UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA

Faculty of Science & Sport

School of Natural & Applied Sciences
Physics for Computer Studies (PHS1019)
TUTORIAL # 5

Question 1

A charge of 50 C leaves a battery and supplies 600 J of electrical energy to a lamp connected to
it. What is:

i) the p.d. of the battery?

ii) the current from the battery if the charge passes in 25 s?

Question 2

A filament lamp is marked 240 V 60 W.

i) Calculate the current through the lamp when it is working normally.

ii) Calculate the resistance of the lamp when it is working normally.
iii) Sketch the current-voltage characteristic of the filament lamp.

Question 3

A car headlamp is marked 12 V, 65 W. It is switched on for a 30 minute journey.

Calculate the:

i) current in the lamp

ii) charge which passes through the lamp during the journey
iii) energy supplied to the lamp during the journey
iv) working resistance of the lamp

Question 4

Three lamps were connected in a circuit with a battery of constant potential. The current, potential
difference and resistance for each lamp are listed in the data table below. [There is negligible
resistance in the wires and the battery.]
 Current / (A) Potential Difference / (V) Resistance / (Ω)
Lamp 1 0.45 40.1 89.0
lamp 2 0.11 40.1 365
lamp 3 0.28 40.1 143

i) Using circuit symbols, draw a circuit showing how the lamps and battery are connected.
ii) What is the potential difference supplied by the battery?
iii) Calculate the equivalent resistance of the circuit.
iv) If lamp 3 is removed from the circuit, what would be the value of the potential
difference across lamp 1 after lamp 3 is removed?
v) If lamp 3 is removed from the circuit, what would be the value of the current in lamp
2 after lamp 3 is removed

Question 5

Two resistors R1 and R2 are connected in parallel to a power supply. If the current through R1 is
0.25 A and the potential difference across R2 is 2.5 V.

i) Find the value R1

ii) If the power dissipated in R2 is 0.375W, what is the current through R2? Hence or
otherwise, determine the value of R2.
iii) What is the total current drawn from the cell?

Question 6
The arrangement of resistors shown in Fig 1below is connected to a battery.

25 Ω

100 Ω

25 Ω
The power dissipated in the 100 Ω resistor is 0.95W. Calculate the:

i) current in the 25 Ω resistors..

ii) power dissipated in each of the 25 Ω resistors.
iii) voltage across the battery.

Question 7

Resistors 3.0 Ω, 4.0 Ω, and 8.0 Ω are connected in parallel across a 12 V supply.
i) Sketch a schematic diagram of the data given.
ii) Determine the total resistance of the network.
iii) Determine the current through each resistor.
iv) Determine the power dissipated across each resistor.

Question 8
A 4.0 m length of wire with a diameter of 1.4 mm is at room temperature. The current flowing
through the wire is 5.0 A with a 500 mV voltage drops across the wire. Determine the:
i) cross-sectional area of the wire in S.I units.
ii) resistance of the wire.
iii) resistivity of the wire.
iv) power dissipated in the wire.
Question 9
A cylindrical copper cable of resistivity 1.78 × 10−8 Ω m carries a current of 40 A.
There is a potential difference of 250 mV between two points on the cable that are 80 cm apart.
Determine the:

i) resistance between the two points

ii) cross-sectional area of the cable.
iii) diameter of the cable.
Question 10

a) A 3.50 meter length of wire with a cross sectional area of 3.14 × 10–6 m2 is at room
temperature. The current in the wire is 24.0 A when connected to a 1.50 V source of potential
difference.
 i) Determine the resistance of the wire.
ii) Calculate the resistivity of the wire. [Show all work, including the equation
and substitution with units.

b) The overhead wire used to supply power to UTECH computer lab C has area of cross-
section 5.0 x 10 -5 m2 and is made of copper of resistivity 1.72 x 10 -8 Ω m. Calculate the
resistance of one kilometer length of the wire.