http://www.nearingzero.net (nz105.

jpg)
Comment on exam scores
It just goes to show, you do not
have to be faster than the
monsters you just have to be
faster than your slowest companion.
Titan Quest screenshot, just after escaping a monster
that ate a slow-footed companion.
Comment on exam scores
- FS2011 Exam 1 grade distribution (regrades not included)
In Physics 24, youd better be faster than the monsters.
Todays agenda:
Electric Current.
You must know the definition of current, and be able to use it in solving problems.
Current Density.
You must understand the difference between current and current density, and be able to
use current density in solving problems.
Ohms Law and Resistance.
You must be able to use Ohms Law and electrical resistance in solving circuit problems.
Resistivity.
You must understand the relationship between resistance and resistivity, and be able to
calculate resistivity and associated quantities.
Temperature Dependence of Resistivity.
You must be able to use the temperature coefficient of resistivity to solve problems
involving changing temperatures.
Electric Current
Definition of Electric Current
The average current that passes any point in a conductor
during a time At is defined as
where AQ is the amount of charge passing the point.
One ampere of current is one coulomb per second:
av
Q
I
t
A
=
A
The instantaneous current is
dQ
I = .
dt
.
1C
1A =
1s
Heres a really simple circuit:
+
-
current
Dont try that at home! (Why not?)
The current is in the direction of flow of positive charge
opposite to the flow of electrons, which are usually the charge
carriers.
Currents in battery-operated devices are often in the milliamp
range: 1 mA = 10
-3
A.
m for millianother abbreviation to remember!
+
-
current electrons
An electron flowing from to +
Conventional refers to our convention, which is always to
consider the effect of + charges (for example, electric field
direction is defined relative to + charges).
An electron flowing from to + gives rise to the same
conventional current as a proton flowing from + to -.
Hey, that figure you just showed me is confusing.
+
-
current electrons
Good question.
Hey, that figure you just showed me is confusing. Why dont
electrons flow like this?
Chemical reactions (or whatever energy mechanism the battery
uses) force electrons to the negative terminal. The battery
wont let electrons flow the wrong way inside it. So electrons
pick the easiest paththrough the external wires towards the +
terminal.
Of course, real electrons dont want anything.
Electrons want to get away from - and go to +.
+
-
current electrons
Note!
Current is a scalar quantity, and it has a sign associated with it.
In diagrams, assume that a current indicated by a
symbol and an arrow is the conventional current.
I
1
If your calculation produces a negative value for the current,
that means the conventional current actually flows opposite to
the direction indicated by the arrow.
Example: 3.8x10
21
electrons pass through a point in a wire in 4
minutes. What was the average current?
av
Q Ne
I
t t
A
= =
A A
) )
)
21 19
av
3.8 10 1.6 10
I
4 60

- -
=
-
av
I 2.53A =
Todays agenda:
Electric Current.
You must know the definition of current, and be able to use it in solving problems.
Current Density.
You must understand the difference between current and current density, and be able to
use current density in solving problems.
Ohms Law and Resistance.
You must be able to use Ohms Law and electrical resistance in solving circuit problems.
Resistivity.
You must understand the relationship between resistance and resistivity, and be able to
use calculate resistivity and associated quantities.
Temperature Dependence of Resistivity.
You must be able to use the temperature coefficient of resistivity to solve problems
involving changing temperatures.
Current Density
When we study details of charge transport, we use the concept
of current density.
Current density is the amount of charge that flows across a unit
of area in a unit of time.
Current density: charge per area per time.
A current density J flowing through an infinitesimal area dA
produces an infinitesimal current dI.
dA
J
dI J dA =
& &
The total current passing through A is just
surface
I J dA =

& &
Current density is a vector. Its
direction is the direction of the
velocity of positive charge carriers.
Current density: charge per area per time.
No OSEs on this page.
Simpler, less-general
OSE on next page.
surface surface
I
I J dA J dA JA J
A
= = = =

& &
If J is constant and parallel to dA (like in a wire), then
A
J
Now lets take a microscopic view of current.
A
v
vAt
q
If n is the number of charges
per volume, then the number of
charges that pass through a
surface A in a time At is
) )
number
volume n v t A
volume
- = A
The total amount of charge passing through A is the number of
charges times the charge of each.
A
v
vAt
q
Q nqv t A A = A
Divide by At to get the current
Q
I nqv A
t
A
= =
A
and by A to get J:
J nqv . =
To account for the vector nature of the current density,
J nqv =
&
&
and if the charge carriers are electrons, q=-e so that
e
J n e v. =
&
&
The sign demonstrates that the velocity of the electrons is
antiparallel to the conventional current direction.
Not quite
official yet.
Not quite
official yet.
Currents in Materials
Metals are conductors because they have free electrons,
which are not bound to metal atoms.
In a cubic meter of a typical conductor there roughly 10
28
free
electrons, moving with typical speeds of 1,000,000 m/s.
But the electrons move in random directions, and there is no
net flow of charge, until you apply an electric field...
-
E electron drift velocity
The voltage accelerates the electron, but only until the
electron collides with a scattering center. Then the electrons
velocity is randomized and the acceleration begins again.
Some predictions made by this theory are off by a factor or 10
or so, but it was the best we could do before quantum
mechanics. The scattering idea is useful.
We will see later in this course that the electron would follow curved trajectories,
but the idea here is still valid.
just one
electron
shown, for
simplicity
inside a
conductor
Even though the details of the model on the previous slide are
wrong, it points us in the right direction, and works when you
take quantum mechanics into account.
In particular, the velocity that should be used in
J n q v. =
&
&
is not the charge carriers velocity (electrons in this example).
Instead, we should the use net velocity of the collection of
electrons, the net velocity caused by the electric field.
This net velocity is like the terminal velocity of a parachutist;
we call it the drift velocity.
d
J n q v . =
&
&
Quantum mechanics shows us how to deal
correctly with the collection of electrons.
Its the drift velocity that we should use in our equations for
current and current density in conductors:
d
J n q v =
&
&
d
I nqv A =
d
I
v
nqA
=
Example: the 12-gauge copper wire in a home has a cross-
sectional area of 3.31x10
-6
m
2
and carries a current of 10 A.
The conduction electron density in copper is 8.49x10
28
electrons/m
3
. Calculate the drift speed of the electrons.
d
I
v
nqA
=
d
I
v
neA
=
d
28 -3 19 6 2
10C/s
v
(8.49 10 m )(1.60 10 C)(3.31 10 m )

=
- - -
4
d
v 2.22 10 m/s

= -
Quiz time (maybe for points, maybe just for practice!)
Todays agenda:
Electric Current.
You must know the definition of current, and be able to use it in solving problems.
Current Density.
You must understand the difference between current and current density, and be able to
use current density in solving problems.
Ohms Law and Resistance.
You must be able to use Ohms Law and electrical resistance in solving circuit problems.
Resistivity.
You must understand the relationship between resistance and resistivity, and be able to
use calculate resistivity and associated quantities.
Temperature Dependence of Resistivity.
You must be able to use the temperature coefficient of resistivity to solve problems
involving changing temperatures.
Resistance
The resistance of a material is a measure of how easily a
charge flows through it.
Resistance: how much push is needed to
get a given current to flow.
V
R
I
=
The unit of resistance is the ohm:
1 V
1 .
1 A
; =
Resistances of kilohms and megohms are common:
3 6
1 k 10 , 1 M =10 . ; = ; ; ;
This is the symbol we use for a resistor:
All wires have resistance. Obviously, for efficiency in carrying a
current, we want a wire having a low resistance. In idealized
problems, we will consider wire resistance to be zero.
Lamps, batteries, and other devices in circuits have resistance.
Every circuit component has resistance.
Resistors are often intentionally used in
circuits. The picture shows a strip of five
resistors (you tear off the paper and
solder the resistors into circuits).
The little bands of color on the resistors have meaning. Here
are a couple of handy web links:
http://www.dannyg.com/examples/res2/resistor.htm
http://xtronics.com/kits/rcode.htm
Ohms Law
In some materials, the resistance is constant over a wide range
of voltages.
For such materials, we write and call the equation
Ohms Law.
V IR, =
In fact, Ohms Law is not a Law in the same sense as
Newtons Laws
Newtons Laws demand; Ohms Law suggests.
and in advanced classes you will write something other than
V=IR when you write Ohms Law.
Materials that follow Ohms Law are called
ohmic materials, and have linear I vs. V
graphs.
I
V
slope=1/R
I
V
Materials that do not follow Ohms Law are
called nonohmic materials, and have
curved I vs. V graphs.
Materials that follow Ohms Law are called
ohmic materials, and have linear I vs. V
graphs.
I
V
slope=1/R
I
V
Materials that do not follow Ohms Law are
called nonohmic materials, and have
curved I vs. V graphs.
Demo (if time allows):
ohmic and nonohmic conductors.
Demo:
temperature dependence of resistivity.
Demo:
resistive heating.
I may wait and do these demos next lecture.
Todays agenda:
Electric Current.
You must know the definition of current, and be able to use it in solving problems.
Current Density.
You must understand the difference between current and current density, and be able to
use current density in solving problems.
Ohms Law and Resistance.
You must be able to use Ohms Law and electrical resistance in solving circuit problems.
Resistivity.
You must understand the relationship between resistance and resistivity, and be able to
use calculate resistivity and associated quantities.
Temperature Dependence of Resistivity.
You must be able to use the temperature coefficient of resistivity to solve problems
involving changing temperatures.
This makes sense: a longer wire or higher-resistivity wire
should have a greater resistance. A larger area means more
space for electrons to get through, hence lower resistance.
It is also experimentally observed (and justified by quantum
mechanics) that the resistance of a metal wire is well-described
by
Resistivity
L
R ,
A
V
=
where V is a constant called the resistivity of the wire
material, L is the wire length, and A its cross-sectional area.
L
The longer a wire, the harder it is to push electrons through
it.
R = VL / A,
V
The greater the resistivity, the harder it is to push electrons
through it.
The greater the cross-sectional area, the easier it is to push
electrons through it.
A
Resistivity is a useful tool in physics because it depends on the
properties of the wire material, and not the geometry.
units of V
are ;m
Resistivities range from roughly 10
-8
;m for copper wire to
10
15
;m for hard rubber. Thats an incredible range of 23
orders of magnitude, and doesnt even include superconductors
(we might talk about them some time).
R = VL / A
A = VL / R
A = T (d/2)
2
geometry!
T (d/2)
2
= VL / R
Example (will not be worked in class): Suppose you want to
connect your stereo to remote speakers.
(a) If each wire must be 20 m long, what diameter copper wire
should you use to make the resistance 0.10 ; per wire.
(d/2)
2
= VL / TR
d/2= ( VL / TR )

dont skip steps!

d = 2 ( VL / TR )

d = 2 [ (1.68x10
-8
) (20) / T (0.1) ]

d = 0.0021 m = 2.1 mm
V = I R
(b) If the current to each speaker is 4.0 A, what is the voltage
drop across each wire?
V = (4.0) (0.10)
V = 0.4 V
Homework hint you can look up the resistivity of copper in a
table in your text.
Ohms Law Revisited
The equation for resistivity I introduced five slides back is a
semi-empirical one. Heres how we define resistivity:
E
.
J
V =
Our equation relating R and V follows from the above equation.
We define conductivity W as the inverse of the resistivity:
1 1
, or . W = V =
V W
NOT an official
starting equation!
With the above definitions,
E J, = V
& &
J E. = W
& &
The official Ohms law, valid for non-ohmic materials.
Cautions!
In this context:
V is not volume density!
W is not surface density!
Example: the 12-gauge copper wire in a home has a cross-
sectional area of 3.31x10
-6
m
2
and carries a current of 10 A.
Calculate the magnitude of the electric field in the wire.
I
E J
A
= V = V
)
8
6 2
(1.72 10 m) 10C/s
E
(3.31 10 m )

- ;
=
-
2
E 5.20 10 V/m

= -
Homework hint (not needed in this particular example): in this chapter it is safe to use AV=Ed.
Todays agenda:
Electric Current.
You must know the definition of current, and be able to use it in solving problems.
Current Density.
You must understand the difference between current and current density, and be able to
use current density in solving problems.
Ohms Law and Resistance.
You must be able to use Ohms Law and electrical resistance in solving circuit problems.
Resistivity.
You must understand the relationship between resistance and resistivity, and be able to
use calculate resistivity and associated quantities.
Temperature Dependence of Resistivity.
You must be able to use the temperature coefficient of resistivity to solve problems
involving changing temperatures.
Temperature Dependence of Resistivity
Many materials have resistivities that depend on temperature.
We can model* this temperature dependence by an equation
of the form
)
0 0
1 T T , V = V E
|
where V
0
is the resistivity at temperature T
0
, and E is the
temperature coefficient of resistivity.
*T
0
is a reference temperature, often taken to be 0 C or 20 C. This approximation
can be used if the temperature range is not too great; i.e. 100 C or so.
Example: a carbon resistance thermometer in the shape of a
cylinder 1 cm long and 4 mm in diameter is attached to a
sample. The thermometer has a resistance of 0.030 ;. What is
the temperature of the sample?
Look up resistivity of carbon, use it to calculate resistance.
5
0
3.519 10 m

V = - ;
This is the resistivity at 20 rC.
0
T 20 C L = 0.01 m r = 0.002 m = r
0
0
2
L
R 0.028
r
V
= = ;
T
This is the resistance at 20 rC.
The result is very sensitive to significant figures in resistivity
and E.
-1
0.0005 C E = r
RA
(R)
L
V =
0
0
1
T(R) T 1

V
=

E V
|
T(0.030) 122.6 C = r