Chapter 27
Circuits
What is physics?
ABCs (or physics) of electric circuits
composed of Cs, Rs, Ls, and batteries
*In this chapter, only of Rs and DC batteries
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
To produce a steady flow of charge, you need a “charge pump,” a
device that—by doing work on the charge carriers—maintains a
potential difference between a pair of terminals. We call such a device
an emf device, and the device is said to provide an emf , which
means that it does work on charge carriers.
(electromotive force)
Figure shows an emf device (consider it to
be a battery) that is part of a simple circuit
containing a single resistance R. The emf
device keeps one of its terminals (called
the positive terminal and often labeled +)
at a higher electric potential than the other
terminal (called the negative terminal and
labeled –).
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
An emf device does work on charges to maintain a potential difference
between its output terminals. If dW is the work the device does to force
positive charge dq from the negative to the positive terminal, then the
emf (work per unit charge) of the device is
An ideal emf device is one that lacks any
internal resistance. The potential
difference between its terminals is equal to
the emf.
A real emf device has internal resistance.
The potential difference between its
terminals is equal to the emf only if there is
no current through the device.
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
An emf connected to a circuit transfers
energy to the charge carriers passing
through it.
This energy can then be transferred from
the charge carriers to other devices in the
circuit, for example, to light a bulb or to
move up an elevator.
(a) In the circuit, ƐB > ƐA; so battery B
determines the direction of the current.
(b) The energy transfers in the circuit.
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
Calculating Current in a Single-Loop Circuits
Energy Method
In a time interval dt, an amount of energy given by Pdt = i2R dt will appear in
the resistor (shown in the figure) as thermal energy. This energy is said to be
dissipated. (Because we assume the wires to have negligible resistance, no
thermal energy will appear in them.)
During the same interval, a charge dq = i dt will have moved through battery B,
and the work that the battery will have done on this charge is
From the principle of conservation of energy, the
work done by the (ideal) battery must equal the
thermal energy that appears in the resistor:
Which gives us
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
Calculating Current in a Single-Loop Circuits
Potential Method
In the figure, let us start at point a, whose potential is Va, and mentally walk
clockwise around the circuit until we are back at point a, keeping track of
potential changes as we move.
When we pass through the battery from the low-potential terminal of the battery
to the high-potential terminal, the change in potential is +Ɛ.
When we pass through the resistor, however, the potential must decrease by
the amount of V = iR.
After making a complete loop, our initial potential
must be equal to our final potential; that is,
The value of Va cancels from this equation, which
becomes
Which gives us
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
Calculating Current in a Single-Loop Circuits
Kirchhoff’s loop rule; Kirchhoff’s voltage law
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
Internal Resistance
Figure (a) shows a real battery, with internal resistance r, wired to an
external resistor of resistance R. The internal resistance of the battery
is the electrical resistance of the conducting materials of the battery
and thus is an un-removable feature of the battery.
Figure (b) shows graphically the changes in electric potential around
the circuit. Now if we apply the loop rule clockwise beginning at point
a, the changes in potential give us
Solving for the current we find,
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
Resistances in Series
Figure (a) shows three resistances connected in series to
an ideal battery with emf . The resistances are connected
one after another between a and b, and a potential
difference is maintained across a and b by the battery. The
potential differences that then exist across the resistances
in the series produce identical currents i in them.
To find total resistance Req in Fig. (b), we apply the loop
rule to both circuits. For Fig. (a), starting at a and going
clockwise around the circuit, we find
For Fig. (b), with the three resistances replaced with a
single equivalent resistance Req, we find
Equating them, we get,
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
Resistances in Series
𝑖 =𝑖 =𝑖 =𝑖
𝑉 +𝑉 +𝑉 =𝑉
27-1 Single-Loop Circuits
Potential Difference
Potential Difference across a real battery: In the Figure, points a and b are
located at the terminals of the battery. Thus, the potential difference Vb - Va is
the terminal-to-terminal potential difference V across the battery and is
given by:
𝑖=0
Grounding a Circuit: Grounding a circuit usually means connecting one point in
the circuit to a conducting path to Earth’s surface (actually to the electrically
conducting moist dirt and rock below ground)
Power of emf Device: The rate Pemf at which the emf device transfers energy both
to the charge carriers and to internal thermal energy is
27-2 Multiloop Circuits
Charge conservation
∗𝑖 +𝑖 =𝑖
Figure shows a circuit containing more than one loop. If we
traverse the left-hand loop in a counterclockwise direction
from point b, the loop rule gives us
If we traverse the right-hand loop in a counterclockwise direction from
point b, the loop rule gives us
If we had applied the loop rule to the big loop, we would have
obtained (moving counterclockwise from b) the equation
Redundant!
which is the sum of two small loops equations.
27-2 Multiloop Circuits
Resistances in Parallel
Figure (a) shows three resistances connected in parallel to an ideal battery of
emf Ɛ. In Fig. (b), the three parallel resistances have been replaced with an
equivalent resistance Req. To derive an expression for Req in Fig. (b), we first
write the current in each actual resistance in Fig. (a) as
𝑉 =𝑉 =𝑉 =𝑉
where V is the potential difference between a
and b. If we apply the junction rule at point a in
Fig. (a) and then substitute these values, we
find
𝑖 +𝑖 +𝑖 =𝑖
If we replaced the parallel combination with the
equivalent resistance Req (Fig. (b)), we would
have
Thus we get
27-2 Multiloop Circuits
Resistors and capacitors in series and parallel
27-3 The Ammeter and the Voltmeter
An instrument used to measure currents is called
an ammeter. To measure the current in a wire,
you usually have to cut the wire and insert the
ammeter so that the current to be measured
passes through the meter. It is essential that the
resistance RA of the ammeter be very much
smaller than other resistances in the circuit.
Otherwise, the very presence of the meter will
change the current to be measured.
A meter used to measure potential differences is called a voltmeter. To find
the potential difference between any two points in the circuit, the voltmeter
terminals are connected between those points without breaking the wire. In the
Figure, voltmeter V is set up to measure the voltage across R1. It is essential
that the resistance RV of a voltmeter be very much larger than the resistance
of any circuit element across which the voltmeter is connected. This is to
insure that only a negligible current passes through the voltmeter, otherwise,
the meter alters the potential difference that is to be measured.
27-4 RC Circuits
Charging a capacitor: The capacitor of capacitance C
in the figure is initially uncharged. To charge it, we RC circuit
close switch S on point a. This completes an RC series
circuit consisting of the capacitor, an ideal battery of
emf Ɛ, and a resistance R.
The charge on the capacitor increases according to
in which CƐ = q0 is the equilibrium (final) charge and
RC = τ is the capacitive time constant of the circuit.
During the charging, the current is
And the voltage is:
27-4 RC Circuits
Charging in RC Circuits
Loop rule General solution Initial condition: q = 0 @ t = 0
For it to be a solution,
/
/
27-4 RC Circuits
Discharging a capacitor: Assume now that the capacitor of the figure
is fully charged to a potential V0 equal to the emf Ɛ of the battery. At a
new time t = 0, switch S is thrown from a to b so that the capacitor can
discharge through resistance R. The loop rule results in
When a capacitor discharges through a resistance R, the charge on the
capacitor decays according to
where q0 (= CV0) is the initial charge on the capacitor.
During the discharging, the current is