1

Physics 30 Unit 3: Worksheet 1

Charges in motion

• Electric current
o A steady flow of charge in a common direction
§ Free electrons normally move randomly, but…
§ If a potential difference exists across a material the free electrons will move in a common
direction
§ The flow of charge caused by the potential difference is called current
!
§ !=
"
• I = current in amperes (A) (equivalent to C/s)
• q is the amount of charge passing a cross section in coulombs (C)
• t is the time required in seconds
o Electron flow versus conventional current?

1. A charge of 15 C passes a cross-section of a wire in 3.0 s. What is the current?

2. The current in a material is 4.50 A. How much time is needed for 25 C to pass through a cross-section of the
material?

• Resistance
o The path the current flows along offers resistance to the flow – all materials provide some resistance
#$
o The amount of resistance # = %
depends on
§ Type of material – different materials have different resistivities (p)
§ Cross-sectional area (A) the current moves through
§ Overall length (l)
§ Temperature (T)
• p – changes with temperature, so it is measured and specified at a particular
temperature
3. A wire has a cross-sectional area of 782 x 10-9 m2 and a length of 89.5 m. If the resistivity is 28 x 10-8 Ωm, find the
resistance.
 2

4. A copper bar is 15 mm thick, 35 mm wide and 98 cm long. Find its resistance.

Temperature Change in Resistance

• Resistance changes due to the temperature of the material, but conductors and semi-conductors do different
things
o Conductors – resistance increases as temperature increases
o Semi-conductors – resistance decreases as temperature increases
• So… if the temperature is not 20°C we have to use the temperature coefficient of resistance
• ∆# = &#& ∆' • # = #& + ∆#
o ∆# = the change in resistance o R = the resistance at a given
o & = the temperature coefficient, per °C temperature
o #& = the initial resistance o #& = the initial resistance
o ∆' = the change in temperature, in °C o ∆# = the change in resistance

5. A zinc element has a resistance of 45 Ω at 20°C.

a. find the change in resistance when the element is heated to 30°C
b. Find its resistance at 30°C (p= 5.8 x 10-8 Ωm), α = 0.0037

Electromotive Force

To get a current to flow through a material you have to provide energy to the material. This is done with a source of
electromotive force (emf)

• A source of emf is a device that has two terminals: one is positively charged, one is negatively charged
• A source of emf moves charge (electrons) from a lower potential to a higher potential
• It maintains a potential difference by converting an outside source of energy into electric potential energy
• What are some of the outside source of energy that are used to do this?

• Units – the potential energy between the two terminals is measured in volts (V)
• In a source of emf the variable ε is used to refer to the potential difference
 3

Ohm’s Law
Relates to the relationship between voltage and current in an ideal conductor
)
!=
#
Resistor: a material of resistance (R)
If you connect a source of emf to the ends of a resistor – current flows

6. Find the potential difference across a 70 Ω resistor when a current of 350 mA flows through it.

7. A flashlight bulb operating at a potential difference of 4.5 V has a resistance of 8.0 Ω. Find the current to three
significant digits and in mA.

Extra Practice
1. Calculate the effective resistance of a pocket calculator that has a 1.35 V battery and through which 0.200 mA
flows.

2. What current (in mA) flows through a 2.54 cm diameter rod of pure silicon that is 20.0 cm long when 1.00x103 V
is applied to it?

Extra Resources Folder

• 3.1 Extra practice (exclude #5)
Unit 3: Worksheet 2
Series Circuits – the same current flows through each component

• A series is a sequence of something

• A series circuit has two or more circuit components (emf sources, resistors) connected end to
end in a loop

• Current (I) is the same for each component

• Voltage drops (V) over resistors add to the total V from emf sources
• Resistance (R) adds to the total resistance (!! = !" + !# + !$ + ⋯)

%
Remember Ohm’s Law V = IR (& = )
&

Table method of solving circuits

Component Current (I) Potential Difference (V) Resistance (R)
Source (of emf) 9

R1 100

R2 300

R3 50

Calculations:
1. Find the total resistance !! = !" + !# + !$ + ⋯
2. Find the current in the circuit, in a series circuit the current will be the same through all
components, so enter then into the table.
3. Find the Potential Difference for each resistor. Use Ohm’s law and your known values.
Parallel Circuits – each component has the same potential difference

• Circuit components are connected between two common points

• Resistors will have a different amount of current

• Potential difference for each resistor is the same as the source

" " " "
• Total resistance is calculated by
&!
= '& + & + & + ⋯ (
" # $

• Current through each resistor should add up to the total for the circuit
Remember Ohm’s Law V = IR
Table method of solving circuits
Component Current (I) Potential Difference (V) Resistance (R)
Source (of emf) 9

R1

R2

R3

Calculations:
1. Enter the Potential Difference for each resistor
2. Calculate the current for each resistor using Ohm’s Law
" " " "
3. Find the total resistance &!
= '& + & + & + ⋯ (
" # $

4. Calculate the total resistance

Note: The equivalent resistance in series circuits is LARGER than the largest resistor. The equivalent
resistance in parallel circuits is SMALLER than the smallest resistor
Electrical Power

As charges go through resistors they lose electrical potential energy. What happens to the lost potential
energy?

• It is converted to another form, typically heat and/or light

• Electrical Power (P) is the rate at which the energy is converted
• P = IV

Power conversion in a resistor

%
Combine P=IV and Ohm’s Law V = IR (or & =
&
)

' %#
• ) = &* = (
= &# ! = &
• Power loss by charges in a resistor must be equal to the power gain in an emf source.

What is the power gain from a 60 V generator supplying 8.0 A of current?

Power in a circuit

• In a series circuit power dissipations add to equal the total

• In a parallel circuit power dissipations add to equal the total
• So, figure out the rest and then calculate power with the known values.

What is the power loss across resistor 1 in the parallel circuit above?

Series & Parallel Circuits – together at last

• To solve a circuit that has both series and parallel components you need to determine the
equivalent resistance at each step.
• Find resistors that are only in series (the current will be the same through each element)
• Find resistors that are only in parallel (the potential difference will be the same through each
element)
• Draw a diagram of each equivalent circuit as you go so that you can track what needs to be done
Are there any resistors that are only in parallel? only in series?
Calculate the equivalent resistance and replace it with a single resistor.

Are there any resistors that are only in parallel? only in series?
Calculate the equivalent resistance and replace it with a single resistor.

So what is the total current?

Now work backwards to solve for V and I for each resistor.

Extra Practice
1. When 12 V are applied across a resistor, it dissipates 120 W of power. What is the current through
the resistor?

2. What power is dissipated in a circuit through which 0.12 A flows across a potential drop of 3.0 V?

3. Solve the following circuit.

Extra Resources Folder

• 3.2 Extra Practice

• 3.2 Extra Practice (II)
Unit 3 Worksheet 3
Electro-Magnetic Induction, generators, transformers

Can magnetic fields produce electric currents?

Induced EMF

• A long conductor moving at a ______________ in a magnetic field will have an

_________________ electro-motive force (EMF) that concentrates the ________________ on
one end

What is the generator effect/electromagnetic induction?

Remember what induction means?

Magnitude of Induced EMF

• If you hooked the conductor that is being moved in a magnetic field up to a circuit it would
create a current.
• The total induced emf is ε=B l v
• Then if you know resistance you can use Ohm’s Law to figure out the induced current
• What do the variables in the above equation stand for?

1. A horizontal conductor 60.0 cm long is lying in the plane of this page. The conductor is in a
magnetic field of 3.79 T directed into this page. The conductor is moving at a constant velocity
of 78.5 m/s. The ends of the conductor are connected to a 470Ω resistor.
a. Find the induced emf

b. find the induced current

 2. The induced emf of a moving conductor is 15.8 V when the conductor is moving at 55.0 m/s
perpendicular to a magnetic field. The conductor is 3.23 m long. Find the strength of the
magnetic field.

You can also generate a current with a bar magnet and a coil or solenoid. How?

Lenz’s Law (direction)

• Induced current flows in the direction that produces a magnetic force that ____________ the
direction of the applied _____________ (the relative motion of the magnet)

• Second hand rule

3. For the coils shown below, decide which direction the induced current will flow through the
coil/solenoid. Consider electron flow.

Would this change if you used conventional current?

Applications.
Generators –

Transformers
Motors vs Generators

AC/DC (Generators)

Transformers
• Minimize power _______________ in electricity grids
• Remember with power P = I2R
• Therefore high current results in more power being wasted as heat. So want high voltage
instead
• A transformer does this in AC circuits

!! #! $"
= =
!" #" $!

• Rarely are we 100% efficient (except in the imaginary world that physics classes live in)

(# )#
%&& =
($ )$

4. A transformer has 420 turns on its primary and 65 turns on its secondary. If the primary voltage
is 600 V find the secondary voltage.
Extra Practice

1. The primary coil of a transformer has 600 turns and the secondary coil has 1800 turns. If the
primary circuit has a potential difference of 90 V, what is the potential difference in the
secondary coil? Is this a step-up or step-down transformer?

Extra Resources Folder

• 3.3 Lenz’ Law Practice

• Unit 3 Review – Topic 3.3-3.6 (#26 – 32)
Unit 3 Worksheet 4
Electromagnetic Radiation and the speed of light.

Waves:
• Wavelength (λ) – shortest distance between two identical points on a wave (m)
• Amplitude (A) – the distance from the midpoint to the nearest crest or trough (units can be meters, or other like
T or N/C)
• Period (T) – time taken to travel one complete cycle of the wave. In one period the wave would move one
wavelength (s)
• Frequency (f) – number of complete cycles that pass a given point in one second. (Hz – Herz)
• Wave velocity (v) – the velocity the waves appear to move at (m/s)

Relationship between T and f:

Universal Equation for Waves:

1. Water ripples are seen to propagate at a velocity of 5.00 m/s after a pebble has been thrown into a pond. If the
distance between adjacent crests is 360 cm, what is the frequency of the ripple?

What type of waves are EM Waves?

• Oersted
– Constant electric current in a conductor induces a constant magnetic field that circles the conductor.
– Electric current and magnetic field are perpendicular
• Faraday
– When a conductor moves through a perpendicular magnetic field, a uniform constant current is induced
in the conductor
• Maxwell
– A changing magnetic field produces a changing electric field.
– A changing electric field will produce a changing magnetic field

How is an EM Wave started?

• The chain of changing electric and magnetic fields is started by an _______________________
________________________________________ that creates a changing electric field.
• The charge (usually an electron) vibrates back and forth
– The frequency of the ______________________ matches the frequency of the EMR that it produces

All EMR travels at the speed of light

– (c = ~3.00 x 108 m/s in a vacuum) – So ! = #$

– So c = v
Michelson’s Experiment
• Determined empirical speed of light (there were a bunch of people who came pretty close first)
• Set of rotating mirrors that would reflect a beam of light towards a curved mirror a set distance
away.
• The curved mirror reflected it back. For the beam of light to hit the rotating mirror and be
reflected in a way that it would be seen by a telescope the rotation had to be very specific.
• If you know the rotation speed when this happens and the distance between the rotating and
curved mirrors you can calculate the speed of light.

2. An 8-sided set of mirrors, similar to Michelson’s is rotating with a frequency of 500 Hz. It is
located 36.0 km away from a fixed mirror. If the returning light is observed in the system, at
what speed is the light travelling?

3. Students used a 12 sided set of rotating mirrors in an experiment similar to Michelson’s to

determine the speed of light to be 2.88 x 108 m/s. The mirrors are located 30.0 km from the
fixed mirror. What is the frequency of rotation if 1/12th of a rotation occurs before the light
returns?

Speed of light in different materials.

• Electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light

• In a vacuum that speed is 3.00 x 108 m/s
• In other materials it travels at less than this
• The refractive index (n) is the ratio of the velocity of the wave in a vacuum to the velocity of the
wave in a specific material
!
%=
'

Note: What stays the same?

 4. Blue light has a refractive index of 2.13 for a certain type of plastic. Determine the speed of blue
light through the plastic.

Extra Practice

1. Calculate the range of wavelengths for AM radio given its frequency range is 540 kHz to 1600
kHz.

2. Electromagnetic radiation having a 15.0 µm wavelength is classified as infrared radiation. What

is its frequency?

Extra Resources Folder

• 3.4 Michelson’s Practice

• 3.4 Extra Practice
Unit 3 Worksheet 5
Reflection, Total internal reflection, Mirrors

Angles of:

• Incidence:

• Reflection:

The angle of incidence ∠i = the angle of reflection ∠r

What is the point of incidence?

What is the normal?

1. If the angle of incidence of a ray of light to a mirror is 50.0°, what is the angle of reflection from
the mirror?
2. Think about a lake that has lot of waves on it. Light will reflect off the waves in many different
directions. If you were to draw the normal lines on the surface of the water, how would they
look?

3. Based on the information in the following diagram, what is the angle of reflection from mirror
B?

Image Characteristics
Image Characteristic Description
magnification

attitude

position

type
Curved Mirrors

Concave –

Convex –

Terminology
1. centre of curvature (C) –

2. Radius of curvature (r) –

3. Vertex (V) –

4. Principal axis (PA) –

5. Principal focal point (F) –

6. Focal length (f) –

Ray Diagrams – used to figure out the location and size of an image
1. Draw the mirror, its principle axis (line from its middle), centre of curvature (C), and focal point.
2. Place a vertical arrow to show the objects height (ho) and location (do).
3. Draw two rays* from the tip of the object to the mirror, and then the reflected rays. Where
these rays meet will be the height (hi) of the real image (use solid lines), or where they appear to
diverge from will be the virtual image (use dotted lines)

There are three possible rays that you can draw. You need to draw ________ of them to find the image.
Option 1.

Option 2.

Option 3.
Once you have drawn the ray diagram you can decide on the image characteristics.

You can also make calculations regarding the object and the image.
! ! ! $" #"
"
=# +# $= =−
! " $! #!
*Sign conventions: Real objects/ images = + distance, Virtual images = -distance
Upright images/objects = + height, Inverted images/ objects = - height
Converging mirrors – real principal focal point (f is +); Diverging mirrors – virtual principal focal point (f is -)
An upright image has a positive magnification; an inverted image has a negative magnification.

Extra Practice
1. What is the focal length of a makeup mirror that produces a magnification of 2.00 when a person’s face is
8.00 cm away? What type of mirror is this? List the attributes.

2. An image of a 2.0 cm object reflected from a mirror is 5.0 cm tall. What is the magnification of the mirror?
List the attributes
 3. A diverging mirror with focal length of 10.0 cm produces an image of an object 20.0 cm a=from the mirror.
Determine the image distance and magnification. Is the image real or virtual?

4. Determine the image distance, magnification, and attributes for the following:
a. Converging mirror with focal length of 12.0 cm with an object 6.00 cm from the mirror

b. Diverging mirror of focal length 5.00 cm with an object 10.0 cm from the mirror

Extra Resources Folder

• 3.5-3.6 Extra Practice (MC#1-2)

Unit 3 Worksheet 6
Refraction

What happens to the velocity of a cart if you are pushing it along a smooth floor and then you hit
carpet? Now imagine what happens if the cart hits the carpet on an angle?

Refractive Index

• The refractive index (n) is the ratio of the velocity of the wave in a vacuum to the velocity of the
wave in a specific material
$
!=
%

• Common refractive indexes are found in table 13.4 p. 667. All for yellow light λ=589 nm.

• Vacuum and air are close enough that we consider them to be equivalent.

What is Refraction?

Snell’s Law

&'!Θ! !" %! )!
= = =
&'!Θ" !! %" )"

• If n1 < n2:
• If n1 > n2:

The degree to which a wave is refracted depends on:

 1. Determine the speed of light in the following materials:
a. Water (n= 1.33)
b. ethanol (n=1.37)

2. Light with a wavelength of 737 nm enters quartz glass at an angle of 25.0°. Determine the angle
of refraction and the wavelength of the light in the quartz glass (n=1.47).

Total Internal Reflection

• If light passes from a material with a high index of refraction (more “dense”) to a low index of
refraction (less “dense”) light can bend far enough that it doesn’t enter the second material.

• The angle that this happens at is the critical angle and depends on the two materials.

What happens when you reach the critical angle?

3. What is the critical angle for the following interfaces?

a. water (n=1.33) and air (n=1.00)

b. Diamond (n=2.42) and air (n=1.00)

Lenses

Mirrors Lenses
Virtual Images are still _________________. Real images are still _____________________.

A virtual image has a _________________ distance

An inverted image has a ________________________ height

An inverted image has a ________________________ magnification

Lens Ray Diagrams.

1. Draw the lens, its principal axis (line from its middle), focal points on both sides of the lens

2. Place a vertical arrow to show the object’s height and location

3. Draw two rays* from the tip of the object to the lens, and then their refracted rays. Where these
rays meet (solid lines) will be the height of the real image; or where they appear to diverge from
(dotted lines) will be the virtual image

What are the 3 possible ways for drawing rays?

Equations.

4. A 3.00 cm high object is located 15.0 cm from a converging lens with a focal length of 10.0 cm.
a) How far is the image from the lens?
b) How high is the image?
c) Describe the image characteristics and verify them using a ray diagram.

5. 10.0 cm high candle is placed 100.0 cm from a diverging lens with a focal length of 25.0 cm.
Determine the following using a ray diagram and the thin lens equation:
a) The image location from the lens
b) The image height
c) The type of image formed

6. A projector uses a converging lens to create a focused image on a screen located 5.00 m away.
The image is generated from a slide located 7.50 cm from the lens.
a) What is the focal length of the lens?
b) Determine the magnification of the image
Extra Practice

1. At what minimum angle does total internal reflection of light occur if it travels from water (n =
1.33) to ice (n = 1.31)?

2. Find the refracted angle of the angle of incidence is 25° and the light ray goes from water (n =
1.33) to air (n = 1.00)

Extra Resources Folder

• 3.6 Lens Diagrams

• 3.5-3.6 Extra Practice (all questions except # 1, 2, 9, 11, 18)
 Converging & Diverging Lenses Ray Diagrams
(1)

(2)

(3)
(4)

(5)

(6)
(7)

(8)

(9) Draw a ray diagram for a 5.0-cm tall object placed 45.0 cm from a converging lens having a focal length
of 15.0 cm.
(10) Draw a ray diagram for a 3.0-cm tall object placed 10.0 cm from a converging lens having a focal length
of 15.0 cm.

(11) Draw a ray diagram for a diverging lens that has a focal length of -10.8 cm when an object is placed 32.4
cm from the lens's surface.

(12) Draw a ray diagram for an object placed 6.0 cm from the surface of a converging lens with a focal length
of 12.0 cm.