3.

Resistance and resistivity

Learning objectives:
 Define resistance.
 Explain what causes resistance.
 Measure resistance.
 Calculate resistance and power
 Describe the characteristic V-I graphs for an Ohmic conductor.
 Explain when Ohm’s law can be used.
 State the factors that affect the resistance of a wire.
 Describe an experiment to calculate resistivity.

Keywords: Resistance, resistivity, power, Ohm,

Can you name the prefixes?

Prefix Symbol Value

nano n 10-9
mega M 106
kilo k 103
giga G 109
micro μ 10-6
milli m 10-3
Electrical resistance

When a p.d. is applied to the ends of a conductor, an electric field is

established within the conductor that forces the electrons to move in a
certain direction, creating an electric current.

What determines the size of the electrical current?

What determines how much current will flow for a given potential difference
is a property of the conductor called its electric resistance.
Resistance
Resistance is a measure of how difficult it is for current to pass through a
component.

What causes electrical resistance?

Resistance is caused by the collisions between the charge carriers in the

material, with each other, and the fixed (vibrating) positive ions in the
material through which the current is flowing.
Movement of charge in a metallic conductor.
No potential difference applied - Potential difference applied -
movement of electrons is completely – movement still random but overall
no net movement of charge. drift of the electrons is to the right.
Positive
ions

Free
electrons
Definition of resistance.
The resistance of a component is defined as:

Or in symbols:
V
R
I
The unit of resistance is the ohm (Ω) which is equal to 1 Volt per
Ampere.
Collisions of electrons with lattice atoms.
The effect of an electric field within a conductor, for example in a metal
wire, is to accelerate the free electrons. The electrons therefore gain
kinetic energy as they move through the metal. The electrons suffer
inelastic collisions with the metal atoms, which means they lose energy to
the atoms of the wire. The electric field will again accelerate the electrons
until the next collision, and this process repeats.
Collisions of electrons with lattice atoms.
In this way, the electrons keep providing energy to the atoms (ions) of the
wire. The ions in the wire vibrate about their equilibrium positions with
increased kinetic energy. This shows up macroscopically as an increase in
the temperature of the wire.
Question
If the current through a component is 3.4 nA when the voltage across it is
4.3 μV.

Calculate:-
A) The resistance of the component (at this current)
B) The pd across the component when a current of 0.256 mA is flowing
through it, assuming its resistance is unchanged.
Measuring Resistance
 A resistor is designed to have the same resistance, as long as the
current does not exceed the stated limit.
 Other components do not show this pattern.
 Make a circuit from one of the trays to draw a graph of how the
current changes as you alter the voltage.
 You should use a potential divider circuit (see next slide).
 Record readings of V and I at regular intervals and draw a graph of
your findings.
Measuring Current and Voltage across a
Resistor

Potential divider
Variable
used to vary the pd
resistor.
across the resistor.

You are going to look at how changing the p.d. across a resistor alters the
current which flows through it. We can either use a potential divider circuit
or the second circuit that uses a variable resistor to vary the voltage across
the resistor.
 Voltage Current Characteristic Graphs

Ohmic
Conductor

• The straight line shows a constant ratio between voltage and current,
for both positive and negative values.
• We can see that the current is proportional to the potential
difference.
• We say that Ohm’s Law is obeyed, i.e., that the component (resistor)
is an Ohmic conductor.
Resistance (continued).
The electric resistance of copper conducting wires is usually very small so
is assumed to be zero.
The circuit symbol for a fixed resistor is:

The circuit symbol for a variable resistor is:

In 1826, the German scientist Georg Ohm (1789 – 1854) discovered that,
when the temperature of most metallic conductors is kept constant, the
current through the conductor is proportional to the potential difference
across it:

This statement is known as Ohm’s law.

Ohm’s Law
Ohm's law states that the pd across a metallic conductor is proportional to the
current through it, provided the physical conditions do not change.
Notes:
1. Ohm's law is equivalent to the statement that the resistance of a metallic
conductor under constant physical conditions (e.g., temperature) is
constant.
2. For an ohmic conductor, V = IR, where R is constant. A resistor is a
component designed to have a certain resistance.
3. If the current and pd measurements for an ohmic conductor are plotted
with current on the y-axis and pd on the x-axis, the gradient of this graph
gives l/R.

For a component that is Ohmic, the constant of proportionality is known as

resistance.

Hence, and therefore

 Electrical resistance

However, the electric resistance R of a conductor is defined as the potential

difference V across its ends divided by the current I passing through it:

Note: It is not the gradient of the voltage against current graph. That is only
true for an Ohmic conductor (current on x-axis).

What is the resistance of this ohmic

component?
Limitations of Ohm's Law
 Ohm’s law is applicable only in the case of metallic conductors. This is
because, the assumption made in obtaining Ohm’s law about the
existence and behaviour of free electrons (which are charge carriers in
conductors) are true only in the case of metals.

 Ohm’s law is not applicable for semiconductors, vacuum tubes,

discharge tubes and electrolytes.

 Ohm’s law holds good only if all physical conditions and temperature
remain the same. For example: the resistance of some conductors
changes when they are under tension or when placed at right angles to
a strong magnetic field.

 Current may vary non-linearly with potential difference. In the case of a

metallic conductor, with increase in current, the resistance changes due
to rise in temperature and hence the graph becomes slightly curved.
Voltage or potential difference (p.d.)
The defining equation for resistance , , can be rearranged in terms of the potential
difference V:

This says that if there is a current through a conductor that has resistance, e.g. a
resistor, then there must be a potential difference across the ends of the resistor.

If the current is 5.0 A and the resistance in 15 Ω, then the voltage or p.d. across the
resistor will be:

Note: the p.d. across two points on a copper wire in an electrical circuit would be
close to zero, as the resistance of the copper wire would be essentially zero.
Electric Power
Whenever an electric charge q is moved between two points with a potential
difference, V between these two points, then work is done.

The work is given by:

Consider a resistor with a potential difference V across its ends. Since power is
the rate of doing work, the power dissipated in the resistor in moving a charge
q across it in time t is:

But, is the current I in the resistor, so the power is given by:

The power calculated is the amount of thermal energy dissipated by the resistor per
second.

We can use to write two other forms for the formula for power:

or
Worked example:
Question 1:
A resistor of resistance 12.6Ω has a current of 2.4A flowing through it.
How much thermal energy is generated/dissipated by the resistor in 1
minute?

Using,

Thus, in one minute,

Question.
A light bulb rated at 60W at 220V has a p.d. of 110V across its ends. Find
the power dissipated in this light bulb. (Assume its resistance stays the
same).

First, calculate the light bulb’s resistance using the equation,

Hence,

Therefore, when at 110V, Power,

That means that, if the resistance stays the same, if you halve the p.d.
across it, the power output will decrease by a factor of four.
What are the factors that affect the resistance
of a wire?
 The material of the wire, i.e. is it a copper or steel wire
 The length of the wire
 The cross-sectional area of the wire
 Temperature: for most metallic materials, an increase in the temperature
results in an increase in resistance.

It is found from experiment that the electric resistance R of a wire (at a fixed
temperature) is proportional to its length L and inversely proportional to the
cross-sectional area A:
 Resistivity
The following relationships can be combined to give:

The constant of proportionality is usually denoted as (rho).

The constant is called resistivity and depends on the material of the

conductor and the temperature.

Can you work out what is the unit of resistivity?

Rearranging the formula, we get:

The unit of resistivity is Ωm.

 Resistivity

RA V

L Radius r
Length L

R = Resistance ()
A = Cross sectional area (m2),
L = Length of wire (m)
= Resistivity ()

Resistivity is a property of a material (i.e. you can look it

up). It is independent of shape and size.
Resistivity

The inverse of resistivity is called conductivity. There are contexts where the
use of conductivity is more convenient.

Question:
A coil of constantan wire of length 2.0 m has an area of cross-section of 7.24
x 10-7 m2. If its resistivity is 4.9 x 10-7 Ω m, find its resistance.

Needs to be rounded to 2 sig. figs.

How would you determine the resistivity of a wire?

To determine the resistivity of a wire:

 Measure the diameter of the wire d using a micrometer at several
different points along the wire, to give a mean value ford to calculate its
cross-sectional area A.
 Measure the resistance R of different lengths L of wire to plot a graph of
R against L. Can you sketch what this graph would look like?
 How can you determine the resistivity of the wire from the graph shown
below?

The resistivity of the wire is given by the

graph gradient x A.

Note: For a conductor with a circular cross

section of diameter d, where radius ).
Question.
Some metals are ductile, which means they can be drawn into long thin
wires. In doing so, the volume V remains constant while the length increases
and the cross-sectional area of the wire decreases. A wire of length 32 m has
a resistance of 2.7Ω. We wish to calculate the resistance of a wire formed
from the same volume of metal but which has a length of 120m instead.
a) Write down the relationship between V, A and L. Obtain an expression to
show how R depends on the length L of the wire and its volume V.
b) Rewrite the equation with the constants ρ and V on one side and the
variables we are changing R and L on the other.
c) Calculate the resistance of the longer wire.

which means, , and

Since and V are constants, then . Therefore, we can say that:

 Resistivity questions.
1. A coil of wire 4 m long has a resistance of 20 Ω. If its resistivity is 108 x 10-
8
Ω m, find its area of cross-section.

2. A 1.75 m length of tin wire with a diameter of 0.70 mm is found to have a

resistance of 0.50 Ω Find the resistivity of tin.

3. A resistor of 2.0 Ω is to be made from manganin wire of resistivity 42 x

10-8 Ω m having a diameter of 0.42 mm. What length is required?

4. Find the resistance of a wire 2.8 m long with a resistivity of 22 x 10-8 Ω m

and a diameter of 0.56 mm.

5. A wire has a resistance of 2 Ω Find the resistance of a wire of the same

material which is three times as long, but with half the diameter.
 Resistivity questions.
A coil of wire 4 m long has a resistance of 20 Ω. If its resistivity is 108 x 10-8
Ωm, find its area of cross-section.

A 1.75 m length of tin wire with a diameter of 0.70 mm is found to have a

resistance of 0.50 Ω Find the resistivity of tin.
 Resistivity questions.
A resistor of 2.0 Ω is to be made from manganin wire of resistivity 42 x 10-8 Ω
m having a diameter of 0.42 mm. What length is required?

Find the resistance of a wire 2.8 m long with a resistivity of 22 x 10-8 Ω m and
a diameter of 0.56 mm.