Introduction

Basic Electrical Theory:  What is Ohm’s Law?

Understanding Ohm’s Law 

Why is ohms law important?
The Electrical Components of Ohm’s Law
 1. Electromotive Force
 2. Current
 3. Resistance
 4. Power
 Ohm’s Law Formulas
 Using The Ohm’s Law Chart to calculate
electrical circuits.

4.2 - Ohm’s Law Terms to Remember

Cause  The Source can be any source of electrical energy. In practice, there are
Effect  three general possibilities: it can be a battery, an electrical generator, or some
Opposition sort of electronic power supply.
 The Load is any device or circuit powered by electricity. It can be as simple as
a light bulb or as complex as a modern high-speed computer.
 Every conversion of energy from one form  (Path) a wire or pathway which will allow electron to flow throughout a circuit.
to another can be related to this equation.  Electricity can be described as the flow of charged particles. If the
particles accumulate on an object, we term this static electricity.
 In electric circuits the effect we are trying  (Direct Current) An electrical current that travels in one direction and used
within the computer's electronic circuits.
to establish is the flow of charge, or  (Alternating Current) The common form of electricity from power plant to
current. The potential difference, or home/office. Its direction is reversed 60 times per second.
 Circuit is a conducting path for electrons.
voltage between two points is the cause
(“pressure”), and resistance is the
opposition encountered. 4

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 The Electrical Components of Ohm’s Law
What is Ohm’s Law?
Ohm's Law states that, at constant temperature, the electric
current flowing in a conducting material is directly proportional Voltage Resistance
to the applied voltage, and inversely proportional to the The electrical "pressure" that That characteristic of a medium
Resistance. causes free electrons to travel which opposes the flow of
through an electrical circuit. Also electrical current through itself.
known as electromotive force (emf). Resistance is measured in ohms.
Why is Ohms Law important? It is measured in volts.
Ohm’s Law is the relationship between power, voltage, current Power
Current
The amount of electrical charge
and resistance. These are the very basic electrical units we The amount of current times the
(the number of free electrons)
work with. The principles apply to alternating current (ac), voltage level at a given point
moving past a given point in an
direct current (dc), or radio frequency (rf) . measured in wattage or watts.
electrical circuit per unit of time.
Current is measured in amperes
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Ohm’s Law Formulas Characteristics Of Ohm’s Law

Voltage: Difference of potential, electromotive force, ability to do work.
This is Ohm's law, where E = Volts;
I = current in amperes and R = Unit of measure Volt Symbol E or V (This symbol will be used in the Ohms
resistance in ohms. Law Formula) Compares to Pressure in a gas or liquid system.

Ohm’s Law expresses the relationship Current: Flow of electrons Unit of measure Ampere Symbol I
between the current (I), the voltage (E),
(This symbol will be used in the Ohms Law Formula)
and the resistance (R) in a circuit.
Compares to The flow of gas or liquid in a piping system.
Ohm’s Law can be expressed in three
different ways, and can be applied to
the entire circuit or to any part of a Resistance: Opposition to current flow Unit of measure Ohm often seen as the
circuit. When any two factors are Greek letter Omega Symbol R (This symbol will be used in the Ohms Law
known, the third unknown factor can be Formula) Compares to Orifice effect or the size restriction of inside pipe
calculated from Ohm’s Law. Diameter.

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 Finding Voltage Finding Current
Ohm’s Law Formula for Finding Current

Ohm’s Law Formula for Finding Voltage (I) (E)

Current=
(E) (I) (R) Voltage
Voltage = Current x Resistance ————
(R)
Resistance
To find Voltage Multiply the Current times the
To find Current Divide the Voltage by the
Resistance. Resistance
E=I x R E
I= —
R
Using the Magic Circle
Using the Magic Circle
Cover the E to see the mathematical
Cover the I to see the mathematical relationship
relationship between Voltage and Current between Voltage and Resistance

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Finding Resistance
4.4 - Power
Ohm’s Law Formula for Finding
Resistance
(R) (E)  Power is an indication of how much work
Resistance= Voltage
———
(the conversion of energy from one form to
(I) another) can be done in a specific amount of
Current
time; that is, a rate of doing work.
To find Resistance Divide the Voltage
by the Current
E
R= —
I

Using the Magic Circle

Cover the R to see the mathematical
relationship between Voltage and Current
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 4.5 - Energy
Power
W  Energy (W) lost or gained by any system is
P  determined by:
t W = Pt
1 Watt (W)  1 joule / second
 Since power is measured in watts (or joules
 Power can be delivered or absorbed as per second) and time in seconds, the unit of
defined by the polarity of the voltage and the energy is the wattsecond (Ws) or joule (J)
direction of the current.

4.6 - Efficiency
Energy
 The watt-second is too small a quantity for  Efficiency () of a system is determined by
most practical purposes, so the watt-hour
the following equation:
(Wh) and kilowatt-hour (kWh) are defined as
follows:
Energy (Wh)  power (W)  time (h)
 = Po / Pi
power (W)  time (h)
Energy (kWh)  Where:  = efficiency (decimal number)
1000
Po = power output
Pi = power input
 The killowatt-hour meter is an instrument
used for measuring the energy supplied to a
residential or commercial user of electricity.

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 Would this work? Would this work?

A “Current” flowing through a

Batteries and Bulbs loop
 Would this work?

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 In this algebraic expression, voltage (E) is equal to current (I) multiplied by
resistance (R). Using algebra techniques, we can manipulate this equation
Electric Fields in Circuits into two variations, solving for I and for R, respectively:

• Point away from positive terminal, towards negative

• Channeled by conductor (wire)
• Electrons flow opposite field lines (neg. charge)

E
electrons & direction of motion
E Electric field direction
E
Let's see how these equations might work to help us analyze simple circuits:
In the above circuit, there is only one source of voltage (the battery, on the
left) and only one source of resistance to current (the lamp, on the right).
This makes it very easy to apply Ohm's Law. If we know the values of any
two of the three quantities (voltage, current, and resistance) in this circuit,
E we can use Ohm's Law to determine the third.
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In this first example, calculate the amount of current (I) in

In this second example, calculate the amount of resistance (R) in a
a circuit, given values of voltage (E) and resistance (R):
circuit, given values of voltage (E) and current (I):

What is the amount of current (I) in this circuit? What is the amount of resistance (R) offered by the lamp?

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 circuit diagram
In the last example, calculate the amount of voltage supplied by a
battery, given values of current (I) and resistance (R):

Scientists usually draw electric circuits using symbols;

What is the amount of voltage provided by the battery?

cell lamp switch wires

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Simple Circuits
• Series circuit Ohm's Law is a very simple and useful tool for
– All in a row analyzing electric circuits. It is used extensively in the
– 1 path for electricity study of electricity and electronics. Remember When
– 1 light goes out and any two factors are known, the third unknown factor
the circuit is broken can be calculated from Ohm’s Law.

• Parallel circuit
– Many paths for electricity
– 1 light goes out and the
others stay on

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 Ohm's Law is a very simple and useful tool for analyzing
electric circuits. It is used extensively in the study of
electricity and electronics. Remember When any two factors CURRENT, RESISTANCE AND OHM’S LAW
are known, the third unknown factor can be calculated from
• CURRENT (I) of electricity exists in a region when a net electric
Ohm’s Law.
charge is transported from one point to another region
REVIEW:
 Voltage measured in volts, • BATTERY is a source of electrical energy. If no internal energy
symbolized by the letters losses occur in the battery, then the potential difference
"E" or "V". between its terminals is called the electromotive force (emf) of
 Current measured in the battery. Unless otherwise stated, it will be assumed that the
amps, symbolized by the terminal potential difference of a battery is equal to its emf.
letter "I".
 Resistance measured in
• RESISTANCE of a wire or other object is a measure of the
ohms, symbolized by the potential difference (V) that must be impressed across the
letter "R". object to cause a current of one ampere to flow through it
 Ohm's Law: E = IR ; I =
E/R ; R = E/I

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CURRENT RESISTANCE AND OHM’S LAW PROBLEMS

• When delivering current (on discharge) 1. How much electron flow through a light bulb
each second if the current through the light
Terminal voltage = emf – voltage drop in internal resistance bulb is 0.75 A
V = E – Ir 2. An electric heater uses 5 A when connected
across 110 V. Determine its resistance
• When receiving current 3. A direct-current generator has an emf of 120
V; that is, its terminal voltage is 120 V when
no current is flowing from it. At an output of
V = E + Ir 20 A the terminal voltage is 115 V. a) what is
the internal resistance of the generator? b)
• When no current exists what will be the terminal voltage of an output
of 40 A
Terminal voltage = emf of the battery or generator

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