Ohm’s Law,Power and Energy

Dr. Ayesha Habib

Ohm’s Law
 Ohm determined experimentally that
current in a resistive circuit is directly
proportional to its applied voltage and
inversely proportional to its resistance.
 In equation form, Ohm’s law states
 larger the
resistance, →
the smaller the current.

←larger the
applied voltage,
the larger the current,
Traditionally, circuits are drawn with the source on
the left and the load on the right .However, we will
also encounter circuits with other orientations. For
these, the same principles apply;
PROBLEMS
Relationship between current and voltage
!
Open Circuits
Current can only exist where there is a conductive path (e.g., a length
of wire). For the circuit of Figure 4–8, I equals zero since there is no
conductor between points a and b. We refer to this as an open circuit.
Since I = 0,
Voltage Symbols
Voltage Polarity and Current Direction

For voltage across a resistor, always place the plus sign at

the tail of the current reference arrow.
For each resistor of Figure 4–12, compute V and show
its polarity.
 Power
 Electric heaters and light bulbs are rated in watts (W) and that motors are rated in
horsepower (or watts).
 Higher the watt rating of a device ,the more energy we can get out of it per unit time.
 The greater the power rating of the light, the more light energy that it can produce per
second.
 In (b), the greater the power rating of the heater, the more heat energy it can produce
per second.
 In (c), the larger the power rating of the motor, the more mechanical work that it can do
per second.
 Power is related to energy, which is the capacity to do work.
Formally, power is defined as the rate of doing work or,
equivalently, as the rate of transfer of energy.

 where W is the work (or energy) in joules and t is the

corresponding time interval in seconds.

 If we substitute W = 1 J and t = 1 s we get P = 1 J/1 s = 1 W.

From this, we can see that one watt equals one joule per second.
 Power in Electrical and Electronic Systems
 Since our interest is in electrical power, we need expressions
for P in terms of electrical quantities. Recall that voltage is
defined as work per unit charge and current as the rate of
transfer of charge, i.e.,
 Figure (b), highlights the source end.

Power out of a source is positive when both

the current and power arrows point out from
the source, both I and P have positive values,
and the source voltage has the polarity
indicated.

 Figure (c), highlights the load end, the relative

polarity of the load voltage and the direction of the
current and power arrows.

Power to a load is positive when both the

current and power direction arrows point into
the load, both have positive values, and the
load voltage has the polarity indicated.
 Energy
 W has units of watthours (Wh).
 P must be constant over the time interval under consideration.

 The most familiar example of energy usage - our utility bills.

 For example, if you run a 100-W lamp for 1 hour, the energy consumed is W = Pt =
(100 W)(1h) = 100 Wh, while if you run a 1500-W electric heater for 12 hours, the
energy consumed is W = (1500 W)(12 h) =18 000 Wh.

 Watthour is too small a unit for practical purposes. For this reason, we use
kilowatthours (kWh). By definition,

For multiple loads, the total energy is the sum of the energy of individual loads.
Efficiency
 Poor efficiency - waste of energy

 An inefficient motor costs more.

 An inefficient piece of electronic - generates

more heat, resulting in increased costs.

 Efficiency can be expressed in terms of either

energy or power. Power is generally easier to
measure, so we usually use power.

 The efficiency of a device or system is defined as

and denoted by the Greek letter ή (eta).
 The efficiency of equipment and machines varies
greatly.

 Large power transformers, have efficiencies of 98%

or better, while many electronic amplifiers have
efficiencies lower than 50%.

 Efficiency will always be less than 100%.