10-5
Polystyrene 107 - 1011
Polyethylene 108 - 109
Glass 1010 - 1014
Hard Rubber 1013
There is a broad range of resistivity values for various materials. Those materials with lower resistivities
offer less resistance to the flow of charge; they are better conductors. The materials shown in the last four
rows of the above table have such high resistivity that they would not even be considered to be conductors.

Source: https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circuits/Lesson-3/Resistance

1.What is resistivity?
__________________________________________________________________________________

2. What variables affect resistance? Explain how each variable affect resistance.
a.
b.
c.
d.
3. What is the electrical resistivity equation? Give the meaning of each symbol and its unit.

4. What material has the highest resistivity? ____________________

5.Solve the following problems.
a. Calculate the total DC resistance of a 100-m roll of 2.5mm2 copper wire if the resistivity of copper at
20oC is 1.72 x 10-8 Ω-m.
Equation: Solution:

b. The length and area of wire are given as 0.2 m and 0.5 m2 respectively. If the resistance of that wire is
3 Ω, calculate the resistivity.
Equation: Solution: