Ohm’s law statement
Ohm’s law states that the electric current flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the voltage and inversely proportional to the resistance. In other words, the electric current flowing through the conductor increases with increase in applied voltage (If resistance is not changed) and the electric current flowing through the conductor decreases with increase in resistance of conductor (If voltage is not changed).
Ohm’s law is mathematically written as
Ohms law equation is mathematically …show more content…
Electric current is measured in amperes (A).
Voltage: The difference in electric potential energy of charged particles between two points within the electric field is called voltage. The free electrons at the higher potential have more electrical potential energy whereas the free electrons at lower potential have less electrical potential energy. Voltage is measured in volts (V).
Resistance: Resistance is the opposite force that resists the flow of electrons. The electrons that are moving freely through the conductor will collide continuously with the atoms. This causes the free electrons to lose their energy. Hence, the electric current decreases. Resistance is measured in ohm’s(Ω)
Ohm’s law explanation with an example
The concept of ohm’s law is easily understood with the water analogy. The difference in water pressure between two points in a tank causes the water flow. Here, the difference in the water pressure is compared with voltage. The rate at which water flows per second is compared with electric current. The obstacle that decreases the water flow is compared with …show more content…
Because of this continuous collision, the average velocity of free electrons decreases. Hence, the number of free electrons flowing from one point to another point within the conductor gets decreases. Therefore, the electric current decreases.
If the voltage applied to the conductor is increased
If the voltage or electric field applied to the conductor is increased, the free electrons gains large amount of kinetic energy. Hence, the velocity of the free electrons increases.
When the free electrons moving in the conductor collides with the atoms, they lose their kinetic energy. However, due to the continuous supply of voltage, the free electrons again attain their speed. The free electrons moving in the conductor again collides with the atoms and loses their kinetic energy.
In this manner, the free electrons in the conductor collide continuously with the atoms. Because of this continuous collision, the average velocity of the free electrons decreases. However, we provided more energy or electric field to the free electrons than the previous case. Hence, the average velocity of the free electrons increases. Therefore, the electric