University of British Columbia | Okanagan Campus | School of Engineering

APSC 178 Electricity, Magnetism, and Waves

Dr. Loïc Markley and Dr. Kenneth Chau, 2021-2022 Term 2

MODULE FIVE
Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force

Further information on this module's content can be found in the following chapter of the textbook:

1. Electric Charge and Electric Field 7. Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces
1.1 Electric Charge 7.1 Magnetism
1.2 Conductors, Insulators, and Induced Charges 7.2 Magnetic Field
1.3 Coulomb's Law 7.3 Magnetic Field Lines and Magnetic Flux
1.4 Electric Field and Electric Forces 7.4 Motion of Charged Particles in a Magnetic Field
1.5 Electric Field Calculations 7.6 Magnetic Force on a Current-Carrying Conductor
1.6 Electric Field Lines 7.7 Force and Torque on a Current Loop
1.7 Electric Dipoles 7.8 The Direct-Current Motor
2. Gauss's Law 8. Sources of Magnetic Field
2.1 Charge and Electric Flux 8.1 Magnetic Field of a Moving Charge
2.2 Calculating Electric Flux 8.2 Magnetic Field of a Current Element
2.3 Gauss's Law 8.3 Magnetic Field of a Straight Current-Carrying Conductor
2.4 Applications of Gauss's Law 8.4 Force Between Parallel Conductors
2.5 Charges on Conductors 8.5 Magnetic Field of a Circular Current Loop
3. Electric Potential 8.6 Ampère's Law
3.1 Electric Potential Energy 8.7 Applications of Ampère's Law
3.2 Electric Potential 8.8 Magnetic Materials
3.3 Calculating Electric Potential 9. Electromagnetic Induction
3.4 Equipotential Surfaces 9.1 Induction Experiments
3.5 Potential Gradient 9.2 Faraday's Law
4. Capacitance and Dielectrics 9.3 Lenz's Law
4.1 Capacitors and Capacitance 9.4 Motional Electromotive Force
4.2 Capacitors in Series and Parallel 9.5 Induced Electric Fields
4.3 Energy Storage in Capacitors and Electric Field Energy 9.7 Displacement Current and Maxwell's Equations
4.4 Dielectrics 10. Inductance
4.5 Molecular Model of Induced Charge 10.1 Mutual Inductance
4.6 Gauss's Law in Dielectrics 10.2 Self-Inductance and Inductors
5. Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force 10.3 Magnetic Field Energy
5.1 Current 10.4 The R-L Circuit
5.2 Resistivity 12. Electromagnetic Waves
5.3 Resistance 12.1 Maxwell's Equations and Electromagnetic Waves
5.4 Electromotive Force and Circuits 13. The Nature and Propagation of Light
5.5 Energy and Power in Electric Circuits 13.2 Reflection and Refraction
6. Direct-Current Circuits 13.3 Total Internal Reflection
6.1 Resistors in Series and Parallel
6.2 Kirchhoff's Rules
6.3 Electrical Measuring Instruments
6.4 R-C Circuits

© Loïc Markley and Kenneth Chau. Not to be copied, used, or revised without explicit written permission from the copyright owner.
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 2/17

5.0 Summary Diagram

Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 3/17

Up to this point in the course we have considered interactions between charges at rest. In this module
we will consider charges that are allowed to move. We will show how the motion of charges forms an
electric current. Electric currents are very important in electric circuits because they can transfer
electrical energy from a source (like a battery) to a device (like a light bulb, a motor, or an antenna).

5.1 Current

Current is simply the motion of charge from one region to another.

In electrostatics, there is no electric field within conductors. This means that there is no flow of
electrons and thus no current. This does not mean that the charges are perfectly still (charges will
always undergo random motion), however because of frequent ___________________ between
particles, the net motion is zero and net current is zero.

If an electric field is set up within a conductor, the charges will experience an electric force provided by
that field. Due to collisions within the conductor, the charges are unable to accelerate freely and end up
moving at an average velocity called the drift velocity, 𝐯𝐯d . The drift velocity of an electron passing
through a circuit is very slow, typically on the order of 0.1 mm/s!

The Direction of Current Flow

The current is defined as the amount of charge flowing through a cross-sectional area 𝐴𝐴 per unit time.
We can write this in terms of a differential charge 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 flowing during a differential time 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 as follows:

We apply a convention that current is in the direction of ________________ charge flow.

Thus, for the negatively-charged electrons in metals, current is _______________ to the flow of charges.
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 4/17

Current, Drift Velocity, and Current Density

We can also relate the current to the drift velocity of the moving charges. In the same way that we
calculated flux earlier in the course, we can define a volume of charges passing through a cross-sectional
area A in a given unit of time and use this result to define the current:

We describe charge flow within a material by the current density, 𝐉𝐉. Current density is the current
divided by the cross-sectional area and its direction is parallel or anti-parallel to the direction of the drift
velocity 𝐯𝐯d :

The lights in your home are typically wired using 14 gauge copper wire, with a diameter of 1.628 mm. If
a 100 W light bulb draws a current of 0.833 A, what is the current density and electron drift velocity in
the wires? The free electron density in copper is 8.5 × 1028 electrons/m3. Are the drift velocity and
current through the bulb's filament equal to the drift velocity and current through the wire?
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 5/17

5.2 Resistivity

For many materials, the electric current density is proportional to the electric field. This is Ohm's Law.

We can use the proportionality of Ohm's Law to define the resistivity, ρ, for a material as the ratio of
electric field to electric current density:

Alternatively, we can characterize the material by a quantity called the conductivity, σ, which is simply
the reciprocal of the resistivity:

The resistivities of metals are especially low: e.g. ρ Ag = ____________ Ω·m

ρ Cu = ____________ Ω·m
ρ Au = ____________ Ω·m

The resistivities of semiconductors are moderate: e.g. ρ Si = ____________ Ω·m

ρ GaAs = ____________ Ω·m

The resistivities of insulators are especially high: e.g. ρ SiO2 = ____________ Ω·m

Note that the resistivity of materials changes with temperature, increasing when heated and decreasing
when cooled. In some materials, the resistivity drops to zero below a certain temperature! These
materials are called ______________________________.

You have come across a semiconductor wafer. The wafer has a diameter of 50.8 mm and thickness of
250 µm. You connect electrical contacts to the wafer's top and bottom surfaces and apply 10 V to the
contacts. You see a current of 35 mA flow through the wafer. What is the wafer made of?
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 6/17

5.3 Resistance

In circuit analysis, it is simpler to measure the potential difference (i.e. voltage) and total current rather
than electric field and current density. To this end, consider a conductor with a cross-sectional area 𝐴𝐴
and length 𝑙𝑙 having a uniform electric field and uniform current density throughout:

We can write Ohm's Law in terms of the total current and potential difference (i.e. voltage):

The ratio of potential difference to current is called the _______________, R:

You will see often see resistors in circuits as cylindrical components having four bands. The band colours
tell you value of the resistor (as the first and second digits times a multiplier) and the tolerance (no band
means ±20%, a silver band means ±10%, and a gold band means ±5%).

Colour Digit Multiplier

Black 0 100
Brown 1 101
Red 2 102
Orange 3 103
Yellow 4 104
Green 5 105
Blue 6 106
Violet 7 107
Gray 8 108
White 9 109

The resistor shown here has bands of green, violet, red, and silver. What is its resistance?
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 7/17

Calculate the resistance of a linearly-tapered cylinder of resistivity 𝜌𝜌, which has a radius on its narrow
end of 𝑟𝑟1 , a radius on its wide end of 𝑟𝑟2 , and a height of 𝑙𝑙.
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 8/17

When buying an extension cord, it’s important to choose the appropriate wire thickness for the
application. The cords you buy at your local hardware store will typically be specified using one of the
following American Wire Gauge numbers.

AWG Wire diameter

10 2.588 mm
12 2.053 mm
14 1.628 mm
16 1.291 mm
18 1.024 mm

If you wanted to run a 15 A circular saw using a 50 ft extension cord, and your saw voltage had to stay
above 115 V, what is the largest (cheapest) wire gauge number you could choose? You may assume the
voltage at your outlet is 120 V and you may assume the wires in your cord are copper.
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 9/17

5.4 Electromotive Force and Circuits

A conductor can only maintain a steady current if it forms part of a closed path, i.e., a complete circuit.
Otherwise, charge would build up and form an electric field that opposed the initial flow of current.

However, since the potential energy of a charge that has moved around a closed loop must be the same
as its value at the beginning of the loop, and since loops typically have resistive losses, at some point in
the loop the potential energy must increase in the direction of current flow.

Electromotive Force

The influence that makes current flow from a region of low potential to a region of high potential is
called the electromotive force, or ______. The source of emf in a circuit can be a battery, a generator, a
solar cell, etc. It must supply an external (non-electrostatic) force to move charges to a higher potential.

Note that emf, ℰ, is not actually a force—it is measured in volts. It's equal to the external work done to
move a unit charge from the region of low potential to the region of high potential.

If we connect a resistor R into our configuration, we create a complete circuit:

Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 10/17

Internal Resistance

In a real emf source, the potential difference at the output terminals is not exactly equal to the emf. The
charges experience internal resistance, r, that lowers the potential difference.

The potential difference of a real source is always less than the emf due to the potential drop across the
internal resistance. You can see this from the following circuit:

Symbols for Circuit Diagrams

These are the circuit symbols of relevance to the above concepts:

Conducting wire (with negligible resistance): Resistor:

Source of emf: Source of emf with internal resistance:

Voltmeter (ideally has infinite internal resistance): Ammeter (ideally has zero internal resistance):
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 11/17

A battery delivering a current of 1.5 A has a potential of 8.4 V across its terminals. When a charger drives
a current of 3.5 A in the reverse direction, the potential is now 9.4 V. What is the emf and internal
resistance of the battery?

Given the following circuit, what are the readings on the voltmeter and the ammeter?
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 12/17

For the prior question, what would be the reading on the ammeter if we moved it to the spot where the
voltmeter is currently?

Never place an ammeter in parallel with a source!

Potential Changes Around a Circuit

The net change in potential energy of a charge that makes a complete trip around a circuit must be zero.

The potential increase is caused by _______, and the potential decrease is caused by _______________.

We can write this rule in terms of the potential energy per unit charge for a complete circuit:
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 13/17

Given the circuit below, plot the electric potential as a function of position around the loop.

a b c d e f g h a
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 14/17

5.5 Energy and Power in Electric Circuits

Consider the energy that is delivered to (or extracted from) a circuit element. A current 𝐼𝐼 passes through
the element. This corresponds to a differential charge 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 passing through it over a differential time 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑:

The change in potential energy of this charge will be the following:

We rearrange the expression to give the delivered _____________ (as the energy per unit time):

Power Input to a Resistor

If the circuit element is a resistor, then we can apply Ohm's Law to write the power delivered to the
resistor as follows:

Note that the potential where the current enters the resistor is always higher than the potential where
the current exits. Power will therefore be positive, corresponding to energy delivered to the resistor.
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 15/17

Power Output from a Source

The power output of a source is calculated using the current flowing out the positive terminal of the
source:

Note that ℰ𝐼𝐼 is the rate at which work is done on the charges circulating around the circuit.

Power Input to a Source

Consider the situation where a source is connected to another source which has a larger emf. The larger
source will drive current backwards through the first source:

Charging batteries are a common example of power absorption by a source. The energy dissipated in the
internal resistance is what causes the battery to heat up when it's being recharged.
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 16/17

A non-ideal voltage source has an emf of 12 V and an internal resistance of 3 Ω. It is connected to a load
of 6 Ω. Find the terminal voltage (being the voltage across the emf and internal resistance) and the
power dissipated by each of the three circuit elements.

What are the values of power dissipated in the load resistor if the load is reduced first to 3 Ω and then
to 2 Ω?
Markley and Chau, APSC 178, Module 5 17/17

It is often desirable to maximize the power transferred to the load. What is the relationship between the
internal resistance and load resistance that gives maximum power transfer? As a hint, look at the trend
forming above.