Ohm's Law

[Mohan Basnet, Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014 Assam, India]

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1. Physics
2. Current Electricity
3. Ohms Law
Ohm's Law
Ohm’s law states the relationship between electric current and potential difference. The current that
flows through most conductors is directly proportional to the voltage applied to it. Georg Simon Ohm,
a German physicist was the first to verify Ohm’s law experimentally.

Table of Contents:

• Ohm’s Law Explanation

• Relationship Between Voltage, Current and
Resistance
• Water Pipe Analogy for Ohm’s Law
• Experimental Verification of Ohm’s Law
• Ohm’s Law Magic Triangle
• Ohm’s Law Solved Problems
• Calculating Electrical Power Using Ohm’s Law
o Formula to find power
o What is a Power Triangle?
• Ohm’s Law Pie Chart
• Ohm’s Law Matrix Table
• Ohm’s Law Applications
• Limitations of Ohm’s Law
• Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
Ohm’s Law Explanation

One of the most basic and important laws of electric circuits is Ohm’s law.

Ohm’s law states that the voltage across a conductor is directly proportional to the
current flowing through it, provided all physical conditions and temperatures
remain constant.

Mathematically, this current-voltage relationship is written as,

In the equation, the constant of proportionality, R, is called Resistance and has units of ohms, with
the symbol Ω.
The same formula can be rewritten in order to calculate the current and resistance respectively as
follows:
Ohm’s law only holds true if the provided temperature and the other physical factors remain
constant. In certain components, increasing the current raises the temperature. An example of this is
the filament of a light bulb, in which the temperature rises as the current is increased. In this case,
Ohm’s law cannot be applied. The lightbulb filament violates Ohm’s Law.

Ohm’s Law Statement: Ohm’s law states that the

voltage across a conductor is directly proportional to
the current flowing through it, provided all physical
conditions and temperature, remain constant.

Ohm’s Law Equation: V = IR, where V is the

voltage across the conductor, I is the current flowing
through the conductor and R is the resistance
provided by the conductor to the flow of current.
Relationship Between Voltage, Current and Resistance
Analyzing rows 1, 2 and 3, we come to understand that doubling and tripling the voltage leads to
doubling and a tripling of the current in the circuit. Likewise, when we compare rows 1 and 4 and rows
2 and 5, we come to understand that doubling the total resistance serves to halve the current in the
circuit.

Water Pipe Analogy for Ohm’s Law

Ohm’s Law describes the current flow through a resistance when different electric potentials (voltage)
are applied at each end of the resistance. Since we can’t see electrons, the water-pipe analogy helps
us understand the electric circuits better. Water flowing through pipes is a good mechanical system
that is analogous to an electrical circuit.

Here, the voltage is analogous to water pressure, the current is the amount of water flowing through
the pipe, and the resistance is the size of the pipe. More water will flow through the pipe (current)
when more pressure is applied (voltage) and the bigger the pipe (lower the resistance).
The video below shows the physical demonstration of the
Waterpipe analogy and explains to you the factors that affect the
flow of current

1,08,795
Experimental Verification of Ohm’s Law
Ohm’s Law can be easily verified by the following experiment:
Apparatus Required:

• Resistor
• Ammeter
• Voltmeter
• Battery
• Plug Key
• Rheostat
Circuit Diagram:

Procedure:

1. Initially, the key K is closed and the rheostat is adjusted to get the minimum reading in
ammeter A and voltmeter V.
2. The current in the circuit is increased gradually by moving the sliding terminal of the rheostat.
During the process, the current flowing in the circuit and the corresponding value of potential
difference across the resistance wire R are recorded.
3. This way different sets of values of voltage and current are obtained.
4. For each set of values of V and I, the ratio of V/I is calculated.
5. When you calculate the ratio V/I for each case, you will come to notice that it is almost the
same. So V/I = R, which is a constant.
6. Plot a graph of the current against the potential difference, it will be a straight line. This shows
that the current is proportional to the potential difference.
Similar Reading:

• Kirchhoff’s Law
• Faraday’s Laws
• Laws of Thermodynamics

Ohm’s Law Magic Triangle

You can make use of Ohm’s law magic triangle to remember the different equations for Ohm’s law
used to solve for different variables(V, I, R).

If the value of voltage is asked and the values of the current and resistance are given, then to calculate
voltage simply cover V at the top. So, we are left with the I and R or I × R. So, the equation for Voltage
is Current multiplied by Resistance. Examples of how the magic triangle is employed to determine the
voltage using Ohm’s law are given below.

Ohm’s Law Solved Problems

Example 1: If the resistance of an electric iron is 50 Ω and a current of 3.2 A flows through the
resistance. Find the voltage between two points.
Solution:
If we are asked to calculate the value of voltage with the value of current and resistance, then cover V
in the triangle. Now, we are left with I and R or more precisely I × R.
Therefore, we use the following formula to calculate the value of V:
V=I×R
Substituting the values in the equation, we get
V = 3.2 A × 50 Ω = 160 V

V = 160V

Example 2: An EMF source of 8.0 V is connected to a purely resistive electrical appliance (a light
bulb). An electric current of 2.0 A flows through it. Consider the conducting wires to be resistance-
free. Calculate the resistance offered by the electrical appliance.
Solution:
When we are asked to determine the value of resistance when the values of voltage and current are
given, we cover R in the triangle. This leaves us with only V and I, more precisely V ÷ I.
Substituting the values in the equation, we get
R=V÷I
R=8V÷2A=4Ω

R=4Ω

Calculating Electrical Power Using Ohm’s Law

The rate at which energy is converted from the electrical energy of the moving charges to some other
form of energy like mechanical energy, heat energy, energy stored in magnetic fields or electric fields,
is known as electric power. The unit of power is the watt. The electrical power can be calculated using
Ohm’s law and by substituting the values of voltage, current and resistance.

Formula to find power

When the values for voltage and current are given,

When the values for voltage and resistance are given,

When the values for current and resistance are given,

What is a Power Triangle?

The power triangle can be employed to determine the value of electric power, voltage and current
when the values of the other two parameters are given to us. In the power triangle, the power (P) is on
the top and current (I) and voltage (V) are at the bottom.
When the values of current and voltage are given, the formula for finding power is,

When the values of power and voltage are given, the formula for finding current is,

When the values of power and current are given, the formula for finding voltage is,

Ohm’s Law Pie Chart

To better understand the relationship between various parameters, we can take all the equations used
to find the voltage, current, resistance and power, and condense them into a simple Ohm’s Law pie
chart as shown below.
Ohm’s Law Matrix Table
Like Ohm’s Law Pie Chart shown above, we can condense the individual Ohm’s Law equations into a
simple matrix table as shown below for easy reference when calculating an unknown value.

Ohm’s Law Applications

The main applications of Ohm’s law are:

• To determine the voltage, resistance or current of an electric circuit.

• Ohm’s law maintains the desired voltage drop across the electronic components.
• Ohm’s law is also used in DC ammeter and other DC shunts to divert the current.

Limitations of Ohm’s Law

Following are the limitations of Ohm’s law:
 • Ohm’s law is not applicable for unilateral electrical elements like diodes and transistors as
they allow the current to flow through in one direction only.
• For non-linear electrical elements with parameters like capacitance, resistance etc the ratio
ofvoltage and current won’t be constant with respect to time making it difficult to use Ohm’s
law.

The video about conductance, resistance, and ohm’s law

1,772

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

Q1

What does Ohm’s law state?

Ohm’s law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to
the voltage across the two points.
Q2

What can Ohm’s law be used for?

Ohm’s law is used to validate the static values of circuit components such as current levels, voltage
supplies, and voltage drops.
Q3
Is Ohm’s law Universal?
No. Ohm’s law is not a universal law. This is because Ohm’s law is only applicable to ohmic
conductors such as iron and copper but is not applicable to non-ohmic conductors such as
semiconductors.
Q4

Why is Ohm’s law not applicable to semiconductors?

Ohm’s law doesn’t apply to semiconducting devices because they are nonlinear devices. This means
that the ratio of voltage to current doesn’t remain constant for variations in voltage.
Q5

When does Ohm’s law fail?

Ohm’s law fails to explain the behaviour of semiconductors and unilateral devices such as diodes.
Ohm’s law may not give the desired results if the physical conditions such as temperature or pressure
are not kept constant.

Watch the video and solve important questions in the

chapter Electricity Class 10

41,272

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Select the correct answer and click on the “Finish” button

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