Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering

(TEGT3542)
Lecture Notes

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 CH2 Outline
 Resistance
• Resistance of wires

• Temperature Effects

• Types of Resistors

• Color Coding and Standard Resistor Values

• Conductance

• Ohmmeters

• Superconductors

• Resistor combinations

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 CH2 Objectives
 Expectations upon completion of this chapter…
• Become familiar with the parameters that determine the
resistance of an element and be able to calculate the
resistance from the given dimensions and material
characteristics.

• Understand the effects of temperature on the resistance of a

material and how to calculate the change in resistance with
temperature.

• Develop some understanding of superconductors and how they

can affect future development in the industry.

• Become familiar with the broad range of commercially available

today resistors and how to read the value of each from the
color code or labeling.
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 Resistance
 What is Resistance?

• How much current will be flowing when a specific voltage is

applied to a closed circuit?

• Resistance is the opposition to the flow of charges in a circuit

[Ohms, Ω].

• Resistance is smaller for good conductors and bigger for

insulators.

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 Resistance
 Resistance of Wires
• How to calculate the resistance of a wire?

• Resistance depends on the following four (4) factors:

• Type of Material (Resistivity)
• Length of the wire
• Cross-sectional area
• Temperature of the material

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 Resistance
 Resistance of Wires (Cont’d)
• Resistivity [cm − Ω]
• The higher the resistivity, the greater is the resistance
of a conductor.
• The longer the conductor, the greater is the resistance.
• The greater the area of a conductor, the less is the
resistance.

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 Resistance
 Resistance of Wires (Cont’d)

• Question: Find the resistance of the thin-film resistor

𝜌
shown below given that sheet resistance R s = = 100Ω.
𝑑

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 Resistance
 Resistance of Wires (Cont’d)

• Solution:

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 Resistance
 Temperature Effects
• Temperature affects the arrangement of atoms in a material.

• It therefore has significant effect on the resistance of

conductors, semiconductors, and insulators.

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 Resistance
 Temperature Effects (Cont’d)
• For good conductors, an increase in temperature results in
an increase in the resistance level. Consequently; positive
temperature coefficient.

• For semiconductor materials, an increase in temperature

results in a decrease in the resistance level; negative
temperature coefficients.

• For insulators, an increase in temperature results in a

decrease in the resistance; negative temperature
coefficient.

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 Resistance
 Temperature Effects (Cont’d)
• Inferred Absolute Temperature

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 Resistance
 Temperature Effects (Cont’d)

• Question: If the resistance of an Auminium wire is 100 mΩ (at

20°C), at what temperature will its resistance increase to 120
mΩ?

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 Resistance
 Temperature Effects (Cont’d)

• Solution: By Applying the equation, we get:

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 Resistance
 Temperature Effects (Cont’d)

• Question: The inferred absolute temperature for copper is -

234.5ºC. If the resistance of a copper wire is 10 ohms at
25ºC, what is its resistance at 200ºC?

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 Resistance
 Temperature Effects (Cont’d)

• Solution: By Applying the previous equation, we get:

234.5 + 25 234.5 + 200

=
10 𝑅2

234.5 + 200
𝑅2 = × 10 = 16.7 
234.5 + 25

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 Resistance
 Temperature Effects (Cont’d)
• Calculating the resistance of a conductor at different
temperatures using temperature coefficient…

• Resistance at a specific temperature, T1 or any temperature,

T.

• The higher the temperature coefficient of resistance for a

material, the more sensitive is the resistance level to changes
in temperature.

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 Resistance
 Types of Resistors
• There are different types of resistors based on construction
and applications.

• Fixed Resistors
• This type of resistors have a fixed resistance for their
application.

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 Resistance
 Types of Resistors(Cont’d)
• Fixed Resistors (Cont’d)
• For a particular style and manufacturer, the size of a
resistor increases with the power or wattage rating.

• However, the size of a resistor does not define its

resistance level.

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 Resistance
 Types of Resistors(Cont’d)
• Fixed Resistors (Cont’d)

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 Resistance
 Types of Resistors(Cont’d)
• Variable Resistors
• Their terminal resistance that can be varied.

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 Resistance
 Color Coding and Standard Resistor Values
• How to identify resistor values?

• Colour bands are used (Colour coding).

• The first two bands represent the first and second digits,
respectively.
• The third band determines the power-of-ten multiplier for
the first two digits.
• The fourth band is the manufacturer’s tolerance, which is
an indication of the precision by which the resistor was
made.

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 Resistance
 Color Coding and Standard Resistor Values (Cont’d)
• Question: Determine the value of this resistor.

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 Resistance
 Color Coding and Standard Resistor Values (Cont’d)

• Question: Determine the value of this resistor.

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 Resistance
 Color Coding and Standard Resistor Values (Cont’d)

• Sometimes 5 colour bands are used.

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 Resistance
 Color Coding and Standard Resistor Values (Cont’d)
• Standard Resistor Values.

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 Resistance
 Conductance
• A measure of how well the material conducts electricity,
[Siemens].

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 Resistance
 Ohmmeters
• An instrument used to measure the resistance of an element.

• Ohmmeters are used for:

• Detecting OC and SC situations.
• Continuity Test

• NB: Never connect an ohmmeter to a live circuit!

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 Resistance
 Superconductors
• Superconductors are conductors of electric charge that, for
all practical purposes, have zero resistance.

• That means no heat or any other form of energy would be

released from the material during superconductivity.

• Superconductors are currently inefficient and uneconomical.

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 Resistance
 Superconductors (Cont’d)
• Excessive amount of energy is used to cool materials to be
superconductors.

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 Resistance
 Superconductors (Cont’d)
• Room temperature superconductivity has not been attained
yet but extensive research is ongoing..

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 Resistance
 Resistor Combinations
• Resistors in series
• The total resistance of a series configuration is the sum of
the resistance levels.

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 Resistance
 Resistor Combinations (Cont’d)
• Resistors in series (cont’d)
• The more resistors we add in series, the greater is the
resistance.

• The total resistance of resistors in series is unaffected by

the order in which they are connected.

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 Resistance
 Resistor Combinations (Cont’d)
• Resistors in Parallel (cont’d)
• Two elements, branches, or circuits are in parallel if they
have two points in common.

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 Resistance
 Resistor Combinations (Cont’d)
• Resistors in Parallel (cont’d)
• The total resistance of parallel resistors is always less than
the value of the smallest resistor

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 Resistance
 Resistor Combinations (Cont’d)
• Resistors in Parallel (cont’d)
• Example

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 Resistance
 Resistor Combinations (Cont’d)
• Resistors in Parallel (cont’d)
• The total resistance of parallel resistors will always drop as
new resistors are added in parallel, irrespective of their
value.
• The total resistance of N parallel resistors of equal value is
the resistance of one resistor divided by the number (N) of
parallel resistors.

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 Resistance
 Resistor Combinations (Cont’d)
• Resistors in Parallel
• For two parallel resistors:

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 Resistance
Chapter 2 Summary
 Resistance
• Resistance of wires
• Temperature Effects
• Types of Resistors
• Color Coding and Standard Resistor Values
• Conductance
• Ohmmeters
• Superconductors
• Resistor combinations

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