MAYO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Chapter-11: Electricity
Electric current: It is the flow of electrons through a conductor.
 The device which causes the flow of electrons through a conductor is called a cell.
 Electrons flow from the negative terminal to the positive terminal.
 Electric current flows from the positive terminal to the negative terminal. This is called
conventional current.
 Electric current is the rate of flow of charges through a conductor or the quantity of charges
flowing through a conductor in unit time. I = Q/t
 The SI unit of current is called ampere (A).
 One ampere is the current flowing through a conductor if 1 coulomb of charge flow through it in 1
second.
1ampere = 1coulomb/1 second
 Electric Current is measured by an ammeter. It is always connected in series in a circuit.
 The SI unit of electric charge is coulomb (C). It is the charge contained in 6x1018 electrons.
NUMERICAL
Q.1A current of 10 A flows through a conductor for two minutes. (i) Calculate the amount of charge passed through
any area of cross section of the conductor. (ii) If the charge of an electron is 1.6 × 10 -19 C, then calculate the total
number of electrons flowing.
Q.2 A current of 0.5 A is drawn by a filament of an electric bulb for 10 minutes. Find the amount of electric charge
that flows through the circuit.

Electric potential and Potential difference: Electric current will flow through a conductor only if there is a
difference in the electric potential between the two ends of the conductor. This difference in electric potential
between the two ends of a conductor is called potential difference.
 The potential difference in a circuit is provided by a cell or battery. The chemical reaction in the cell
produces a potential difference between the two terminals and sets the electrons in motion and produces
electric current.
Q.1 How much work is done in moving a charge of 2 C across two points having a potential difference 12 V?
Potential difference: The potential difference between two points A and B of a conductor is the amount of work
done to move a unit charge from one point to another point.
Potential difference = Work done / Charge or, V = W/Q
 The SI unit of potential difference is volt (V).
 One volt is the potential difference when 1 joule of work is done to move a charge of 1 coulomb from
one point to the other.
1 volt = 1 joule/1 coulomb or, 1V = 1 J/1C
 Potential difference is measured by a voltmeter. It is always connected in parallel across the two points
between which the potential difference is to be measured.
NUMERICAL
Q. 1 A 50 coulombs of charge is brought from infinity to a given point in an electric field, when 62.5 Joule
work is done. What is the potential at that point?
 Electric circuit: Electric circuit is a continuous and closed path of an electric current.

Ohm’s law: Ohms law is a relationship between the potential difference across a conductor and the current
flowing through it.
 Ohm’s law states that the current flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the
potential difference between its ends provided its temperature remains constant.
I α V or, V α I
V = IR
Where R is a constant called resistance for a given metallic wire at a given temperature.
Q.1 (a) How much current will an electric bulb draw from a 220 V source, if the resistance of the bulb filament is
1200 Ω? (b) How much current will an electric heater coil draw from a 220 V source, if the resistance of the heater
coil is 100 Ω?
Verification of Ohm’s law: Set up the circuit diagram. First use one cell and note the current (I) in the ammeter
and the potential difference (V) in the voltmeter across the nichrome wire. Repeat by using two cells, three cells
and four cells and note the readings in the ammeter and voltmeter. Then plot a graph between the current (I) and
potential difference (V).
 The graph will be a straight line. This shows that the current flowing through a conductor is directly
proportional to the potential difference across its ends.

Slope gives resistance = Slope = tanθ = R= 2.5Ω

 Resistance: Resistance is the property of a conductor to resist the flow of current through it.
According to Ohm’s law R = V/I
 The SI unit of resistance is ohm (Ω).
 If the potential difference across the two ends of a wire is 1 V and the current flowing through it is 1 A
then the resistance R of the conductor is 1 ohm (1Ω).
  Since I = V/R. The current flowing through a resistor is inversely proportional to the resistance. So, if
the resistance is doubled then the current gets halved.
Q.1 Study the V-I graph for a resistor as shown in the figure and prepare a table showing the values of I (in
amperes) corresponding to four different values V (in volts). Find the value of current for V = 10 volts. How can we
determine the resistance of the resistor from this graph?

Q.2 The potential difference between the terminals of an electric heater is 60 V when it draws a current of 4 A from
the source. What current will the heater draw if the potential difference is increased to 120 V?
Factors on which the resistance of a conductor depends:
The resistance of a conductor depends upon its:
 Length(l)
 Area of cross section(A)
 Nature of material of the conductor(ρ).

Resistance is directly proportional to the length of the conductor and inversely proportional to the area of cross
section of the conductor.
R α l............................. (i)
R α 1/A ..................... (ii)
From equations (i) and (ii) R
α l/A
R = ρ l/A
Where ρ (rho) is a constant of proportionality called Resistivity of the material of the conductor.
 The SI unit of resistivity is ohm meter (Ωm).
 Conductors like metals and alloys have low resistivity 10-8 Ωm to 10-6 Ωm.
 Insulators like rubber, glass etc. have high resistivity 1012 Ωm to 1017 Ωm.
Q.1 Cylindrical conductor of length ‘l’ and uniform area of cross section ‘A’ has resistance ‘R’. The area of cross
section of another conductor of same material and same resistance but of length ‘2l’ is
(a) 2A (b) 3A (c) A/2 (d) A
Q. 2 Calculate the resistance of a metal wire of length 2m and area of cross section 1.55 × 10 6 m², if the resistivity
of the metal be 2.8 × 10-8 Ωm.
Q.3 Calculate the resistivity of the material of a wire of length 1 m, radius 0.01 cm and resistance 20 ohms.
Q.4 If the radius of a current carrying conductor is halved, how does current through it change?
Q.5 Resistance of a metal wire of length 1 m is 26 Ω at 20°C. If the diameter of the wire is 0.3 mm, what will be the
resistivity of the metal at that temperature?
Resistors in series:
When three resistors R1, R2 and R3 are connected in series across AB then
 The current in all the resistors is the same.
 The total voltage (PD) across the resistors is equal to the sum of the voltage across each resistor.
 V = V1 + V2 + V3
 The equivalent resistance is the sum of the resistances of each resistor.
RS = R1 + R2 + R3

Q.1 If a person has five resistors each of value 15 Ω, then the maximum resistance he can obtain by connecting
them is
(a) 1 Ω (b) 5 Ω (c) 10 Ω (d) 25 Ω

Resistors in parallel:
When three resistors R1, R2 and R3 are connected in parallel across AB then
 The voltage (PD) in all the resistors is the same.
 The total current in all the resistors is the sum of the current in each resistor.
I = I1 + I2 + I3
 The reciprocal of the equivalent resistance is the sum of the reciprocals of each resistance.
1/Rp = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3

Q.1Three resistors of 10 Ω, 15 Ω and 5 Ω are connected in parallel. Find their equivalent resistance
Q.2 Show how would you join three resistors, each of resistance 9 Ω so that the equivalent resistance of
the combination is (i) 13.5 Ω, (ii) 6 Ω
Q.3 Three resistors of 3 Ω each are connected to a battery of 3 V as shown. Calculate the current drawn
from the battery.
Q.4 Two identical resistors are first connected in series and then in parallel. Find the ratio of equivalent
resistance in two cases.
Q.5 (a) A 6 Ω resistance wire is doubled on itself. Calculate the new resistance of the wire.
(b) Three 2 Ω resistors A, B and C are connected in such a way that the total resistance of the
combination is 3 Ω. Show the arrangement of the three resistors and justify your answer.
Q6. Draw a schematic diagram of a circuit consisting of a battery of 3 cells of 2 V each, a combination
of three resistors of 10 Ω, 20 Ω and 30 Ω connected in parallel, a plug key and an ammeter, all
connected in series. Use this circuit to find the value of the following:(a) Current through each resistor
(b) Total current in the circuit (c) Total effective resistance of the circuit

Electrical energy and Electric power:

 Electrical energy is the work done to maintain the flow of current in a conductor.
W=QxV
W = (I x t) x (I x R) W
= I2Rt
The unit of electrical energy is joule (J).

 Electric power is the rate at which electric current is used.

Power = Work done / Time
P = W/t = I2Rt/t = I2R
Power = I2R = I x (IR) = I x V
Power = I x V
The SI unit of power is watt (W).

 One watt is the power when 1A of current flows across a potential difference of 1V.
 The commercial unit of energy is watt hour (Wh) or kilo watt hour (kWh).
 One kWh is the energy consumed when 1kW of power is used for 1 hour.
1kWh = 1000-watt x 3600 seconds = 3.6 x 106 joules.

Heating effect of electric current: If a current I flows through a resistor of resistance R and t be the time for
which a charge Q flows through it then the work done to move the charge through potential difference V is
W=QxV=VxIxt
W=Pxt
Or, Heat energy supplied = P x t = V x I x t
According to Ohm’s law, V = IR
Heat produced (H) = I2Rt

Q.1 The resistance of a resistor is reduced to half of its initial value. In doing so, if other parameters of the circuit remain
unchanged, the heating effects in the resistor will become
(a) two times (b) half (c) one-fourth (d) four times.
Q.2 Compute the heat generated while transferring 96000 coulombs of charge in two hours through a potential
difference of 40 V
Q.3 A fuse wire melts at 5 A. If it is desired that the fuse wire of same material melt at 10 A, then whether the new fuse
wire should be of smaller or larger radius than the earlier one? Give reasons for your answer.
Q.4 Two bulbs of 100 W and 40 W are connected in series. The current through the 100 W bulb is 1 A. The current
through the 40 W bulb will be
(a) 0.4 A (b) 0.6 A (c) 0.8 A (d) 1A
Q.5 Two lamps, one rated 100 W; 220 V, and the other 60 W; 220 V, are connected in parallel to electric mains supply.
Find the current drawn by two bulbs from the line, if the supply voltage is 220 V.
Q.6 An electric iron has a rating of 750 W; 200 V. Calculate: (i) the current required. (ii) the resistance of its heating
element. (iii) energy consumed by the iron in 2 hours.
Q.7 Two identical resistors, each of resistance 15 Ω, are connected in (i) series, and (ii) parallel, in turn to a battery of
6 V. Calculate the ratio of the power consumed in the combination of resistors in each case.
Q.8 An electric lamp of resistance 20 Ω and a conductor of resistance 4 Ω. are connected to a 6 V battery. Calculate.
(a) the total resistance of the circuit (b) the current through the circuit, (c) the potential difference across the (i) electric
lamp and (ii) conductor, and (d) power of the lamp.
Q. 9 An electric iron consumes energy at a rate of 840 W when heating is at the maximum rate and 360 W when the
heating is at the minimum. The voltage is 220 V. What are the current and the resistance in each case?
Q10. An electric iron consumes energy at a rate of 840 W when heating is at the maximum rate and 360 W when the
heating is at the minimum. The voltage is 220 V. What are the current and the resistance in each case?
Q.11 An electric bulb is connected to a 220 V generator. The current is 0.50 A. What is the power of the bulb?
Q.12 An electric refrigerator rated 400 W operates 8 hour/day. What is the cost of the energy to operate it for 30 days at
Rs 3.00 per kW h?
Q.13. An electric motor takes 5 A from a 220 V line. Determine the power of the motor and the energy consumed in 2 h.

BY: KRISHNA KUMAR MISHRA (PGT PHYSICS)