# 9.1 Current (new)  (Page 4/7)

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## Making connections: take-home investigation—filament observations

Find a lightbulb with a filament. Look carefully at the filament and describe its structure. To what points is the filament connected?

Note that simple drift velocity is not the entire story. The speed of an electron is much greater than its drift velocity. In addition, not all of the electrons in a conductor can move freely, and those that do might move somewhat faster or slower than the drift velocity. So what do we mean by free electrons? Atoms in a metallic conductor are packed in the form of a lattice structure. Some electrons are far enough away from the atomic nuclei that they do not experience the attraction of the nuclei as much as the inner electrons do. These are the free electrons. They are not bound to a single atom but can instead move freely among the atoms in a “sea” of electrons. These free electrons respond by accelerating when an electric field is applied. Of course as they move they collide with the atoms in the lattice and other electrons, generating thermal energy, and the conductor gets warmer. In an insulator, the organization of the atoms and the structure do not allow for such free electrons.

## Section summary

• Electric current $I$ is the rate at which charge flows, given by
$I=\frac{\Delta Q}{\Delta t}\text{,}$
where $\Delta Q$ is the amount of charge passing through an area in time $\Delta t$ .
• The direction of conventional current is taken as the direction in which positive charge moves.
• The SI unit for current is the ampere (A), where $\text{1 A}=\text{1 C/s.}$
• Current is the flow of free charges, such as electrons and ions.
• Drift velocity ${v}_{\text{d}}$ is the average speed at which these charges move.
• Electrical signals travel at speeds about ${\text{10}}^{\text{12}}$ times greater than the drift velocity of free electrons.

## Conceptual questions

Can a wire carry a current and still be neutral—that is, have a total charge of zero? Explain.

Car batteries are rated in ampere-hours ( $\text{A}\cdot \text{h}$ ). To what physical quantity do ampere-hours correspond (voltage, charge, . . .), and what relationship do ampere-hours have to energy content?

Why are two conducting paths from a voltage source to an electrical device needed to operate the device?

In cars, one battery terminal is connected to the metal body. How does this allow a single wire to supply current to electrical devices rather than two wires?

Why isn’t a bird sitting on a high-voltage power line electrocuted? Contrast this with the situation in which a large bird hits two wires simultaneously with its wings.

## Problems&Exercises

What is the current in milliamperes produced by the solar cells of a pocket calculator through which 4.00 C of charge passes in 4.00 h?

0.278 mA

A total of 600 C of charge passes through a flashlight in 0.500 h. What is the average current?

What is the current when a typical static charge of $0\text{.}\text{250}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\mu \text{C}$ moves from your finger to a metal doorknob in $1.00\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\mu \text{s}$ ?

0.250 A

Find the current when 2.00 nC jumps between your comb and hair over a $0\text{.}\text{500 -}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\mu \text{s}$ time interval.

A large lightning bolt had a 20,000-A current and moved 30.0 C of charge. What was its duration?

1.50ms

The 200-A current through a spark plug moves 0.300 mC of charge. How long does the spark last?

(a) A defibrillator sends a 6.00-A current through the chest of a patient by applying a 10,000-V potential as in the figure below. What is the resistance of the path? (b) The defibrillator paddles make contact with the patient through a conducting gel that greatly reduces the path resistance. Discuss the difficulties that would ensue if a larger voltage were used to produce the same current through the patient, but with the path having perhaps 50 times the resistance. (Hint: The current must be about the same, so a higher voltage would imply greater power. Use this equation for power: $P={I}^{2}R$ .)

(a) $1\text{.}\text{67}\text{k}\Omega$

(b) If a 50 times larger resistance existed, keeping the current about the same, the power would be increased by a factor of about 50 (based on the equation $P={I}^{2}R$ ), causing much more energy to be transferred to the skin, which could cause serious burns. The gel used reduces the resistance, and therefore reduces the power transferred to the skin.

During open-heart surgery, a defibrillator can be used to bring a patient out of cardiac arrest. The resistance of the path is $5\text{00 Ω}$ and a 10.0-mA current is needed. What voltage should be applied?

(a) A defibrillator passes 12.0 A of current through the torso of a person for 0.0100 s. How much charge moves? (b) How many electrons pass through the wires connected to the patient? (See figure two problems earlier.)

(a) 0.120 C

(b) $7\text{.}\text{50}×{\text{10}}^{\text{17}}\text{electrons}$

A clock battery wears out after moving 10,000 C of charge through the clock at a rate of 0.500 mA. (a) How long did the clock run? (b) How many electrons per second flowed?

The batteries of a submerged non-nuclear submarine supply 1000 A at full speed ahead. How long does it take to move Avogadro’s number ( $6\text{.}\text{02}×{\text{10}}^{\text{23}}$ ) of electrons at this rate?

96.3 s

Electron guns are used in X-ray tubes. The electrons are accelerated through a relatively large voltage and directed onto a metal target, producing X-rays. (a) How many electrons per second strike the target if the current is 0.500 mA? (b) What charge strikes the target in 0.750 s?

A large cyclotron directs a beam of ${\text{He}}^{\text{++}}$ nuclei onto a target with a beam current of 0.250 mA. (a) How many ${\text{He}}^{\text{++}}$ nuclei per second is this? (b) How long does it take for 1.00 C to strike the target? (c) How long before 1.00 mol of ${\text{He}}^{\text{++}}$ nuclei strike the target?

(a) ${7.81 × 10}^{\text{14}}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}{\text{He}}^{\text{++}}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\text{nuclei/s}$

(b) ${4.00 × 10}^{\text{3}}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\text{s}$

(c) ${7.71 × 10}^{\text{8}}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\text{s}$

what is flux
Total number of field lines crossing the surface area
Kamru
Basically flux in general is amount of anything...In Electricity and Magnetism it is the total no..of electric field lines or Magnetic field lines passing normally through the suface
prince
what is temperature change
Celine
a bottle of soft drink was removed from refrigerator and after some time, it was observed that its temperature has increased by 15 degree Celsius, what is the temperature change in degree Fahrenheit and degree Celsius
Celine
process whereby the degree of hotness of a body (or medium) changes
Salim
Q=mcΔT
Salim
where The letter "Q" is the heat transferred in an exchange in calories, "m" is the mass of the substance being heated in grams, "c" is its specific heat capacity and the static value, and "ΔT" is its change in temperature in degrees Celsius to reflect the change in temperature.
Salim
what was the temperature of the soft drink when it was removed ?
Salim
15 degree Celsius
Celine
15 degree
Celine
ok I think is just conversion
Salim
15 degree Celsius to Fahrenheit
Salim
0 degree Celsius = 32 Fahrenheit
Salim
15 degree Celsius = (15×1.8)+32 =59 Fahrenheit
Salim
I dont understand
Celine
the question said you should convert 15 degree Celsius to Fahrenheit
Salim
To convert temperatures in degrees Celsius to Fahrenheit, multiply by 1.8 (or 9/5) and add 32.
Salim
what is d final ans for Fahrenheit and Celsius
Celine
it said what is temperature change in Fahrenheit and Celsius
Celine
the 15 is already in Celsius
Salim
So the final answer for Fahrenheit is 59
Salim
what is d final ans for Fahrenheit and Celsius
Celine
what are the effects of placing a dielectric between the plates of a capacitor
increase the capacitance.
Jorge
besides increasing the capacitance, is there any?
Bundi
mechanical stiffness and small size
Jorge
why for an ideal gas internal energy is directly proportional to thermodynamics temperature?
two charged particles are 8.45cm apart. They are moved and the force on each of them is found to have tripled. How far are they now?
what is flux
Bundi
determining dimensional correctness
determine dimensional correctness of,T=2π√L/g
PATRICK
somebody help me answer the question above
PATRICK
calculate the heat flow per square meter through a mineral roll insulation 5cm thick if the temperature on the two surfaces are 30degree Celsius and 20 degree Celsius respectively. thermal conduction of mineral roll is 0.04
what are the elementary compositions of a cell?
poles, chemical
prabir
when a current pass through a material does the velocity varies
no.
prabir
what is spin entropy ?and disorder in ferromagnetic material
diagram of an hall effect sensor
if a magnetised wire having dipole moment M is bent in the form of arc subtending angle of 45°at centre,new magnetic moment is
prabir
is this book for preparing IIT or neet?
is it possible to increase the temperature of a gas without adding heat to it?
I'm not sure about it, but I think it's possible. If you add some form of energy to the system, it's a possibility. Also, if you change the pression or the volume of the system, you'll increase the kinetic energy of the system, increasing the gas temperature. I don't know if I'm correct.
playdoh
For example, if you get a syringe and close the tip(sealing the air inside), and start pumping the plunger, you'll notice that it starts getting hot. Again, I'm not sure if I am correct.
playdoh
you are right for example an adiabatic process changes all variables without external energy to yield a temperature change. (Search Otto cycle)
when a current pass through a material does the velocity varies
lovet
yes at adiabatic compression temperature increase
Nepal
how to draw a diagram of a triode
whate is fckg diagrame?
Arzoodan
why do we use integration?
To know surfaces below graphs.
Jan
To find a Primitive function. Primitive function: a function that is the origin of another
playdoh
yes
Dharmdev
what is laps rate
Dharmdev
Г=-dT/dZ that is simply defination
Arzoodan
what is z
Dharmdev
to find the area under a graph or to accumulate .e.g. sum of momentum over time is no etic energy.
Naod
Z is alt.,dZ altv difference
Arzoodan
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