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S.No. CONTEXT Pg. No.

1 Introduction 6

2 Resistance 7

3 Resistivity 8–9

4 What determines resistivity ? 10

5 Experimental procedure 11 - 17

6 Conclusion 18 - 19

7 Bibliography 20

INTRODUCTION

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Ohm’s law states that the current through a conductor between

two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the

two points. Introducing the constant of proportionality, the resistance,

one arrives at the usual mathematical equation that describes this

relationship.

I=V/R

Where, I is the current through a conductor in units of amperes, V

is the potential difference measured across the conductor in units of

volts, and & R is the resistance of the conductor in units of ohm’s. More

specifically, Ohm’s law states that the R in this relation is constant,

independent of the current

RESISTANCE

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The electrical resistance of an electrical conductor is the

opposition to the passage of an electric current through that conductor.

The inverse quantity is electrical conductance, the ease with which an

electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual

parallels with the notion of mechanical friction.

The SI unit of electrical resistance is the ohm, while electrical

conductance is measured in Siemens (S).

An object of uniform cross section has a resistance proportional to

its resistivity and length and inversely proportional to its cross-sectional

area. All materials show some resistance, except for superconductors,

which have a resistance of zero.

RESISTIVITY

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The resistance of a given wire depends primarily on two factors:

What material it is made of , and it’s shape. For a given material, the

resistance is inversely proportional to the cross-sectional area; for example,

a thick copper wire has lower resistance than an otherwise – identical thin

copper wire. Also, for a given material, the resistance is proportional to the

length; for example , a long copper wire has higher resistance than an

otherwise – identical short copper wire. The resistance R of a conductor of

uniform cross-section , therefore , can be computed as :

R=l/A

where, “L” is the length of the conductor ,measured in meter(m), “ A” is

the cross-sectional area of the conductor measured in m², “ ρ” is the

electrical resistivity (also called specific resistance) of the material ,

measured in Ω-m.

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The resistivity is the proportionality constant, and therefore

depends only on the material of the wire, not the geometry of the wire.

Resistivity and Conductivity are reciprocals :

ρ =1/
σ
Resistivity is measure of the material’s ability to oppose electric current.

WHAT DETERMINES RESISTIVITY?

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The resistivity of different materials varies by an enormous

amount: For example , the conductivity of Teflon is about 10³º times

lower than the conductivity of copper. Why is there such a difference?

Loosely speaking , a metal has large no. of “delocalized” electrons that

are not stuck in any one place, but free to move across large distances ,

whereas in an insulator (like Teflon),each electron is tightly bound to a

single molecule , and a great force is required to pull it away.

Semiconductors lie between these two extremes. Resistivity varies with

temperature.

In semiconductors, resistivity also changes when exposed to light.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

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AIM:

To find the resistivity of wires of different metals using OHM’S LAW.

APPARATUS REQUIRED :

 3 wires of metals and respective lengths.

 A battery eliminator

 d.c. Voltmeter (range 3V)

 d.c. Ammeter (range about500mA)

 A rheostat

 One plug key

 Thick connecting wires

 Sand paper

PROCEDURE:

1. Arrange the various components of the circuit accordingly with

plug out of one-way key.

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2. Rub the ends of the connecting wires with a sand paper to remove

any oxidized insulating coating. Study the circuit carefully and

make tight connections accordingly using thick connecting wires.

3. Ensure that the ammeter is connected in series with the resistance

wire with it’s positive terminal towards the positive of the

battery. Also ensure that the voltmeter is connected in parallel to

resistance coil R in such manner that the current enters at it’s

positive end.

4. Connect rheostat such that one of its lower terminals and the upper

terminals are used.

5. Insert the plug in key K.

6. Adjust the rheostat so that small current flows through the circuit.

Record the readings of the ammeter and the voltmeter.

7. Shift the rheostat contact to shift the current and take the readings

again.

8. Cut the resistance wire at the ends just coming out of voltmeter.

Stretch it along the meter scale and measure it’s length l.

9. Record your observations.

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OBSERVATION TABLES:

 IRON WIRE

CURRENT VOLTAGE RESISTENCE

150ma 0.20V 1.3 Ω

200mA 0.25V 1.001 Ω

300mA 0.30V 1Ω

 ALUMINIUM WIRE

CURRENT VOLTAGE RESISTANCE

200mA 0.10V 0.5ohm

300mA 0.20V 0.66ohm

400mA 0.30V 0.75ohm

 COPPER WIRE

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CURRENT VOLTAGE RESISTANCE

150mA 0.10V 0.5 ohm

200mA 0.20V 0.54 ohm

300mA 0.30V 0.6 ohm

CALCULATIONS:

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 For Iron wire:

Length of wire = 21cm

Thickness = 0.54×10^-2m

Area = 0.22 ×10^-6 m²

Mean resistance = (1.3+1.001+1)/3= 1.1 Ω

Resistivity = RA/L= 10.5×10^-8 Ωm

 For Aluminium wire:

Length of wire = 68cm

Thickness = 0.66×10^-2m

Area = 0.28×10^-6m²

Mean Resistance = (0.5+0.66+0.75)/3=0.63Ω

Resistivity = RA/L= 2.7×10^-8 Ωm

 For copper wire :

Length of wire = 42cm

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Thickness = 0.49×10^-2m

Area = 0.7703×10^-6m²

Mean resistance = (0.5+0.54+0.60)/3=0.54Ω

Resistivity = RA/L= 1.7×10^-8 Ωm

RESULT:

The resistivity of wires are :

1. For iron wire - 10.5 ×10^-8 Ωm

2. For aluminium wire - 2.7×10^-8 Ωm

3. For copper wire - 1.7×10^-8 Ωm

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Connections should be tight.

2. Short circuiting should be avoided.

3. The plug should be inserted only while taking observations

otherwise current would cause unnecessary heating in this

current.

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The graph between potential difference and current for a conductor is a

straight line graph.

CONCLUSION

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Ohm’s law, in the form above , is an extremely useful equation in the

field of electrical/electronic engineering because it describes how voltage ,

current and resistance are interrelated on a “macroscopic” level, that is

commonly, as circuit elements in an electrical circuit. Physicist who study

the electrical properties of matter at the microscopic level use a closely

related and more general vector equation, sometimes also referred to as

OHM’S law, having variables that are closely related to the V, I and R

scalar variables of Ohm’s law , but which are each functions of positions

within the conductor.

Physicists often use this continuum form of Ohm’s law-

E = ρJ

where “E” is the electric field vector with units of volt /meter

where “J” is the current density vector with units of amperes/unit

area “ρ” is the resistivity with units of Ω-m.

The above equations is sometimes written as J = σE where “σ” is

the conductivity which is reciprocal of “ρ”.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Physics lab manual

 NCERT Physics

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