# 20.2 Ohm’s law: resistance and simple circuits

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Resistances range over many orders of magnitude. Some ceramic insulators, such as those used to support power lines, have resistances of ${\text{10}}^{\text{12}}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\Omega$ or more. A dry person may have a hand-to-foot resistance of ${\text{10}}^{5}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\Omega$ , whereas the resistance of the human heart is about ${\text{10}}^{3}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\Omega$ . A meter-long piece of large-diameter copper wire may have a resistance of ${\text{10}}^{-5}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\Omega$ , and superconductors have no resistance at all (they are non-ohmic). Resistance is related to the shape of an object and the material of which it is composed, as will be seen in Resistance and Resistivity .

Additional insight is gained by solving $I=\text{V/R}$ for $V,\phantom{\rule{0.25}{0ex}}$ yielding

$V=\text{IR.}$

This expression for $V$ can be interpreted as the voltage drop across a resistor produced by the flow of current $I$ . The phrase $\text{IR}$ drop is often used for this voltage. For instance, the headlight in [link] has an $\text{IR}$ drop of 12.0 V. If voltage is measured at various points in a circuit, it will be seen to increase at the voltage source and decrease at the resistor. Voltage is similar to fluid pressure. The voltage source is like a pump, creating a pressure difference, causing current—the flow of charge. The resistor is like a pipe that reduces pressure and limits flow because of its resistance. Conservation of energy has important consequences here. The voltage source supplies energy (causing an electric field and a current), and the resistor converts it to another form (such as thermal energy). In a simple circuit (one with a single simple resistor), the voltage supplied by the source equals the voltage drop across the resistor, since $\text{PE}=q\Delta V$ , and the same $q$ flows through each. Thus the energy supplied by the voltage source and the energy converted by the resistor are equal. (See [link] .)

## Making connections: conservation of energy

In a simple electrical circuit, the sole resistor converts energy supplied by the source into another form. Conservation of energy is evidenced here by the fact that all of the energy supplied by the source is converted to another form by the resistor alone. We will find that conservation of energy has other important applications in circuits and is a powerful tool in circuit analysis.

## Phet explorations: ohm's law

See how the equation form of Ohm's law relates to a simple circuit. Adjust the voltage and resistance, and see the current change according to Ohm's law. The sizes of the symbols in the equation change to match the circuit diagram.

## Section summary

• A simple circuit is one in which there is a single voltage source and a single resistance.
• One statement of Ohm’s law gives the relationship between current $I$ , voltage $V$ , and resistance $R$ in a simple circuit to be $I=\frac{V}{R}.$
• Resistance has units of ohms ( $\text{Ω}$ ), related to volts and amperes by $1 \Omega =\text{1 V/A}$ .
• There is a voltage or $\text{IR}$ drop across a resistor, caused by the current flowing through it, given by $V=\text{IR}$ .

## Conceptual questions

The $\text{IR}$ drop across a resistor means that there is a change in potential or voltage across the resistor. Is there any change in current as it passes through a resistor? Explain.

How is the $\text{IR}$ drop in a resistor similar to the pressure drop in a fluid flowing through a pipe?

## Problems&Exercises

What current flows through the bulb of a 3.00-V flashlight when its hot resistance is $3\text{.}\text{60 Ω}$ ?

0.833 A

Calculate the effective resistance of a pocket calculator that has a 1.35-V battery and through which 0.200 mA flows.

What is the effective resistance of a car’s starter motor when 150 A flows through it as the car battery applies 11.0 V to the motor?

$7\text{.}\text{33}×{\text{10}}^{-2}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\Omega$

How many volts are supplied to operate an indicator light on a DVD player that has a resistance of $1\text{40}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\Omega$ , given that 25.0 mA passes through it?

(a) Find the voltage drop in an extension cord having a $0\text{.}\text{0600-}\Omega$ resistance and through which 5.00 A is flowing. (b) A cheaper cord utilizes thinner wire and has a resistance of $0\text{.}\text{300}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\Omega$ . What is the voltage drop in it when 5.00 A flows? (c) Why is the voltage to whatever appliance is being used reduced by this amount? What is the effect on the appliance?

(a) 0.300 V

(b) 1.50 V

(c) The voltage supplied to whatever appliance is being used is reduced because the total voltage drop from the wall to the final output of the appliance is fixed. Thus, if the voltage drop across the extension cord is large, the voltage drop across the appliance is significantly decreased, so the power output by the appliance can be significantly decreased, reducing the ability of the appliance to work properly.

A power transmission line is hung from metal towers with glass insulators having a resistance of $1\text{.}\text{00}×{\text{10}}^{9}\phantom{\rule{0.25em}{0ex}}\Omega .$ What current flows through the insulator if the voltage is 200 kV? (Some high-voltage lines are DC.)

it is a process in which electrolyte breaks down into its ions....
A ball is thrown vertically upwards so that its max height is 100m...at the same instant another ball is dropped frm 100m above the ground...where will the two balls meet and why?
50m
wenhe
why?
Blessing
Blessing
😟
Blessing
75m
S.M
how?😨
Blessing
because they approach each other at different speeds, but same acceleration, so you can calculate its height above ground.
S.M
Yeah. He's right. Your question seems very similar to a question I did in physics class, and our answer was 50.so yeah that's why I said that. But 75m is correct
wenhe
what's is waves
Waves is the disturbance of a medium such that the particles in the medium vibrate to cause the movement of energy from one point to another without the the particle itself moving.
Prince
what is the medium that light waves travel through?
Luke
and electrons, protons, neutrons and quarks for that matter?
Luke
it's spacetime that light and every other particles travel through actually
S.M
ether
Anand
for above question, i think 50m is the correct answer. the first ball will behave exactly like 2nd ball when it reaches 100m (max height).
James
From rest, a body moves with an acceleration of 8m/s in 10 secs. calculate the distance during the 8th seconds
Caleb
please use energy conservation to solve this problem. i think i have an answer but it is too long to explain here.
James
one is with some initial velocity v, while other one will start it's journey from rest, so they can't travel equal distance in equal amount of time
S.M
to be honest I knew the answer was just pointing out a flaw in above answer and light does not require a medium to travel through, this was proved in the 1887 by Michelson and Morley.
Luke
the two balls have different acceleration. the accelerations are same in magnitude but in different directions for them. so the first ball will gradually move slower and the 2nd ball will move faster.
James
u can just put 50m or 75m in equation to check whether right or not
James
the total energy of the two balls are equal, KE + PE. 1/2mv(1)^ 2 + mgh(1) = 1/2mv(2)^2 +mgh(2). use that
James
what's is electrolysis
Give an example (but not one from the text) of a device used to measure time and identify what change in that device indicates a change in time.
hour glass, pendulum clock, atomic clock?
S.M
tnks
David
A heart pumping blood would indicate a change in time as its volume or pressure changed. The ratio of displacement or change in configuration between any 2 systems can indicate time.
Khashon
how did they solve for "t" after getting 67.6=.5(Voy + 0)t
Find the following for path D in [link] : (a) The distance traveled. (b) The magnitude of the displacement from start to finish. (c) The displacement from start to finish.
the topic is kinematics
David
can i get notes of solid state physics
Lohitha
just check the chpt. 13 kinetic theory of matter it's there
David
is acceleration a fundamental unit.
no it is derived
Abdul
no
Nisha
K thanks
David
no it's not its derived
Emmanuel
hi
Hello
Emmanuel
hello
David
Hello Emmanuel
Emmanuel
I'm good
that's good
Emmanuel
how are you too
am cool
Emmanuel
spending time summarizing
Emmanuel
Emmanuel
I am fin
Longwar
ok
hi guys can you teach me how to solve a logarithm?
how about a conceptual framework can you simplify for me? needed please
Villaflor
Hello what happens when electrone stops its rotation around its nucleus if it possible how
Afzal
I think they are constantly moving
Villaflor
yep what is problem you are stuck into context?
S.M
not possible to fix electron position in space,
S.M
Physics
Beatriz
yes of course Villa flor
David
equations of kinematics for constant acceleration
A bottle full of water weighs 45g when full of mercury,it weighs 360g.if the empty bottle weighs 20g.calculate the relative density of mercury and the density of mercury....pls I need help
well You know the density of water is 1000kg/m^3.And formula for density is density=mass/volume Then we must calculate volume of bottle and mass of mercury: Volume of bottle is (45-20)/1000000=1/40000 mass of mercury is:(360-20)/1000 kg density of mercury:(340/1000):1/50000=(340•40000):1000=13600
Sobirjon
the latter is true
Sobirjon
100g of water is mixed with 60g of a liquid of relative density 1.2.assuming no changes in volume occurred,find the average relative density of the mixture...take density of water as 1g/cm3 and density of liquid 1.2g/cm3
Lila
plz hu can explain Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
who can help me with my problem about acceleration?
ok
Nicholas
how to solve this... a car is heading north then smoothly made a westward turn during the travel the speed of the car remains constant at 1.5km/h what is the acceleration of the car? the total travel time of the car as it smoothly changed its direction is 15 minutes
Vann
i think the acceleration is 0 since the car does not change its speed unless there are other conditions
Ben
yes I have to agree, the key phrase is, "the speed of the car remains constant...," all other information is not needed to conclude that acceleration remains at 0 during the entire time
Luis
who can help me with a relative density question
Lila
1cm3 sample of tin lead alloy has mass 8.5g.the relative density of tin is 7.3 and that of lead is 11.3.calculate the percentage by weight of tin in the alloy. assuming that there is no change of volume when the metals formed the alloy
Lila
So it looks like you need a formula for rotational acceleration. Are you asking about its angular acceleration?
Khashon
morning, what will happen to the volume of an ice block when heat is added from -200°c to 0°c... Will it volume increase or decrease?
no
Emmanuel
hi what is physical education?
Kate
BPED..is my course.
Kate
No
Emmanuel
I think it is neither decreases nor increases ,it remains in the same volume because of its crystal structure
Sobirjon
100g of water is mixed with 60g of a liquid of relative density 1.2.assuming no changes in volume occurred,find the average relative density of the mixture. take density of water as 1g/cm3 and density of liquid as 1.2g/cm3
Lila
Sorry what does it means"no changes in volume occured"?
Sobirjon
volume can be the amount of space occupied by an object. But when an object does not change in shape it will still occupy the same space. Thats why the volume will still remain the same
Ben
Most soilds expand when heated but if it changes state at 0C it will have less volume. Ice floats because it is less dense ie a larger mass per unit volume.
Richard
how to calculate velocity
v=d/t
Emeka
Villaflor
Villaflor
v=d/t
Nisha
hello bro hw is life with you
Mine is good. How about you?
Chase
Hi room of engineers
yes,hi sir
Okwethu
hello
akinmeji
Hello
Mishael
hello
Jerry
hi
Sakhi
hi
H.C
so, what is going on here
akinmeji
Ajayi
good morning ppl
ABDUL