Edexcel GCSE Physics

Topic 10: Electricity and circuits

Notes
(Content in bold is for Higher Tier only)

This work by PMT Education is licensed under [Link]

[Link] CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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 The Structure of the Atom
Positively charged nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons

Subatomic Particle Relative Mass Relative Charge

Proton 1 +1
Neutron 1 0
Electron 0 (0.0005) -1

Electricity

Thermistor Battery
Diode, +ve side --> -ve side Ammeter LDR

Voltmeter Fixed Resistor Variable Resistor Filament Bulb Cell

LED
Motor

Series and Parallel

- Series Circuits
o Closed circuit
o The current is the same everywhere
- Parallel Circuits
o Branched circuit [Link]
o Current splits into multiple paths [Link]
o Total current into a junction = total current in
Here the resistors are
each of the branches not all the same,
o Voltage is the same across each “branch” hence different
amounts of current
flow through each
Potential Difference represented by ‘V’ branch
- Potential difference is measured in Volts
- Energy transferred per unit charge, Joule per Coulomb
o Measured across two points, as it is the amount of energy per unit charge to move
from one point to the next
- Measured with a voltmeter, placed in parallel across a component
- There can be a voltage across a component, in a closed or open circuit
- When it is in a closed circuit, and there is a potential difference (voltage), current will always
flow
𝐸 = 𝑄𝑉
Energy transferred (joule, J) = charge moved (coulomb, C) × potential difference (volt, V)

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Current, represented by ‘I’
- Current is measured in amps
- Rate of flow of charge (the flow of electrons in the wires)
o Measured at any single point on the circuit
- Measured with ammeter which is placed in series
- 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑅
- Potential difference (volt, V) = current (ampere, A) × resistance (ohm, Ω)

Resistance
- Greater resistance, the harder it is for charge to flow through the component, therefore the
current is smaller
- Variable resistor changes the amount of resistance of the component, changing the amount
of current that flows in the circuit

Series
o Components are connected end to end
o All the current flows through all the components
o Can only switch them all off at once
▪ PD (potential difference) is shared across the whole circuit
• PD of power supply = sum of PD across each component
▪ Current is the same through all parts of the circuit
• Current at one point = current at any other point
▪ Total Resistance is the sum of the resistance in each component R1 + R2 = R
• Resistance of two components is bigger than just one of them,
because the charge has to push through both of them when flowing
round the circuit
Parallel
o Components are connected separately to the power supply
o Current flows through each one separately
o You can switch each component off individually
▪ PD is the same across all branches
• PD of power supply = PD of each branch
• Because charge can only pass through any one branch
▪ Current is shared between each of the branches
• Current through source = sum of current through each branch
▪ Total resistance is less than the branch with the smallest resistance
• Two resistors in parallel will have a smaller overall resistance than
just one – 1/R1 + 1/R2 = 1/R
• Because charge has more than one branch to take, so only some
charge will flow along each branch

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Device Characteristics

[Link] – gradient of each is 1/resistance, so

a sharper gradient means a lower resistance
How resistance changes
- With current
o As current increases, electrons (charge) has more energy
o When electrons flow through a resistor, they collide with the ions in the resistor
o The current here is doing work against the resistance
o This transfers energy to the ions, causing them to vibrate more (heating resistor)
o This makes it more difficult for electrons to flow through the resistor
▪ So resistance increases, and current decreases
o This may be a benefit, as some appliances like a toaster use heating filaments that
have a high resistance to get hot easily.
- With temperature
o Normal wires - See above, the same process occurs as atoms vibrate when hot
o THERMISTOR ONLY
▪ Hotter temperatures, resistance is lower
▪ Used in temperature detectors/thermostats
- With Length
o Greater length, the more resistance, and the lower the current
o Electrons make their way through more resistor atoms, so it is harder to get through
than if you were using a shorter wire
- With Cross Sectional Area
o Thinner wires give greater resistance
o Because less overall room for electrons to pass through between atoms
- With Light
o LDR (Light Dependent Resistor) ONLY
▪ Greater the intensity of light, the lower the resistance
• So resistance greatest when dark
▪ Used in automatic night lights
- With Voltage
o DIODE ONLY
▪ Diode allows current to flow freely in one direction
▪ In the opposite direction, it has a very high resistance, so no current can
flow

Efficiency – low resistance wires means less energy loss as current flows through the circuit

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Testing Relationships:
- Points for All
o Make sure component(s) do not overheat, leave to cooldown between each reading
o Repeats and take average
- Varied wire resistance
o Wires ranging in resistance from 1Ω to 10Ω
o Connected to DC of 2, 4, 6, …, 10, 12V
o Connected in series to an Ammeter, parallel to Voltmeter
o Make sure all the other wires used have negligible resistance
o Measure the current for each voltage for each wire
o Plot a graph to show the relationship between the pd and current
- Filament Lamps
o Connected to DC of 2, 4, 6, …, 10, 12V
o Connect the filament lamp to Ammeter in series and Voltmeter in parallel,
o Measure the current for each voltage
o Plot a graph to show relationship between the pd and current
o Non-linear shows R varies
- Diodes
o Connected to DC of 1, 1.5, 2, 4, 6, …, 10, 12V
o Connect to an Ammeter in series and Voltmeter in parallel,
o Measure the current for each voltage
o Switch the diode the other way round to record current for -1, -1.5, -2, -4V
o Plot graph for the positive and negative potential differences to show the
relationship
- LDR
o Constant voltage of 12V
o Connect to ammeter
o Shine lamp immediately onto LDR and measure current
o Move the lamp ~10cm away and measure current
o Keep doing this until 50cm
o Calculate resistance at each light intensity
o Plot graph of resistance against light intensity
- Thermistor
o Constant voltage of 12V
o Connect to an Ammeter
o Place in ice water with thermometer
o Measure current at 0 degrees.
o Add hot water and stir, measuring current at 10, 20, …, 60 degrees
o Calculate the resistance
o Plot a graph of resistance against temperature

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Power
- Energy transferred (joule, J) = current (ampere, A) × potential difference (volt, V) × time
(second, s)
𝐸 = 𝐼𝑉𝑡
𝐸
- Power is energy transferred per second 𝑃 = 𝑡
- Power is directly proportional to current and voltage, so doubling current doubles power
𝑃 = 𝐼𝑉
- Electrical power (watt, W) = current (ampere, A) × potential difference (volt, V)
𝑃 = 𝐼2 𝑅
- Electrical power (watt, W) = current squared (ampere2, A2) × resistance (ohm, Ω)
- Power loss is proportional to resistance, and to current squared
- Energy is transferred from chemical potential in batteries to electrical energy in wires to any
form of useful energy in the devices they power

AC/DC
- AC is alternating current, which comes from the mains
o Current continuously varies, from positive to negative (charge changes direction)
- DC, direct current, is the movement of charge in one direction only
o Cells and batteries supply direct current
- In the UK, mains supply is at 50Hz and 230V

Plug
- In a plug there are 3 different wires
- Live wire
o This is a brown colour
o It carries voltage from mains to appliance
o This may be dangerous even if mains circuit is off, as current may still be flowing
through it
- Neutral Wire
o This is a blue colour
o Completes the circuit
- Earth wire
o This has green and yellow stripes
o It is the safety wire used to stop the appliance becoming live
o It is connected to the earth and to the casing
o If the live wire touches the metal casing of the appliance, it will become live (you’ll
get a serious electric shock if you touch it, as current flows through you to the
ground)
o The earth wire is connected to the metal casing, and its low resistance means the
current will go from the casing through the earth wire and to the ground
- Fuse
o Connected to the live wire
o If a large current passes through live wire, fuse heats up and melts, breaking the
circuit – preventing a fire or damage

Power Rating – the power of the appliance when in use

- Greater power rating, greater energy consumption per second
o So uses more energy in a given time

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