Electricity & Electric Current

By
USMAN SHEHZAIB
(Superior University LAHORE)
 Electricity

• Electric Charge
• Atoms and Ions
• Coulomb’s Law
• Electric Field
• Electric Field Lines
• Potential Difference

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 Electric Charge
• like mass, is one of the basic properties of certain
elementary particles of which all matter is composed.
• There are two kinds of charge, positive charge and
negative charge.
• The positive charge in ordinary matter is carried by
protons, the negative charge by electrons.
• Charges of the same sign repel each other, charges of
opposite sign attract each other.

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 Electric Charge(Cont)
• The unit of charge is the coulomb (C). The charge of the proton is
+1.6 . 10−19 C, and the charge of the electron is −1.6 . 10−19 C.
• net electric charge in an isolated system always remains constant.
• When matter is created from energy, equal amounts of positive
and negative charge always
come into being, and when matter is converted to energy, equal
amounts of positive and negative charge disappear.

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 Atoms and Ions

• An atom of any element consists of a small,

positively charged nucleus with a number of
electrons some distance away. The nucleus is
composed of protons The number of protons in
the nucleus is normally equal to the number of
electrons around it, so the atom as a whole is
electrically neutral.

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 Atoms and Ions(Cont)

• Under certain circumstances, an atom may lose one or

more electrons and become a positive ion or it may gain
one or more electrons and become a negative ion.
• Many solids consist of positive and negative ions rather
than of atoms or molecules.
• An example is ordinary table salt, which is made up of
positive sodium ions (Na+) and negative chlorine ions
(Cl−).

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Coulomb’s Law

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 Permittivity

• is a physical quantity that describes how an

electric field affects, and is affected by a dielectric
medium, and is determined by the ability of a
material to polarize in response to the field, and
thereby reduce the total electric field inside the
material. Thus, permittivity relates to a material's
ability to transmit (or "permit") an electric field.

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 Permittivity

• It is directly related to electric susceptibility

. For example, in a capacitor, an increased
permittivity allows the same charge to be
stored with a smaller electric field (and
thus a smaller voltage), leading to an
increased capacitance.

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Problem

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 Atoms and Ions

• An atom of any element consists of a small, positively

charged nucleus with a number of electrons some
distance away. The nucleus is composed of protons
The number of protons in the nucleus is normally equal
to the number of electrons around it, so the atom as a
whole is electrically neutral.
• The forces between atoms that hold them together

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Electric Field

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Electric Field Lines

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Problem

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Electric Field

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 Potential Difference
The potential difference V between two points in an
electric field is the amount of work needed to take
a charge of 1 C from one of the points to
the other. Thus

V=W/q

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Potential Difference

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 Electric Current

• Electric Current
• Ohm’s Law
• Resistivity
• Electric Power

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 Electric Current
• A flow of charge from one place to another
constitutes an electric current. An electric circuit
is a closed path in which an electric current
carries energy from a source (such as a battery
or generator), to a load (such as a motor or a
lamp).

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 Electric Current(cont)
• Aconductor is a substance through which charge
can flow easily, and an insulator is one through
which charge can flow only with great difficulty.
• Metals, many liquids, and plasmas (gases
whose molecules are charged) are conductors;
nonmetallic solids, certain liquids, and gases
whose molecules are electrically neutral are
insulators.

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 Electric Current(cont)
• Electric currents in metal wires always consist of
flows of electrons; such currents are assumed to
occur in the direction opposite to that in which the
electrons move. Since a positive charge going
one way is, for most purposes, equivalent to a
negative charge going the other way, this
assumption makes no practical difference. Both
positive and negative charges move when a
current is present in a liquid or gaseous
conductor.
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Electric Current

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 Electric Current

• Electric currents in metal wires always consist of

flows of electrons; such currents are assumed to
occur in the direction opposite to that in which the
electrons move. Since a positive charge going
one way is, for most purposes, equivalent to a
negative charge going the other way, this
assumption makes no practical difference. Both
positive and negative charges move when a
current is present in a liquid or gaseous
conductor.
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 Ohm’s Law

• For a current to exist in a conductor, there must

be a potential difference between its ends, just
as a difference in height between source and
outlet is necessary for a river current to exist. In
the case of a metallic conductor, the current is
proportional to the applied potential difference:
• Doubling V causes I to double, tripling V causes
I to triple, and so forth. This relationship is
known as Ohm’s law

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Ohm’s Law

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Problem

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 Ohm’s Law

• For a current to exist in a conductor, there must

be a potential difference between its ends, just
as a difference in height between source and
outlet is necessary for a river current to exist. In
the case of a metallic conductor, the current is
proportional to the applied potential difference:
• Doubling V causes I to double, tripling V causes
I to triple, and so forth. This relationship is
known as Ohm’s law

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 Ohm’s Law

• For a current to exist in a conductor, there must

be a potential difference between its ends, just
as a difference in height between source and
outlet is necessary for a river current to exist. In
the case of a metallic conductor, the current is
proportional to the applied potential difference:
• Doubling V causes I to double, tripling V causes
I to triple, and so forth. This relationship is
known as Ohm’s law

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 Resistivity

• Resistivity
A
 ρ=R Independent of
L sample geometry

 SI units Ω-m

Thur. Oct. 9, Physics 208 Lecture 12 29

2007
Resistivity

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Electric Power

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Problem

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Table

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