Ohm's Law

For many conductors of electricity, the electric current which will flow through them is directly proportional to the voltage applied to them. When a microscopic view of Ohm's law is taken, it is found to depend upon the fact that the drift velocity of charges through the material is proportional to the electric field in the conductor. The ratio of voltage to current is called the resistance, and if the ratio is constant over a wide range of voltages, the material is said to be an "ohmic" material. If the material can be characterized by such a resistance, then the current can be predicted from the relationship:

Ohms Law George Ohm discovered the relationship between, current flowing in a circuit and the pressure applied across that circuit. This became known as Ohms Law. Ohms Law states that the current ( I ) flowing through a circuit is directly proportional to the potential difference ( V ), across that circuit, and inversely proportional to the resistance ( R ), of that circuit, provided the temperature remains constant.

V = VOLTAGE I=CURRENT (A)

R=RESISTANCE ()

Glossary
Conductors is an object or type of material that permits the flow of electric charges in one or more directions Electric charges is the physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when close to other electrically charged matter. Electric current is a flow of electric charge Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and flow of electric charge Proportional the relationship of two variables whose ratio is constant Directly in a direct line or manner Microscopic is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by thenaked eye Drift velocity is the average velocity that a particle, such as an electron Ratio is a relationship between two numbers of the same kind Resistance a force that stops something from moving or makes it move more slowly Voltages electrical potential difference, electric tension or electric pressure Material a substance that things can be made from Ohmic relating to a circuit element, the electrical resistance of which obeys Ohm's law Characterize to be typical of a person, place, or thing Predicted to say that something will happen in the future Relationship the way in which two or more things are connected

To Confirm Ohms Law

Experiment
Refer to Figure 1. In this arrangement the resistor value is kept constant whilst the voltage is increased in steps of two volts and current readings are taken.

In this Circuit the Resistance is Constant Figure 1.

The following results were obtained from the experiment and plotted in graph form as shown below. Voltage 2 4 6 8 10 = I x 100 100 100 100 100 R

= 0.02 x = 0.04 x = 0.06 x = 0.08 x = 0.10 x

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
.01 .02 .03 .04 .05 .06 .07 .08 .09 .10

Voltage

Amps

Figure 2

The above graph and experiment illustrates, that current flow increases proportionally as the applied voltage is increased. Question? Just do it Solution: Find current that flow through R1. Voltage source is 120 Vdc and R1, R2 and light bulb are connected in serially.