Structure

16.1 Introduction
Objectives

16.2 Electric Current

16.2.1 Drift Velocity and Current Density
16.2.2 Ohm's Law

16.3 Resistances in Series and Parallel

16.4 Electromotive Fame (EMF)
16.5 Kirchhoff 's Rules
16.6 RC Circuits
16.7 Energy and Power in Electric Circuits
16.8 Summary
16.9 Answers to SAQs

16.1

INTRODUCTION

In the preceding units of this Block, we have dealt with Electrostatics, which
deals with the effects of stationary electric charges. You have learnt that,
under static conditions, the electric field inside a metal is zero. If, however, we
maintain a nonzero field in a conductor, say, by connecting two lead wires
from the conductor to the terminals of a battery, the charges in the conductor
becomes mobile, and, an electric current is established in the conductor. We
need not emphasize the role the electric current plays in our life, as you are
quite familiar with it.
In this unit, we shall discuss electric circuits, in which mobile charges exist,
giving rise to a current. We will see that charges do not flow inside a material
unimpeded, but the material offers a certain resistance to their flow. The
amount of resistance offered varies from material to material and depends on
the dimensions of the specimen. Circuits with currents flowing through
resistances are most common ones in practice. We will restrict ourselves to
the case where the sense of the current is continuous along one direction. Such
currents, called direct current (dc) are supplied by batteries, generators etc.
Circuits in which the sense of current oscillates back and forth are called
alternating current circuits will be briefly talked about in the Block 5. Later
in this unit, we will consider circuits with both resistances and capacitors.
After reading this unit, you should be able to :
explain the concepts of current density and drift velocity (SAQs 1-3),
use Ohm's law to calculate the resistance of conductors (SAQs 4-6),
explain what is electromotive force and obtain current distribution in a
circuit containing resistances and Emfs (SAQs 7-9)'
solve problems on electrical circuits containing capacitors and
resistances (SAQ l l ) , and
explain how power is dissipated in a circuit containing a resistance

16.2

ELECTRIC CURRENT
P

T h e electric current measures the rate of flow of charge through a rnaierial. In

Fig. 16.1, a conducting wire is shown with positive charge carriers moving to
the right. If a net amount of charge AQ passes through a cross section
labelled S in a time interval At, then .the current I is defined as

Figure 16.1

Figure 16.2

You should be clear about the meaning of the word "net" in this context. We
pointed out that in a conductor, free charges exist, which can move when the
conductor is subjected to an electric field. These charge carriers are usually
electrons, which carry negative charges. When an electric field is applied, the
negative charges move in a direction opposite to the direction in which the
carriers would move if they were positively charged. The electric current is
not a vector quantity. Nevertheless, it is common to talk about a direction of
current. Conventionally, the direction of the electric current is taken to be the
direction in which a positive charge carrier moves. If the charge carriers are
negative (which is usually the case with metals), the direction of the electric
current is opposite to the direction of charge flow. The word "net" in our
definition, takes care of charge carriers accounting for their signs. For
example, if equal amount of positive and negative charge flow through an area
in the same direction in a time At, the net flow of charge is zero. On the
other hand, if an amount AQ of negative charge flows through a cross section
t o the left, and an equal amount of positive charge cross the same cross
section simultaneously to the right, the net flow of charge is 24Q towards
right. Clearly, if an electrically neutral at0111passes throgh a given cross
section, it does not contribute to current, because it carries equaa amount of
positive and negative charge which pass through the section siniultaneously.
Figure 16.2 shows the direction of current in a wire in which the charge
carriers are electrons.
The SI unit of current is Ampere which is defined as a rate of flow of one
Coulomb of charge through a cross section per second.

Example 1:
A current of 10 A exists in a conductor. Assuming that this current is entirely
due to the flow of electrons, (a) find the number of electron crossing the area
of cross section per second, (b) if such a current is maintained for 1 hour, find
the net flow of the charge.

Solution :
(a) A current of 10 Amperes means a flow of 10 C of charge per second. As

the charge on electron is 1.6 x ~ O - ' ~ Cthere

,
is a net flow of 1011.6 x
= 6.25 x 10" electrons per second through a given cross section of the
conductor.
(b) If a constant current of 10 A is maintained for an hour, the net charge
flowing through the cross sectiorl would be 10 x 3600 = 3.6 x lo4 Coulomb.

Suppose we can charge a sphere of radius 0.2 m by supplying it a constant

current of 1 micro ampere, the supplied charge being accuml~latedinside th
sphere. Find the time taken for the sphere to be raised through a potential
difference of 500 V.

16.2.1 Drift VeIscity and Current Density

When a conductfi7r is subjected to m electric field, the charge carriers
experience a force. I he charges that constitute current can be of many types.
In ionised gases tiley can be positively charged ions and electrons. In
semiconducto~s,they can be electrons or holes (the absence of an electron in
an energv level, is called a hole, which effectively behaves like a positively
charged particle). Elowever, the most important class of material in which we
are interested, as far as the current is concerned, is metal. In most of the
metals: at least those which are used for making wires to carry current, the
current is exdu5ively carried by electrons only, though there are some metals
in which electron as well as Roles contribute to current. In these metals some
of the electrons of the atoms (usually the outer shell electrons) are
comparatively free and are mobile inside the metal. Even when no external
electric field is applied these electrons keep on moving inside the metals and
their speed can be as high as lo6 m/s. However, these electrons do not
constitute current because these electrons move with equal probability in all
directions, and therefore, there is rro net flow of electrorrs through any given
cross section in any particular direction.
When an external electric field 2 is applied, the electrons tend to accelerate in
a direction opposite to the electric field and hence their velocity in this
direction increases. If there were no other force on the carriers, they would
have a constant acceleration and their velocity would go on increasir~g
indefinitely. However, the charge carriers interact with other particles in the
material, colliding against ions, defects in the materids etc. The net effect of
such interactions is that, in an electric field, the charge carriers move with a
constant average velocity called the drift velocity. An analogy can be made
with the gas molecules in air. In the absence of any breeze, the gas molecules
keep on moving in all directions randomly. In the presence of a breeze, on the
other hand, there is a net drift of molecules in a particular direction.
Consider a wire with an area of cross section A, with a charge density of n per
unit volume. If vd is the magnitude of the drift velocity of the carriers, the net
flow of the charges AQ through a cross section, in time At, is (vdAtA)ne. The
current I is given by
AQ = nevdA
I =(16.2)
At

Electrlc Circuits

Remember that if the charge carriers are negative, the direction of vd will be
opposite to the direction of electric field, but as e also is negative, I will be in
the same direction as the electric field. We see from Eqn.(16.2) that, except
for area A, I depends on intrinsic properties of the conductor, Like n and vd.
This leads us to define a more fundamental concept, called the current density,
.f Current density is a vector, the direction of which is same as that of
electric field which causes the current. The magnitude of the current density
is given by
I J- (= I;i= nevd
assuming that the. current is uniformly distributed across the cross section.
The above equation can also be written in the vector form as
1

J = neGd

(16.3j

If the charge carriers in Eqn.(16.3) are negative, we shall take a negative sign
for e, which will lead to a sign of fopPosite to Cd, but same as that of electric
field. You may note that the current density is a microscopic concept, while
the current is a macroscopic concept.
If the drift velocity of the carriers varies from point to point within the
material, the current density will also vary. In such a case, the current density
can be found by calculating the surface integral of the current density,

where integral is taken over the surface.

Example 2
A current of 1 A passes through a copper wire of radius of cross section 1 mm.
Find the current density and the drift velocity of electron.
Solution :

In order to find the drift velocity using Eqn.(16.3), we need to know the
number of electrons per unit volume. For this, we assume that each Cu atom
contributes one free electron for conduction purposes. The density of Cu is
8.96 glcc while its atomic weight is 63.55. You know that 63.55 kg of Cu
contains Avogadro's number, i.e., 6.022 x
atoms. A unit volume of Cu
atoms. Substituting this
thus contains 6.022 x
x 8960163.55 = 8.5 x
value for n, we get the drift velocity to be given by

Notice that the magnitude of the drift velocity is many orders of magnitude
smaller than that of the random velocity of the charge carriers. This does not
mean that when we switch on electricity, the time taken for a bulb t o glow will
be determined by this drift velocity. The time lag between the switching on
and the glow of a bulb is determined by the time taken for the information on
the change of electric field to travel between the two points, and is practically
instantaneous, since this speed is much higher and approaches that of light.

Electric Clrcults

SAQ 2 :
Silver has 5.9 x lo2' number of free electrons per unit volume. If the current
density is lo5 A/m2 in a silver wire, what is the drift velocity of the electron?
What is the radius of the wire which carries a current of 10 A ?

SAQ 3 :
A salt solution kept in a long glass tube of cross section 100 mm2, carries a
current of 1 A. The carriers in the solution are singly charged positive and
negative ions with equal densities n+ = n- = 6 x loZSions/m3. If the drift
velocity of the positive ions is four times that of the negative ions, find the
contribution to the current, the drift velocity and the Zurrent density by the
two types of carriers separately.

16.2.2 Ohm's Law

We have seen that the application of electric field produces a current in a
conductor. It is found that the current density is proportional to the electric
field that is applied across the conductor, i.e.,

I-

Here, a is the constant of proportionality called the wnductivity of the

material. Experimentally, the conductivity is found to depend on the material
used, the temperature, the purity of the sample etc. However, it does not
depend on the shape of the material. The S.I. units of conductivity is
(ohm m)-', which is also sometimes written as mho/m. The law represented
by Eqn.(16.5) is called Ohm's law.
It follows from Eqn.(16.5) that if the conductivity of the material is large, it is
a better conductor, because for the same electric field, it gives a larger current
density. Actually, the conductivity of material is related to the average time
interval between two successive collisions of the conduction electrons with the
ions or the other particles of the medium mentioned earlier. We define a
quantity p, called the resistivity of the material, which is inverse of
conductivity.
P=;

The S.I. units of resistivity is ohm m.

Most of the time, Ohm's law is written in slightly different form, which is
found to be more useful. Experimentally, we measure directly the current I
through a wire when a potential difference V is applied across its two ends. If
the area of the cross section of the wire is A, and its length I, we have,
E = V/l and J = IIA. Substituting these in Eqn.(16.5), we get

Making use of Eqn.(16.6), we can write the above equation as

v =(

1
~ ~ 1 '

The quantity in the bracket pl/A is known as the resistance R of the material.
This yields the more familiar form of Ohm's law

V = IR
T h e resistance of a material depends on the length and area of cross section of
the wire used. T h e S.I. unit of resistance is ohm, which is usually denoted by
51. In a circuit the symbol for the resistance is -WW[IVL.
Example 3
A wire of length 1 m, and a cross section area of 1 mm2 carries a current 1.5
A when a potential difference of 3V is applied between its two ends. (a) Find
the conductivity of the wire. (b) If the same wire is redrawn so that now its
length is 2 m, find the resistance of the wire, assuming its density to remain
unchanged.
Solution:
(a) The resistance of the wire is V/I = 2 ohms. T h e conductivity
a = 1/RA= 5 x lo7 (51 m)-'.
(b) T h e volume of the wire remains the same on being redrawn. Since the new
length is twice the original length, the area of cross section is halved:
Therefore the ratio of the length to the area is four times the original. Since
the conductivity remains the same, the resistance becomes 8 51.

SAQ 4 :
Two wires A and B are made of a material which has a resistivity of 5 x lo-*
ohm m. The length of the wire A is 100 m while that of B is 200 m. The area
of cross sections of the wire B is 2 mm2 while that of A is 1 mm2. These two
wires are welded together t o form a single wire of length 300m. This
composite wire carries a current of 1 A. Find the potential difference, the
electric field across the wires and determine the current densities.

SAQ 5 :
T h e dimensions of a rectangular block of a metal are 3 cm x 4 cm x 5 cm. To
which set of parallel faces should an electric current be applied, in order to get
least resistance ?

I\

16.3

ElecMc Circuit 3

RESISTANCES IN SERIES AND

PARALLEL

In Unit 15 you have seen two limiting cases of combinations of capacitors,

viz., the series and the parallel combinations. We will now discuss similar
combinations with resistances. It is worth mentioning here that often, we
deliberately introduce standard resistances into the circuits. Such resistances,
called resistors, are commercially available and their resistances are known. In
this section we shall assume that we have a series or a parallel combination of
resistors, and the resistances of connecting wires are negligible in comparison
to these resistors. Figure 16.3 shows a series combination of three resistors
which have been connected to a battery, which provides a potential difference
V across the combination. The first thing that you should note is that, the
potential difference across each of the resistance, in general, are different, but
the current through all of them is the same. This is because, under steady
state conditions, we do not expect any accumulation of charge. If I is the
current in the circuit, then V,, the potential difference across ith resistor is
given by Ohm's law
V; = R;I

v
Fipre 16.3

Now, the total potential difference across the combination is the sum of the
potential differences across each resistor. We have, therefore,

The left hand side of above equation is the net potential difference across the
combination, divided by the current in the combination. Hence, this is the
effective resistance R of the combination. We therefeore have, for a series
combination,
Figure 16.4 shows a parallel combination of three resistors. In this case, the
potential difference across each resistor is the same and equal to V, the
potential difference provided by the battery. However, current is different in
the three resistors . If I is the current through the battery, we have

I = ~ I ;

R,

v
Figure 16.4

where Ii is the current through ith resistance. Using Ohm's law, we get.

As before we can write V I I as R, the effective resistance of the combination.

Thus, for a parallel combination,
,-

Example 4
In Fig. 16.5, determine the value of the unknown resistance R, so that the
effective resistance between the points a and b is 10 ohms ?
Solution :
The 3 0 resistance is in parallel with R. Their effective resistance Re is

which gives
Re =

Fignre 16.6
I

3R
3+R

This effective resistance R, is in series with 1 0 and 7 0 resistances. Thus, i r i

order that the effective resistance between the points a and b is 10 R , we 111uht
have
3R
+1+7=10
3+R
7
which gives the value of the unknown resistance R to be 60.

SAQ 6 :
In Example 4, find the current through each of the resistances, if the potcnti;~l
difference between the points a and b is maintained at 10 V.

Example 5 :
Find the resistance of a spherical shell of outer radius rl and inner radius r2.
The shell is made of a material of conductivity a .
Solution :
Consider an element of the shell, in the form of a concentric thin shell of
radius r and thickness dr, as shown in Fig. 16.6 but concentric with the
conducting shell. The resistance of this element is given by
1 1 = -1 d r
dR = -aa
a4.rrr2

Figure 16.6

As the entire medium can be thought of as a series combination of resistances

offered by such elements, and using the fact that the resistances in series add
up, we can write the total resistance R of the spherical shell as

16.4 ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE (EMF)

As discussed earlier, the electric current is produced in a conductor due to thc.
presence of an electric field, which exerts a force on the charges which move
from a higher potential to a lower potential. Clearly, this cannot go on
indefinitely, for, if we are to have a continuous current, there must be a
constant supply of charges at the higher potentid end. In any closed circuit,

this means that the charges which E z ~ ereached the lower end of the potential
energy, must be pumped to higher ptential end by some device. The situation
is somewhat analogous to a wat'er fountain. If one has to continuously run
such a foantain, the water which has fallen to gr&nd (lower potential energy)
must be pumped back to a height by an external agency. An agency which
continuously pumps charges from low potential energy to high potential
energy and thus help maintain a current is called a source of electmmotive
force. The more common terminology is to call it a source of emf. A battery,
a generator, a solar cell, a thermocouples are examples of sources of emf. In a
battery, chemical reactions take place, which performs the work of pumping
charges from a lower potential to a higher potential. In other words, it helps
to maintain a constant potential difference between its electrodes. If a work
dW is done on a charge dQ, to pump it from an electrode at a lower potential
to an electrode at a higher potential, the emf & is defined as

Note that & does not have the dimensions of force. In fact, it has the same
units as the potential, viz., volt.
You are familiar with the 1.5 V cells that are used in torches, radio transistors and in many other consumer electronic items. What does such a
cell do ? If it is an ideal cell, it maintains a potential difference of 1.5 V
between its two terminals. If this battery is connected to a circuit, a current is
established in the circuit and a charge (say of magnitude Q, assumed positive
by convention) loses a total energy of 1.5Q J as it travels from the positive to
the negative terminal of the battery. The battery again increases the energy
of the charge by 1.54 J by doing work. Hence, the total work done by the
battery per charge is 1.5 V. Thus the emf of the cell is 1.5 V.
What we said in the last paragraph is strictly true only for an ideal battery or
cell. In practice, all batteries and cells possess what is called an internal
resistance. A more realistic picture of a battery or a cell is, therefore, a
combination of source of emf and a resistance (Fig. 16.7). Whenever there is a
current in the circuit, the emf has to do extra work because of the presence of
the internal resistance. Hence the potential difference between the two
terminals is smaller than emf in the presence of a current. If R is the
resistance of the external circuit that is connected to the battery and r is the
internal resistance of the battery, the actual potential difference V between
two electrodes of the battery will be given by

where I is the current in the circuit. As V appears solely across the external
circuit, we have
V=IR
(16.12)
Equations (16.12) and (16.13) determine the net current in the circuit

Elcetrielty

Equation (16.12) reminds, that if the current in the circuit is zero (or if the
battery is not connected which is called an open circuit condition), the
potential differences between the terminals of a battery is equal t o the emf. In
the presence of a current, on the other hand, the potential difference is'smaller
than the emf. Further, a better battery is one which has a smaller internal
resistance, as, for such a battery, the potential difference will be closer t o its
emf even when a large current is drawn from it. The internal resistance of a
car battery in good condition is 0.005 52, while the internal resistance of a
torch light battery is about 0.01 52. In most cases, the internal resistance is
quite low compared to the rest of the resistance in the circuit, and the internal
resistance can be neglected.
Example 6:
A battery of emf 15 V and an internal resistance of 1 ohm is connected t o a
resistance R. Find the voltage across its terminals and the resistance, if the
current in the circuit is 1 A.

Solution :
Equation (16.12) gives the voltage,

and Eqn.(16.3) gives the current

SAQ 7 :
A battery, when connected t o a resistance of 552 gives a current of 1 A. The
same battery when connected to a resistance of 1052 gives 0.6 A current. Find
the emf and the internal resistance of the battery.

SAQ 8 :
How much work does a source of 1.5 V emf do, in maintaining a constant
current of 0.01 A for 2 seconds ? If the internal resistance of the source is 1
ohm, how much is the gain in the potential energy of the carriers as they are
pumped by the source ?

iI

1
j

!
I

16.5 KIRCHHOFF'S RULES

In Unit 15, you have seen that for circuits containing capacitors, every case
cannot be reduced to a series or a parallel combination. You have also seen
that we can find quantities like equivalent capacitance, charges, potential
differences etc. for such circuits, if we work from basic principles. Similar
situation exists in case of circuits with resistances as well. Kirchhoff's rules
help us in analysing complicated circuits consisting of resistances and sources
of emf. Kirchhoff's rules consist of a point rule and a loop rule.

(a) Point Rule :

The point rule states that the sum of currents appmching towards a junction
of t h m or mow conductors is equal to the sum of cumnts leaving away fmm
the same junction. If the currents that approach a junction are assigned a sign
opposite to those which leave the junction, the point rule can be restated in
'the form that the algebraic sum of all the curnents at a junction b zem.
Kirchhoff's point rule is essentially a statement of conservation of charge,
since charge does not accumulate at any point along the connecting wires. For
example, the point rule applied t o a point a in the circuit in Fig. 16.8 gives

4s2

I,-:
2

Figure 16.8

because il and i2 are toward a while i is away from it.

(b) Loop Rule :

The loop rule states that the sum of potential differences enwuntered by a
charge in a mund trip amund any closed loop is %em.The loop rule is basically
a statement on the conservation of energy. We can write the loop rule as

In using the loop rule, we must use a consistent convention for the signs of the
current and the potential difference. Applying this to the loop abcd of the
.circuit of Fig. 16.8, we have

The potential difference from a to b is V, - fi = +2 V, or, if the internal

resistance of the battery is not negligible, it is 2 - ir, where i is the current
along the branch from a to b. In using the latter expression, care has to be
taken to use the numerical value of the current with a proper sign. Thus the
following two points are to be remembered while assigning signs to various
quantities :
(i) In traversing a resistance R along the sense of the current i , the
potential difference across the current is -iR, while if the resistance is
traversed opposite to the direction of the current, a potential difference
of + i R is assigned.

(ii) In traversing a source of emf along the sense of emf, (i.e., when a source
is encountered, the positive terminal comes first) the potential difference
across the source is entered as &. If the source is traversed in the
opposite direction the potential difference is taken as -&.
The following examples and SAQs will help you to appreciate the use of
.
Kirchhoff's rules in solving problems on electrical circuits.

c.

~5

Example 7
Find the current in various branches and the equivalent resistance of the
circuit shown in Fig. 16.9. Assume that the internal resistance of the battery
is negligible. Take the values of the resistances to be
RI = 500, Rz = 250, & = 200, & = 100 and Rs = 350. The emf of the

Figure 16.9

Solution :
Let the currents in various branches be as shown in the figure. At this stage
we are not sure of the direction of current in any particular branch. We have;
therefore chosen the directions arbitrarily. If the numerical value for any
current turns out to be negative, it simply means that the current in that
branch is opposite to the direction previously assumed.
Applying Kirchhoff's point rule at the junction points a,b,c and d, we get
following equations :
0)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
You can see yourself that only three of above equations are independent, as
the first and the last equations are identical in view of the other two.
Applying Kirchhoff's loop rule to loops abca, bcdb and acdefa, we get the
following equations :

You may note that as per the directions of the current which we have
assumed, the potentials at different junction points follow the following
relationship Vh > I-$ > V'; d; > > V' and fi >
These inequalities have
been taken care of while writing above equations. Substituting the values of
the resistances, we get

>

>.

( 4
( 4
(vii)
Using equations (ii) and (iii), (v) can be reduced to
Multiplying (vi) by 4, we get

Thus, i2 = is. From (vi), we then get i3 = -0.5i5 Substituting these in (ii),
il = 0.5is. Similarly, (iii) and (i) give i4 = 1.5i5 and i = 2i5. Thus all the
currents are expressed in terms of one current is. From (vii), we therefore get
is = 0.5 A. T h e cyrrents in various branches can now be written down.

I
i

Note that the current i3 is negative indicating that the actual direction of the
current is from c to b and not from b to c as has been assumed a pn'ori. As
the total current drawn from the battery is 1 A, the equivalent resistance of
the circuit is R = V/I = 10Q

SAQ 9 :
In Fig. 16.9, find the condition for which i3, i.e. the current through R3 is
zero.

Example 8

Find the current in e&h branch of the circuit of Fig. 16.10, and determine the
potential difference between the points a and b. Neglect the internal
resistances of the cells. Take the values R1 = 10/3Q, R2 = 20Q, R3 = 10Q,
Vl = 25V and V2 = 10V.
Solution :

Let us assume the currents in the various branches to be along the directions
shown in the figure. ~ ~ ~the point
l ~ rule,
i wen have
~

Applying loop rule t o the loop abefa

Vl - ilR2 - iZRl = 0

(ii)

Remember that as per directions of current assumed, if a charge has to

traverse through the loop abefa, the passage through Vl will increase its
potential while passage through botp R~ and Rl will decrease the same,
because the potential at the entry point ofcurrent into a resistor is higher
than a t the exit point. Similarly, applying the loop rule t o abcda
Vl

fD
r

- ilR2 -i3R3-

V2 = 0

(iii)

Substituting the numerical values we get, on solving (i), (ii) and (iii) it = 1 A,
iz = 1.5 A and is = -0.5 A. The potential difference between the points b and
a is 25 - il R2 = 5V.

b u m 16.10

Find the potential difference between points a and b in the circuit shown in
Fig. 16.11. Neglect the internal resistances of the cells.

SAQ 10 :

Figure 16.11

16.6 RC CIRCUITS
So far we considered only those circuits which contained sources of emf and
resistances. We had implicitly assumed that the emf is constant as a function
of time and therefore the current also is time independent. We shall now
consider a circuit in which, besides a resistor, a capacitor is also included as a
circuit element. We shall see that because of charging and discharging of the
capacitor, the current, in general, will be time dependent.

Figure. 16.12

Figure 16.12 shows a simple circuit. The point d can either be connected to
the point a or to the point b. Let us first consider the case when capacitor C
does not have any excess charge on its plates. Assume that at t = 0, we
connect the point d to the point a. The battery V therefore gets included in
the circuit. As the positive terminal of the battery (point k) is at a higher
potential than the point m, the charges will flow out of the battery, and there
will be a current in the circuit. These charges will keep on accumulating at
the plates of the capacitor and the potential difference between the positive
terminal of the battery and the point m will decrease, causing the current to
reduce. Finally, if we wait long enough, the potential difference between
points k and m will be essentially zero and the current in the circuit will also
be nearly zero. Our interest is to find out how the current varies as a function
of time.
Let Q be the charge on the plates of the capacitor at any given time t. The
potential difference between the plates of the capacitor at this instant of time
is Vm, = Q/C. If the current is i, then the potential difference across the
resistor is Vkm= iR. As the total potential difference has to be V, the one
that is maintained by the battery, we get

Using i = dQ/dt, we get the following differential equation :

The equation (16.16) can be written as

dQ
VC-Q
putting VC - Q =

2,

- -dt
RC

so that -dQ = dx,we get

This can be integrated to give z = Ke-'lRC where K is a. constant of

integration.
Substituting back, we get

The constant K may be determined by imposing conditions on the charge. At

9: = O,Q = 0, which gives 0 = V C - K or K = VC. Therefore, we get

An expression for the current can be obtained by differentiating the above,

As at t = 0,i = V/R, we introduce V/R = i, and can write the expression for
the current as
i = i,e '-~/RC
It clear from Eqns(16.16) and (16.17) that both the charge on the capacitor
and the current in the circuit are exponential functions of time. The factor
R C in these two equations has the dimension of time and determines how fast
the capacitor will get charged or how fast will the current reduce to zero. This
factor is therefore called the time constant of the circuit and is usually
denoted by T . The time constant can be interpreted as the time taken for the
current to reduce to l / e x 0.37 of its original value. In terms of the charge on
the capacitor, it can be interpreted as the time in which the charge on the
capacitor increases to (1 - l/e) x 0.63 times its final value. For a circuit with
a large time constant, the time taken for charging the capacitor is longer.

Suppose the capacitor is fully charged. We connect the point d to point b in

Fig. 16.12 by changing the position of the switch. Let us now measure time
from the instant d is connected to b. Obviously, the battery has been thrown
out of the circuit, and, therefore, there is nothing in circuit to maintain the
potential difference. Hence, the flow of charges will start from a higher
potential to a lower potential. This flow will reduce the charges on the plates
of the capacitor and thereby the potential difference between them. The
current will reduce as a function of time until the excess charges on the plates
of the capacitor become zero. This situation will correspond to the potential
becoming the same everywhere in the circuit. Again, as before, our interest is
to find the charge Q on the capacitor and the current i as a function of time.
We can write an equation similar to Eqn.(16.15), except that now there is no
battery providing V in the circuit. The differential equation in the case of
discharging will thus become

This can be written as

dQ-- --dt
-

RC

Integrating the above, we get

If at t = 0, &

Q, which is same as VC, we have

Electric Circuits

Differentiating the above, we obtain, for the current,

where i, = Q,/ RC. The negative sign indicates that the direction of the
current is now opposite to the original direction. You now see that both the
charge and the magnitude of the current decay with the same time constant r
given by r = 1/RC.
t

Example 9
In the circuit shown in Fig. 16.13, two capacitors are connected to a single
battery. At t = 0, the capacitors are completely uncharged, and the battery is
connected. Take the numerical values of the circuit elements as follows :
C1 = 10pF; C2 = 30pF; R = 200 and V = 50 V.

JA
I

(a) Find the time constant of the charging.

Figure 16.13

(b) After
s, what are the potential differences across the capacitors and
the resistor ?

Solution :
If Vl,V2 and VR are the potential differences across the capacitors C1,C2 and
the resistor R respectively, we can write

As the capacitors are in series one, the charge Q on the plates of the two
capacitors will he identical at any given time t. We can thus write

which can be written as

You can see the above equation is identical to Eqn.(16.16) with

1/C = l/C1 1/C2. This is a result which we expected, because we could
have just taken an equivalent capacitance of two capacitors in series.

&-+

$-)-I.
Substituting numerical
The time constant is given by r = R(
values we get r = 1.5 X ' I O - ~ s. The charge and the current at t =
s, can
be obtained by direct use of equations (16.17) and (16.18) to be 182.5 pC and
1.2835 A respectively. The potential differences are given by
Vl = Q/Cl = 18.25 V, V2 = Q/C2 = 6.08 V anu VR = iR = 25.67 V.

SAQ 11 :
Consider the circuit of Fig. 18.1 1. w i t h Vl = 5 V, li = 20 V, R1 = 5Q,
t h hey
~ S is kept open and the capacitor is
Rz = 10R and C = 2pT
aI!~,,cd i~ rl 2~~ ' ,- ,,
,,
r ! 't1.1t
t l ~ rc h a ~ g eon C is constant.
What ~s t h t ~~h.,~,
,
t
I
'.1gt5 ? The key S is now
closed. What *.ll u l
.. I I , : , L ~ C after a sufficiently long
time elapses ?
1";

:I

I .

* I

rr

16.7 ENERGY AND POWER IN ELECTRIC

CIRCUITS

I
I

We have seen that when a current i flows through a resistance R, a potential

difference of V = iR exists between the two ends of the resistance. We have
seen earlier that this implies that a charge q entering the resistance a t the
higher potential side and leaving it at the lower potential side suffers a loss of
energy equal to qV. This loss of energy appears as heat in the resistor.
Physically, this can be understood as follows. As the charge passes through a
resistive medium, it collides with other particles of the medium. These
scatterings cause, in general, the motion of the bound atoms in the solid to
increase, which manifests in the form of increased temperature. The situation
can be compared with a ball falling from a height to the ground. Though the
drop causes a decrease in potential energy, this decrease is compensated by an
increase in the kinetic energy. In the case of charges drifting through a
resistor, the overall current (or drift velocity) does not increase even though
there is a fall in the potential energy. This decrease in potential energy is
compensated by an increase in the kinetic energy of the atoms of the solids.
Consider a time interval dt. In this time interval, a charge dq = idt flows into
the resistor froin highest potential end to a slightly lower potential, and, a
charge dq leaves the lowest potential and a slightly higher potential. Other
conduction charges also move to lower potential side in this time within the
resistor. The net decrease of potential energy is equal to dqV. This is because,
effectively, the charge dq has left the highest potential end and reappeared at
the lowest potential end. The energy dW transferred from conduction carriers
to the atoms of the solid in this time would, therefore, be given by

The rate P of energy transfer (Power) is thus given by

p = -dW
=

dt
Since, for a resistor V = iR, we can write

i~

The S.I. unit of P is Watt (W), one unit of which is equal to 1 J/s. You
should appreciate the fact that Eqn.(6.21) is correct even when we consider
some other circuit component like a battery, between the twr, ierminals of
which, there is a potential difference V. Equation (6.22), on the other hand, is
correct only for a resistor, because it is only here that we have assumed
V = iR, a condition true for a resistor.
Example 10
Consider a 60 W, 240 V d.c. bulb. What is the resistance of the wire? What
will be the current in it, if it is connected to 240 V d.c. supply? What will be
the power consumed if it is attached to 210 V d.c. supply? What is the value
of the current in this case ? Assume that the resistance of the bulb wire does
not change in the two cases.

Solution :
A 60 W, 240 V bulb consumes 60 W power when connected to 240 V supply.
Thus y 1 / R = 60, which gives R = 980R. The current in this case is
i = V/R = 0.25 A. When the same bulb is connected to a 210 V supply,
0
P = V ~ / R= 45.94 W. The current in this case is i = V/R = 0.22 A.
I

SAQ 12 :
A 15 V battery with an internal resistance of 1R is connected t o a resistance
of 9 ohm. What is the rate at which the internal energy of battery is getting
converted to electrical energy ? Find the power consumed within the battery
and by the external resistance.

16.8 SUMMARY
In this unit, we introduced the concept of electric current, which can exist
whenever an external electric field is maintained across the ends of a
conductor. We found that in the presence of such a field the average velocity
of the charge carriers is no longer zero, but has a small value, which is in the
direction of the applied field for positive carriers. This is called the drift
velocity. The electric current is a scalar quantity, but we have a quantity
called the current density, which depends on the drift velocity as well as the
carrier density, which is a vector.
It was seen that the charge carriers encounter opposition to their free
movement through a conductor because of scattering with other particles of
the medium. This provides resistance to the current. Circuits which contain
resistances and sources of energy to drive the electric current were solved
using the two rules due to Kirchhoff. While the current in such circuits is
constant, in the presence of a capacitative element in the circuit, the charge as
well as the current become time dependent. Finally, we found that power is
dissipated in circuits containing resistances.

16.9 ANSWERS T O SAQs

1. As the current is 1 pA, it supplies 1 pC charge per second. As the
capacitance of the sphere is 47r/c,R, in order to raise the potential of the
sphere by 500 V, we require a total charge Q given by

The charge Q in time t is 1 x 10'~t and the radius R is given as 0.2.m.

Substituting these in the above equation, we get the time to be
1.1 x 10'~s.

2. ud = 1.1 x lo:',

and

= 5.6 mm.

3. Recalling that the positive and the negative charges contribute to the
current in the same sense, the current is proportional t o the drift
velocity. Thus the positive charges contribute to 80% of the total
current, i.e., 0.8 A. The remaining 0.2 A current is due t o the negative
charges. Current density I / A are respectively 8000 A / & ~and 2000
~ / r n ~The
. drift speed for the positive charge is J+/nq = 8.3 mm/s.

4. The resistances of each of the wires is 5 52. The voltage drop across each
wbre is therefore the same and is 5 V. The electric field across A is 51100
.=: 0.05 V/m, while that across B is Q.025 V/m. The current density in A
is lo6 A/m2 and in B is lo5 A/m2.

5 . The resistance will be lowest when the ratio IIA is the least. The block
has three sets of parallel faces; first set has an area of cross section 12
cm2 and a length 5 cm; second has an area of 15 cm2 and a length 4 cm
and the third has an &ea of 20 cm2 and a length of 3 cm. Comparing the
ratio of the area to the length', the third face offers the least resistance.
6 . Assume V, > Vb. Since the effective resistance of the circuit is 10 52, the
total current entering the point a is 10/10 = 1 A. Clearly, the full
current of 1 A passes through 152 and 752 resistances. However, at the
point c, the current gets divided between the 352 and 652 resistances.
The potential drop across 152 and 752 resistances are 1 V and 7 V
respectively. Hence the potential drop between the points c and d is
(10 - 7 - 1 ) = 2 V. This 2 V is the potential difference across both 352
and 652 resistances. Hence, the current in them are 213 A and 113 A,
respectively. We can see that the total current in these branches is
213 113 = I A, as expected.

7 . The potential drop across the 552 resistance is 5 V while that across the
1052 resistance is 6 V. Using Eqn.(16.12)

i
i

6 = &-0.6~
5 = &--r
Solving, we get r = 2.552 and & = 7.5 V.

8. 0.01 A current for 2 seconds implies a total transfer of charge of 0.02 C.

The work W done by, the source of emf on these charges, by using
Eqn.(l6.11) is W = 1.5 x 0.02 = 0.03 J . This work is not fully utilised to
increase the energy of the charge carriers, as, a part of the energy is lost
due to the internal resistance of the source. The potential difference
across the internal resistance is 0.01 x I = 0.01 V. The total drop in the
energy of the carriers, in passing through the internal resistance is
J. Hence, the net increase in the energy of the
0.01 x 0.02 = 2 x
= 0.0298 J .
charge carriers is 0.03 - 2 x
9. If ig = 0 , il = il and i4 = is. Moreover, the potential difference between
the points b and c should be zero. This implies that the potential drop
across R1 should be same as that across R4. Thus, il Rl = is R4.

Similarly, the potential drop between the points a and d is given by

i l ( R 1 R 2 ) = i4(R4 + R5). Combining these, we get

A circuit of this type is called a wheatstone bridge which is used to

measure an unknown resistance, normally put in place of Rs.
10. If there is current i in the loop bcefb, we get, applying the loop rule,
25 - 7i - 8i - 10 = 0, i.e., i = 1 A. The poiential differences between the
points b and e, is thus 25 - 7 x 1 = 18 V. As a and b are not connected,
there is no current through the 1052 resistor. Hence, there is no voltage
drop across this resistor, and therefore, we have
&-Va=8x1+10-8=10V
e

11. When the key S is open, the part of the circuit to the ieft is ineffective.
Hence it is a simple RC circuit with R = R2 = 25R and C = 2pF. The
C. When the
final charge on the capacitor is therefore, VC = 40 x
key S is closed, the part of the circuit to the left becomes effective and
redistribution of charges take place. But once the charges or1 the
capacitor stabilizes, the current in the arm containing the capnc.itor is
zero. However, there will be a current in rest of the circuit as there is a
net voltage due to the emf. Applying loop rule to abcdefa, we get
i(10 5) - 5 = 20, which gives i = 1 A. The potential difference he
between b and e is therefore given by %, = fi - iR2 = 20 - 10 = 10V.
The new charge on the capacitor is 20 x
C.

12. The total current in the circuit is 15/(9 1) = 1.5 A. The rate of ene
transfer within the battery as given by Eqn.(6.21) is 15 x 1.5 = 22.5
Power consumed by the internal resistance = 1.5 x 1.5 x 1 = 2.25W.
Power consumed by the external resistance = 1.5 x 1.5 x 9 = 20.25W.

SUGGESTED FURTHER READINGS

Mahajan, A. S. and Rangwala, A. A., Electricity and Magnetism
1993 , Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New Delhi.

Purcell, E. M., Berkeley Physics Course, Vo1.2. International Student

Edn. 1985 McGraw-Hill Book Co. Singapore
P

Halliday, D. and Resnick, R., Fundamentals of Physics, Third Extended

Edn., John Wiley, New York, 1988.
Plonsey, R. and Collin, R. E., Principles and Applications of
Electromagnetic Fields. Tata McGraw-Hi9 Publishing Company, New
Delhi.