Electrical resistance

If you connect a lamp to a battery, a current in the

lamp causes it to glow. But what determines the size
of the current? This depends on two factors:

the potential difference or voltage V across the
lamp the greater the voltage, the greater the
current for a given lamp

the resistance R of the lamp the greater
the resistance, the smaller the current for a
given voltage.
We will look more carefully at the meaning of voltage
in Chapter 11. For the purpose of this chapter, you just
need to know that we can measure the voltage (also
known as potential difference) across a component by
placing a voltmeter across the component.
Now we need to think about the meaning
of electrical resistance. Different lamps have
different resistances. It is easy to demonstrate this
by connecting a torch bulb and a car headlamp in
series to a battery. The current is the same in each
component, but the voltage across the torch bulb will
be greater than the voltage across the headlamp. The
torch bulb has a larger resistance than the headlamp.
The resistance of any component is defned as the
ratio of the voltage to the current. As a word equation,
this is written as:
resistance =
voltage
current
or
R =
V
I
where R is the resistance of the component, V is the
voltage across the component and I is the current in
the component.
You can rearrange the equation above to give:
I =
V
R
and V = IR
Table 10.1 summarises these quantities and their units.
Quantity Symbol for
quantity
Unit Symbol
for unit
current I ampere (amp) A
voltage V volt V
resistance R ohm
Table 10.1 Basic electrical quantities, their symbols
and SI units. Take care to understand the difference
between V (in italics) meaning the quantity voltage
and V meaning the unit volt.
Resistance and resistivity
Calculate the current in a lamp given its
resistance is 15 and the potential difference
across its ends is 3.0 V.
Step 1 Here we have V = 3.0 V and R = 15 .
Step 2 Substituting in I =
V
R
gives:
current I =
3.0
15
= 0.20 A
So the current in the lamp is 0.20 A.
Worked example 1
SAQ
1 A car headlamp bulb has a resistance of 36 .
Calculate the current in the lamp
when connected to a 12 V battery.
2 You can buy lamps of different
brightness to ft in light fttings at
home (Figure 10.1). A 100 watt lamp glows
more brightly than a 60 watt lamp. Which
of the lamps has the higher
resistance?
117
Chapter 10
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Hint
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
118
Defning the ohm
The unit of resistance, the ohm, can be determined
from the equation that defnes resistance:
resistance =
voltage
current
The ohm is equivalent to 1 volt per ampere. That is:
1 = 1 V A
1
Determining resistance
As we have seen, the equation for resistance is:
R =
V
I
To determine the resistance of a component, we
therefore need to measure both the voltage V across
it and the current I through it. To measure the current
we need an ammeter. To measure the voltage, we need
a voltmeter. Figure 10.2a shows how these meters
should be connected to determine the resistance of a
metallic conductor, such as a length of wire.

The ammeter is connected in series with the
conductor, so that there is the same current in both.

The voltmeter is connected across (in parallel with)
the conductor, to measure the voltage across it.
The voltage across the metal conductor can be altered
using a variable power supply or by having a variable
resistor placed in series with the conductor. This
gives currents at different voltages. The results of
such a series of measurements is shown graphically
in Figure 10.2b.
Figure 10.1 Both of these lamps work from
the 230 V mains supply, but one has a higher
resistance than the other. For SAQ 2.
The ohm is the resistance of a component when
a potential difference of 1 volt is produced per
ampere of current.
SAQ
3 a Calculate the potential difference across a
motor carrying a current of 1.0 A having a
resistance of 50 .
b Calculate the potential difference across the
same motor when the current is doubled.
Assume its resistance
remains constant.
4 Calculate the resistance of a lamp carrying a
current of 0.40 A when connected
to a 230 V supply.
V
A
I
I
V
metallic
conductor
a
b
0
0
Figure 10.2 To determine the resistance of a
component, you need to measure both current and
potential difference.
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
119
Look at the graph of Figure 10.2b. Such a graph
is known as an IV characteristic. The points are
slightly scattered, but they clearly lie on a straight
line. A line of best ft has been drawn. If you extend
this line downwards, you will see that it passes
through the origin of the graph. In other words, the
current I is directly proportional to the voltage V. The
straight-line graph passing through the origin shows
that the resistance of the conductor remains constant.
If you double the current, the voltage will also
double. However, its resistance, which is the ratio of
the voltage to the current, remains the same. Instead
of using:
R =
V
I
to determine the resistance, for a graph of I against
V which is a straight line passing through the origin,
you can also use:
resistance =
1
gradient of graph
(Take care! This is only true for an IV graph which
is a straight line through the origin.)
You get results similar to those shown in
Figure 10.2b for a commercial resistor. Resistors
have different resistances, hence the gradient of the
IV graph will be different for different resistors.
SAQ
5 Table 10.2 shows the results of an experiment to
measure the resistance of a carbon resistor whose
resistance is given by the manufacturer
as 47 10%.
a Plot a graph to show the IV characteristic of
this resistor.
b Do the points appear to fall on a straight line
which passes through the origin of the graph?
c Use the graph to determine the resistance of
the resistor.
d Does the value of the resistance fall within
the range given by
the manufacturer?
Voltage V/V Current I/A
2.1 0.040
4.0 0.079
6.3 0.128
7.9 0.192
10.0 0.202
12.1 0.250
Table 10.2 Data for SAQ 5.
Ohms law
For the metallic conductor whose IV characteristic
is shown in Figure 10.2b, the current through it is
directly proportional to the voltage across it. This is
only true if the temperature of the conductor does not
change. This means that its resistance is independent
of both the current and the voltage. This is because
the ratio
V
I
is a constant. Any component which
behaves like this is described as an ohmic component,
and we say that it obeys Ohms law. The statement of
Ohms law is very precise and you must not confuse
this with the equation V = IR.
Ohms law
For a metallic conductor at constant temperature,
the current in the conductor is directly
proportional to the potential difference across
its ends.
It is easier to see the signifcance of this if we
consider a non-ohmic component. An example
is a semiconductor diode. This is a component
which allows electric current in only one direction.
Nowadays, most diodes are made of semiconductor
materials. One type, the light-emitting diode or
LED, gives out light when it conducts.
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
120
Figure 10.3 shows the IV characteristic for a light-
emitting diode. There are some points you should
notice about this graph:

We have included positive and negative values
of current and voltage. This is because, when
connected one way round (positively biased), the
diode conducts and has a fairly low resistance.
Connected the other way round (negatively
biased), it allows only a tiny current through and
has almost infnite resistance.

For positive voltages less than about 2 V, the current
is almost zero and hence the LED has almost
infnite resistance. The LED starts to conduct
suddenly at its threshold voltage. This depends on
the colour of light it emits, but may be taken to
be about 2 V. The resistance of the LED decreases
dramatically for voltages greater than 2 V.
The resistance of a light-emitting diode depends on
the potential difference across it. From this we can
conclude that the LED does not obey Ohms law; it is
a non-ohmic component.
LEDs have traditionally been used as indicator
lamps to show when an appliance is switched on.
Newer versions, some of which produce white light,
are replacing flament lamps, for example in traffc
lights. This is because, although they are more
expensive to manufacture, they are more energy-
effcient and hence cheaper to run, so that the overall
cost is less.
SAQ
6 An electrical component allows a
current of 10 mA through it when
a voltage of 2.0 V is applied. When the voltage is
increased to 8.0 V, the current becomes 60 mA.
Does the component obey Ohms law? Give
numerical values for the resistance
to justify your answer.
Resistance and temperature
You should have noted earlier that, for a component
to obey Ohms law, the temperature must remain
constant. You can see why this must be the case by
considering the characteristics of a flament lamp.
Figure 10.4 shows such a lamp; you can clearly
see the wire flament glowing as the current passes
through it. Figure 10.5 shows the IV characteristic
for a similar lamp.
+
+
V
I


0
2 V

0
Figure 10.3 The current against voltage (IV)
characteristic for a light-emitting diode. The graph is
not a straight line. An LED does not obey Ohms law.
Figure 10.4 The metal flament in a lamp glows as
the current passes through it. It also feels warm. This
shows that the lamp produces both heat and light.

I
V
Figure 10.5 The IV characteristic for a
flament lamp.
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
121
There are some points you should notice about the
graph in Figure 10.5:

The line passes through the origin (as for an ohmic
component).

For very small currents and voltages, the graph is
roughly a straight line.

At higher voltages, the line starts to curve. The
current is a bit less than we would have expected
from a straight line. This suggests that the lamps
resistance has increased. You can also tell that the
resistance has increased because the ratio
V
I
is
larger for higher voltages than for low voltages.
The fact that the graph of Figure 10.5 is not a straight
line shows that the resistance of the lamp depends
on the temperature of its flament. Its resistance may
increase by a factor as large as ten between when it
is cold and when it is brightest (when its temperature
may be as high as 1750 C).
SAQ
7 The two graphs in Figure 10.6 show the IV
characteristics of a metal wire at two different
temperatures,
1
and
2
.
a Calculate the resistance of the wire at each
temperature.
b State which is the higher
temperature,
1
or
2
.
8 The graph of Figure 10.7 shows the IV
characteristics for two electrical components, a
flament lamp and a length of steel wire.
a Identify which curve relates to each
component.
b State at what voltage both have the same
resistance.
c Determine the resistance at the
voltage stated in b.
3
2
1
0
0 10
I/A
V/V
30 20
1.5
1.0
0.5
0
0 5
I/A
V/V
15
10
1

Figure 10.6 IV graphs for a wire at two different

temperatures. For SAQ 7.
I/A
V/V
0
2
4
0 4 8
3
1
2 6 10
A
B
Figure 10.7 For SAQ 8.
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
122
Thermistors
These are components that are designed to have a
resistance which changes rapidly with temperature.
Thermistors (thermal resistors) are made from metal
oxides such as those of manganese and nickel. There
are two distinct types of thermistor.

Negative temperature coeffcient (NTC)
thermistors the resistance of this type of
thermistor decreases with increasing temperature.
Those commonly used in schools and colleges
may have a resistance of many thousands of ohms
at room temperature, falling to a few tens of ohms
at 100 C. You are expected to recall the properties
of NTC thermistors.

Positive temperature coeffcient (PTC) thermistors
the resistance of this type of thermistor rises
abruptly at a defnite temperature, usually around
100150 C.
SAQ
9 The graph in Figure 10.8 was obtained by
measuring the resistance R of a particular
thermistor as its temperature changed.
a Determine its resistance at
i 20 C
ii 45 C.
b Determine the temperature when its resistance is
i 5000
ii 2000 .
c The sensitivity of the thermistor is defned
as
R

. This is the gradient of the graph. Use

the graph to estimate the sensitivity at
i 20 C
ii 45 C
iii 70 C.
The change in their resistance with temperature
gives thermistors many uses.

Water temperature sensors in cars and ice
sensors on aircraft wings if ice builds
up on the wings, the thermistor senses
this temperature drop and a small heater is
activated to melt the ice.

Baby alarms the baby rests on an air-flled
pad, and as he or she breathes, air from the pad
passes over a thermistor, keeping it cool; if the
baby stops breathing, the air movement stops,
the thermistor warms up and an alarm sounds.

Fire sensors the rise in temperature activates
an alarm.

Overload protection in electric razor sockets
if the razor overheats, the thermistors
resistance rises rapidly and cuts off the circuit.
Thermistors at work
/C
R

/
k

0
2
4
6
0
5
3
1
10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Figure 10.8 The resistance of an NTC thermistor
decreases as the temperature increases. For SAQ 9.
10 A student connects a circuit with an NTC
thermistor, a flament lamp and a battery in series.
The lamp glows dimly. The student warms the
thermistor with a hair dryer. What change will the
student notice in the brightness
of the lamp? Explain your answer.
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
123
Understanding the origin of resistance
To understand a little more about the origins of
resistance, it is helpful to look at how the resistance
of a pure metal wire changes as its temperature is
increased. This is shown in the graph of Figure 10.9.
You will see that the resistance of the pure metal
increases linearly as the temperature increases from
0 C to 100 C. Compare this with the graph of
Figure 10.8 for an NTC thermistor; the thermistors
resistance decreases very dramatically over a narrow
temperature range.
In a metal, a current is due to the movement of free
electrons. At low temperatures, they can move easily
past the positive ions (Figure 10.10a). However, as
the temperature is raised, the ions vibrate with larger
amplitudes. The electrons collide more frequently
with the vibrating ions, and this decreases their mean
drift velocity. They lose energy to the vibrating ions
(Figure 10.10b).
If the metal contains impurities, some of the atoms
will be of different sizes (Figure 10.10c). Again,
this disrupts the free fow of electrons. In colliding
with impurity atoms, the electrons lose energy to the
vibrating atoms.
You can see that electrons tend to lose energy
when they collide with vibrating ions or impurity
atoms. They give up energy to the metal, so it gets
hotter. The resistance of the metal increases with the
temperature of the wire because of the decrease in the
mean drift velocity of the electrons.
Temperature/C
R
e
s
i
s
t
a
n
c
e
0
0
50 100
impure metal
pure metal
Figure 10.9 The resistance of a metal increases
gradually as its temperature is increased. The
resistance of an impure metal wire is greater than that
of a pure metal wire of the same dimensions.
Figure 10.9 also shows how the resistance of the
metal changes if it is slightly impure. The resistance
of an impure metal is greater than that of the pure
metal and follows the same gradual upward slope.
The resistance of a metal changes in this gradual way
over a wide range of temperatures from close to
absolute zero up to its melting point, which may be
over 2000 C.
This suggests that there are two factors which
affect the resistance of a metal:

the temperature

the presence of impurities.
Here is what we picture is happening in a metal when
electrons fow through it (Figure 10.10).
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c

Figure 10.10 The origins of resistance in a metal.
a At low temperatures, electrons fow relatively
freely. b At higher temperatures, the electrons are
obstructed by the vibrating ions and they make very
frequent collisions with the ions. c Impurity atoms
can also obstruct the free fow of electrons.
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SAQ
11 The resistance of a metal wire changes with
temperature. This means that a wire could be used
to sense changes in temperature, in the same way
that a thermistor is used. Suggest one advantage a
thermistor has over a metal wire for this purpose;
suggest one advantage a metal
wire has over a thermistor.
Resistivity
The resistance of a particular wire depends on its size
and shape. A long wire has a greater resistance than
a short one, provided it is of the same thickness and
material. A thick wire has less resistance than a thin
one. You can investigate these relationships using
conducting putty. For a metal in the shape of a wire,
its resistance R depends on the following factors:

its length L

its cross-sectional area A

the material the wire is made from

its temperature.
At a constant temperature, the resistance is directly
proportional to the length of the wire and inversely
proportional to its cross-sectional area. That is:
resistance length
and
resistance
1
cross-sectional area
Therefore:
resistance
length
cross-sectional area
or
R
L
A
The resistance of a wire also depends on the material
it is made of. Copper is a better conductor than steel,
steel is a better conductor than silicon, and so on. So
if we are to determine the resistance R of a particular
wire, we need to take into account its length, its
cross-sectional area and the material. The relevant
property of the material is its resistivity, for which
the symbol is (Greek letter rho).
The word equation for resistance is:
resistance =
resistivity length
cross-sectional area
R =
L
A
We can rearrange this equation to give an equation
for resistivity. The resistivity of a material is defned
by the following word equation:
resistivity =
resistance cross-sectional area
length
=
RA
L
Values of the resistivities of some typical materials
are shown in Table 10.3. Notice that the units of
resistivity are ohm metres ( m); this is not the same
as ohms per metre.
Material Resistivity/
m
Material Resistivity/
m
silver 1.60 10
8
mercury 69.0 10
8
copper 1.69 10
8
graphite 800 10
8
nichrome
a
1.30 10
8
germanium 0.65
aluminium 3.21 10
8
silicon 2.3 10
3
lead 20.8 10
8
Pyrex glass 10
12
manganin
b
44.0 10
8
PTFE
d
10
13
10
16
eureka
c
49.0 10
8
quartz 5 10
16
Table 10.3 Resistivities of various materials at 20 C.
a
Nichrome an alloy of nickel, copper and aluminium used in electric
fres because it does not oxidise at 1000 C.
b
Manganin an alloy of 84% copper, 12% manganese and 4% nickel.
c
Eureka (constantan) an alloy of 60% copper and 40% nickel.
d
Poly(tetrafuoroethene) or Tefon.
Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
124
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Extension
SAQ
12 Use the resistivity value quoted in
Table 10.3 to calculate the lengths
of 0.50 mm diameter manganin wire needed
to make resistance coils with
resistances of:
a 1.0
b 5.0
c 10 .
13 1.0 cm
3
of copper is drawn out into
the form of a long wire of cross-
sectional area 4.0 10
7
m
2
. Calculate its
resistance. (Use the resistivity
value from Table 10.3.)
14 A 1.0 m length of copper wire has a resistance
of 0.50 .
a Calculate the resistance of a 5.0 m length of the
same wire.
b What will be the resistance of a 1.0 m length
of copper wire having half the
diameter of the original wire?
15 A piece of steel wire has a
resistance of 10 . It is stretched to
twice its original length. Compare its new
resistance with its original
resistance.
Resistivity and temperature
Resistivity, like resistance, depends on temperature.
For a metal, resistivity increases with temperature. As
we saw above, this is because there are more frequent
collisions between the conduction electrons and the
vibrating ions of the metal.
For a semiconductor, the picture is different.
The resistivity of a semiconductor decreases with
temperature. This is because, as the temperature
increases, more electrons can break free of their
atoms to become conduction electrons. The number
density n of electrons thus increases and so the
material becomes a better conductor. At the same
time, there are more electronion collisions, but this
effect is small compared with the increase in n.
Find the resistance of a 2.6 m length of eureka
wire with cross-sectional area 2.5 10
7
m
2
.
Step 1 Using the equation for resistance, and
taking the value for from Table 10.3:
resistance =
resistivity length
area

R =
L
A
Step 2 Substituting values:
R =
49.0 10
8
2.6
2.5 10
7
= 5.1
So the wire has a resistance of 5.1 .
Worked example 2
Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
125
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
126
Summary

Resistance is defned as the ratio of voltage to current. That is:
resistance =
voltage
current
(R =
V
I
)

Another term for voltage is potential difference.

The ohm is the resistance of a component when a potential difference of 1 volt is produced per ampere.

Ohms law can be stated as:

For a metallic conductor at constant temperature, the current in the conductor is directly proportional to
the potential difference (voltage) across its ends.

Ohmic components include a wire at constant temperature and a resistor.

Non-ohmic components include a flament lamp and a light-emitting diode.

A semiconductor diode allows current in one direction only. A light-emitting diode (LED) emits light
when it conducts.

As the temperature of a metal increases, so does its resistance.

A thermistor is a component which shows a rapid change in resistance over a narrow temperature range.
The resistance of an NTC thermistor decreases as its temperature is increased.

The resistivity of a material is defned as =
RA
L
, where R is the resistance of a wire of that material,
A is its cross-sectional area and L is its length. The unit of resistivity is the ohm metre ( m).
Questions
1 a A wire has length L, cross-sectional area A and is made of material of resistivity .
Write an equation for the electrical resistance R of the wire in terms of L, A and . [1]
b A second wire is made of the same material as the wire in a, has the same
length but twice the diameter. State how the resistance of this wire compares
with the resistance of the wire in a. [2]
c The diagram shows a resistor made by depositing a thin layer of carbon onto a
plastic base.
X
A
Y
plastic base
carbon
1.3 10
2
m
The resistance of the carbon layer between X and Y is 2200 . The length of
the carbon layer is 1.3 10
2
m. The resistivity of carbon is 3.5 10
5
m.
Show that the cross-sectional area A of the carbon layer is about 2 10
10
m
2
. [2]
OCR Physics AS (2822) January 2006 [Total 5]
continued
Glossary
Hint
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
127
2 a The electrical resistance of a wire depends upon its temperature and on the
resistivity of the material. List two other factors that affect the resistance of a wire. [2]
b The diagram shows an electrical circuit that contains a thin insulated copper
wire formed as a bundle.
V
3.0 V
A
The ammeter and the battery have negligible resistance and the voltmeter has an
infnite resistance.
The copper wire has length 1.8 m and diameter 0.27 mm. The resistance of the wire
is 0.54 .
i Calculate the resistivity of copper. [4]
ii State and explain the effect on the ammeter reading and the voltmeter reading
when the temperature of the copper wire bundle is increased. [4]
OCR Physics AS (2822) June 2005 [Total 10]
3 a State the difference between the directions of conventional current and
electron fow. [1]
b State Ohms law. [2]
c Current against voltage (IV) characteristics are shown in Figure 1 for a metallic
conductor at a constant temperature and in Figure 2 for a particular thermistor.
metallic conductor thermistor
I
V
0
I
V
Figure 1
continued
metallic conductor thermistor
I
V
0
I
V
Figure 2
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Chapter 10: Resistance and resistivity
128
i Sketch the variation of resistance R with voltage V for:
1 the metallic conductor at constant temperature
2 the thermistor. [3]
ii State and explain the change, if any, to the graph of resistance against voltage
for the metallic conductor:
1 when the temperature of the metallic conductor is kept constant at a
higher temperature
2 when the length of the conductor is doubled but the material, temperature
and the cross-sectional area of the conductor remain the same. [4]
OCR Physics AS (2822) January 2005 [Total 10]
4 a State Ohms law. [2]
b The IV characteristic for a particular component is shown in the diagram.
V/V 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.2 0
0
20
40
60
80
100
I/mA
i Name the component with the IV characteristic shown in the diagram. [1]
ii Describe, making reference to the diagram, how the resistance of the
component depends on the potential difference V across it. You are
advised to show any calculations. [5]
OCR Physics AS (2822) January 2004 [Total 8]
Answer
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