Electric fields
Electric Charge
We now use electricity to power many devices but the idea of charge was originally developed to explain static electricity.
Electric force
The electric force is the force that occurs due to charges interacting. For example, the attraction between a proton and an electron. The formula for this force is almost identical to the formula for gravity. This attraction or repulsion between two charges is equal to
q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges. k is a constant, and r is the distance between both charges.
Electric field constant (k)
K is easily calculatable, but it depends on the medium. Precisely, it depends on the permittivity of the medium through which the charges are interacting. It is calculated by
Permittivity of free space
Epsilon represents the permittivity of space in the medium. So the formula for electric force becomes
Permittivity is the amount of charge needed to create 1 single unit of electric flux in a given medium. A charge will yield more electric flux in a medium with high permittivity. Electric flux is the rate of flow of electric field a given area. It is calculated as the integral of the dot product of the perpendicular electric field vectors and the perpendicular vector of an infinitely small area dA.
Charge & Power
Charge: a fundamental property of all particles. A particle can have a positive charge, negative, or no charge. Like charges will repel while opposite charges will attract.
Coulomb's law
Current
Definition: The time rate (△t) at which the charge (△q) moves past a particular point in a circuit.
Conversion from electrons per second to amps
Inorder to convert from electrons per second to amps, multiply by the charge of an electron in coulombs ()
Direct Current vs Alternating current
Direct current: A circuit where the current flows in one direction. Used for short distance circuits because it is safer.
Alternating current: A circuit where the current flows alternate directions over time. Used for long distance circuits because of its higher voltage capacity.
Potential difference
Potential difference is the difference in electric potential between two parts of a circuit. It is this difference which causes current to move through the circuit.
Units: Voltage (V)
Heating effect of electric currents
Circuit diagrams
Some important circuit diagrams to remember are:
Name | What it does | Diagram |
Cell | A component which pushes the electric current (Voltage) from positive to negative. | |
Battery | A component which consists of several cells. | |
Resistor | A component which reduces the current flow.(Almost every component is technically a resistor) | |
Variable resistor | A components which controls the current flow. | |
Light bulb | A component which emits light, by heating up filament inside the bulb. | |
Kirchhoff’s circuit laws
Ohms law
Resistance and resistivity
resistivity
Factors that affect resistance
There are five things which can affect resistance, also as current is inversely proportional to resistance these five things will also change current but inversely.
Factor | Explanation | Equation |
Length of wire | The longer, the wire, the more times the electrons hit the sides slowing down. | R∝L |
Material | The lower the conductivity of the material(σ) the higher the resistance. | R∝1/σ |
Wire thickness | The smaller the diameter(⌀) of, the wire, the more times the electrons bump into each other | R∝1/⌀ |
Temperature | Heating a wire makes the atoms in the wire vibrate increasing the number of collisions. | R∝T |
Resistance formula: (resistance = resistivity * (length/current)
Series vs parallel circuits overview
Series
- Current: Is the same all around the circuit.
- Voltage: Shared across each component. Components with higher resistance get more voltage
- Resistance:
Parallel
- Current: Split across each component
- Voltage: The same for all components
- Resistance:
Voltmeters and Ammeters
Type of meter | What it measures | How it is connected | Ideal resistance |
Voltmeter | Voltage | In parallel | Very high resistance, so electricity does not flow through it. |
Ammeter | Current | In series | Very low resistance, so electricity flows easily through it. |
Potential Dividers
A potential divider is a circuit made of two or more resistors that allow us to tap off any voltage we want that is less than the battery voltage. You can imagine as using resistors to create a ratio of the voltages.
Formula: \(V_{out} = \frac{V_{in} R_1}{R_1+R_2} \)
- The input voltage (Vin) is the emf of the battery.
- The output voltage (VOut) is the voltage taken after the resistor
- R1 is a large resistor which takes the majority of the resistance
- R2 is a small resistor which takes the small amount of resistance.
Power and power dissipation
Power: The rate of energy required to drive electrical current through a circuit. It proportional to the potential difference and to the electrical current that flows through the circuit.
Power dissipation
Electric cells
Cells
Internal resistance
Secondary cells
Terminal potential difference
Electromotive force (EMF)
Magnetic effects of electric currents
Magnetic fields
Magnetic force
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