Physics Unit 5: Electricity

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  • Electricity
    • Potential Difference
      • Measured in volts, V
        • One volt is one joule per coulomb
        • Using a voltmeter
          • Should always be placed in parallel with the component it is measuring
      • Defined as "the work done per unit charge"
      • V = W/Q (Potential difference (V) = Work Done (J) / Charge (Q)
    • Resistance
      • A measure of how difficult it is to get current to flow through a component
      • Measured in ohms, ?
      • R = V/I (Resistance (?) = Potential Difference (V) / Current (I)
        • Potential Difference
          • Measured in volts, V
            • One volt is one joule per coulomb
            • Using a voltmeter
              • Should always be placed in parallel with the component it is measuring
          • Defined as "the work done per unit charge"
          • V = W/Q (Potential difference (V) = Work Done (J) / Charge (Q)
        • Current
          • Measured in amps, A
            • One amp is one coulomb per second
            • Using an ammeter
              • Should always be placed in series with the component it is measuring
          • Defined as the "rate of flow of charge"
          • I = Q/t (Current (A) = Charge (Q) / time (s))
            • The unit of charge is called a Coulomb
              • One coulomb is defined as "the amount of charge that passes in one second if the current is 1 amp"
              • One amp is one coulomb per second
      • Ammeters and voltmeters are treated as ideal - they have zero and infinite resistance respectively
      • Affected by
        • Resistivity
          • ? = RA/L (resistivity (ohm-meters) = Resistance (ohms) x cross sectional area (metres squared) / length (m)
        • Temperature
        • Length of wire
        • Cross-sectional area of wire
    • Current
      • Measured in amps, A
        • Using an ammeter
          • Should always be placed in series with the component it is measuring
      • Defined as the "rate of flow of charge"
      • I = Q/t (Current (A) = Charge (Q) / time (s))
        • The unit of charge is called a Coulomb
          • One coulomb is defined as "the amount of charge that passes in one second if the current is 1 amp"
    • I-V Characteristics
      • Ohmic Conductors
        • Graph is linear - direct proportionality
          • On an I/V graph, a steep gradient means low resistance
          • On a V/I graph, a steep gradient means high resistance
        • Obey Ohm's Law
          • States that, provided physical conditions such as temperature remain constant, the current is directly proportional to the potential difference
      • Filament Lamps
        • Do not obey Ohm's Law
          • Graph isn't linear - begins to curve
            • I/V graph starts steep but gets shallower
            • V/I graph starts shallow but gets steeper
            • Because the temperature increases
              • Increase in temperature causes an increase in resistance
                • R = V/I
                  • V/I graph starts shallow but gets steeper
        • Graph isn't linear - begins to curve
          • I/V graph starts steep but gets shallower
          • Because the temperature increases
            • Increase in temperature causes an increase in resistance
              • R = V/I
        • Semi-conductors
          • Diodes
            • Do not obey Ohm's Law
            • Only allow current to flow in one direction (forward bias)
            • Resistance is very high in the reverse direction (reverse bias)
              • So very little current can get through
            • Have a threshold potential difference of about 0.6V in the positive direction
              • Must be met before it will conduct
          • Thermistors
            • NTC (Negative Temperature Coefficient) thermistors react to temperature
              • Increasing the temperature lowers the resistance
          • Are much worse conductors of electricity than metals
            • Because they have far fewer charge carriers available
              • More charge carriers can be released using energy
          • Very good sensors for detecting environmental change
      • Resistivity
        • ? = RA/L (resistivity (ohm-meters) = Resistance (ohms) x cross sectional area (metres squared) / length (m)
      • Power
        • Defined as "the rate of energy transfer"
        • Measured in Watts, W
          • 1 Watt = 1 joule per second
        • P = IV
          • P = I^2R
          • P = V^2/R
            • P = I^2R
      • Circuit Rules
        • Resistance
          • In series
            • Adds up
          • In parallel
            • 1/RT = 1/R1 +1/R2...
        • Potential Difference
          • In series
            • Adds up to match the p.d. of the cell
          • In parallel
            • Is the same everywhere
        • Current
          • In series
            • Is the same everywhere
          • In parallel
            • Adds up to the total current

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