●​ Electricity is constituted by the flow of electric charge

○​ Extra clarity (but still simple):

○​ In metals, free electrons move.
○​ That movement of electrons = electric current (electrons).
●​ What does a switch do?
○​ A switch makes a conducting link between the cell and the bulb.
●​ A continuous and closed path of an electric current is called an electric
circuit.
○​ Electric current is expressed by the amount of charge flowing
through a particular area in unit time aka it is the rate of flow of
electric charges.
●​ In circuits using metallic wires, electrons constitute the flow of charges.
●​ In an electric circuit the direction of electric current is taken as opposite to
the direction of the flow of electrons, which are negative charges.
○​ Electrons flow from the negative terminal to the positive terminal of a
battery.
○​ But by convention, we define the direction of electric current as the
direction a positive charge would move.
○​ So the current direction is opposite to the flow of electrons.
●​ If a net charge Q, flows across any cross-section of a conductor in time t,
then the current I, through the cross-section is
○​ I = Q
○​ T
●​ One ampere is constituted by the flow of one coulomb of charge per
second.
●​ difference of electric pressure – called the potential difference
○​ electric potential difference between two points in an electric circuit
carrying some current as the work done to move a unit charge from
one point to the other
○​ Potential difference (V) between two points = Work done (W)/Charge
(Q)
■​ V = W/Q
●​ One volt is the potential difference between two points in a current
carrying conductor when 1 joule of work work is done to move a charge of 1
coulomb from one point to the other.
●​ The potential difference is measured by means of an instrument called
●​ the voltmeter
○​ The voltmeter is always connected in parallel across the points
between which the potential difference is to be measured.
●​ V/I is a constant ratio.
●​ The potential difference across the ends of a given metallic wire in
an electric circuit is directly proportional to the current flowing
through it, provided its temperature remains the same.
○​ V ∝ I
○​ or
○​ V/I = constant
○​ = R
○​ V = IR
●​ Resistance- It is the property of a conductor to resist the flow of
charges through it.
○​ Its SI unit is ohm, represented by the Greek letter Ω. According
to Ohm’s law,
○​ R = V/I
●​ If the potential difference across the two ends of a conductor is 1 V
●​ and the current through it is 1 A, then the resistance R, of the
conductor is 1 Ω. That is,
●​ 1 ohm = 1 volt
●​ 1 ampere
●​ The current through a resistor is inversely proportional to its
resistance. If the resistance is doubled the current gets halved.
●​ A component used to regulate current without changing the voltage
source is called variable resistance.
○​ In an electric circuit, a device called rheostat is often used to
change the resistance in the circuit.
●​ Certain components offer an easy path for the flow of electric
current while the others resist the flow.
●​ motion of electrons in an electric circuit constitutes an electric
current. The electrons, however, are not completely free to move
within a conductor. They are restrained by the attraction of the
atoms among which they move.
○​ Thus, motion of electrons through a conductor is retarded by
its resistance.
○​ A component of a given size that offers a low resistance is a
good conductor.
○​ A conductor having some appreciable resistance is called a
resistor.
○​ A component of identical size that offers a
○​ higher resistance is a poor conductor.
○​ An insulator of the same size offers even higher resistance.
●​ If the wire or bulb gets hot, its resistance increases.
●​ Resistance is directly proportional to length (R ∝ L)
●​ Resistance is inversely proportional to the area of cross-section
○​ electric current decreases with increase in length
○​ increases with increase in cross-sectional area
○​ and depends on the material of the conductor.
●​ Rho is the constant of proportionality
●​ It is a characteristic property of the material.
●​ The metals and alloys have very low resistivity in the range of
10-8 Ω m to 10-6 Ω m. They are good conductors of electricity.
Insulators like rubber and glass have
●​ resistivity of the order of 1012 to 1017 Ω m. Both the resistance
and resistivity of a material vary with temperature.
●​ Resistivity of an alloy is generally higher than that of its constituent
metals. Alloys do not oxidise (burn) readily at high temperatures. For
this reason, they are commonly used in electrical heating devices, like
electric iron, toasters etc.
○​ Tungsten is used almost exclusively for filaments of electric
bulbs, whereas copper and aluminium are generally used for
electrical transmission lines.
●​ The ammeter is the same, independent of its position in the electric
circuit. It means that in a series combination of resistors the current
is the same in every part of the circuit or the same current through
each resistor.
●​ Series:
 ○​ Current is CONSTANT: The same amount of "traffic" flows
through every resistor.
○​ Voltage is DIVIDED: Each resistor takes a "bite" out of the total
voltage.
○​ series circuit the current is constant throughout the electric
circuit.
○​
■​ Total= V1 + V2+V3
●​ Parallel:
○​ Voltage is CONSTANT: Every resistor is connected directly to
the same battery terminals, so they all feel the same
"pressure."
○​ Current is DIVIDED: The current reaches a junction and splits
up; more current goes through the path of least resistance.
■​ Total= I1 + I2 + I3
●​ Why series sucks and parallel better
●​ Series:
○​ The same current flows through all appliances, so
devices requiring different currents cannot operate
properly.
○​ If one component fails, the circuit breaks and all
appliances stop working.
○​ Appliances cannot be controlled independently using
separate switches.
○​ The total resistance is high, so less current is available
for devices.
●​ Parallel:
■​ Each appliance gets the same voltage as the power
supply, so devices with different current requirements
work properly.
■​ If one appliance fails, others continue to work since the
circuit is not broken.
■​ Each appliance can be switched on or off
independently.
■​ The total resistance decreases, allowing sufficient
current to be drawn from the battery.
●​ a battery or a cell is a source of electrical energy.
●​ Energy is used to do work and rest is wasted as heat because
○​ Wires and parts have resistance.
○​ Current fighting resistance = heat produced
○​ This is known as the heating
○​ effect of electric current. This effect is utilised in devices such
as electric heater, electric iron etc.
●​ Joule’s law of heating.
 ○​ (i) directly proportional to the square of current for a given
resistance
○​ (ii) directly proportional to resistance for a given current,
○​ iii) directly proportional to the time for which the current flows
○​ through the resistor.
●​ Heating effect is used for:
○​ The electric laundry iron, electric toaster, electric oven,
electric kettle and electric heater are some of the familiar
devices based on Joule’s heating.
●​ The electric heating is also used to produce light, so an electric bulb
works on the Joule’s law of heating
○​ When current flows through the thin filament, it gets extremely
hot.
○​ Because it’s so hot, the filament glows and gives light.
○​ Why Tungsten? Tungsten has a very high melting point
(~3380°C), so it does not melt even when red-hot.
○​ It’s also strong, so it can be made very thin.
●​ Why nitrogen/argon gas inside the bulb?
○​ These gases are chemically inactive.
○​ They prevent the filament from burning and increase its life.
■​ Most electrical energy in a bulb is converted into heat.
■​ Only a small part becomes light (that’s why bulbs aren’t
very efficient).
●​ Fuse:
○​ It protects circuits and appliances by stopping the flow of any
unduly high electric current.
○​ It consists of a piece of wire made of a metal or an alloy of
appropriate melting point, for example aluminium, copper,
iron, lead etc. If a current larger than the specified value flows
through the circuit, the temperature of the fuse wire increases.
This melts the fuse wire and breaks the circuit.
●​ The fuse wire is usually encased in a cartridge of porcelain or similar
material with metal ends.
○​ Porcelain does not burn
○​ It safely contains heat when the fuse melts

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●​ The rate of doing work is power. This is also the rate of consumption
of energy.
●​ P = VI
●​ Or P = I2R = V2
●​ R
●​ The SI unit of electric power is watt (W).
 ●​ It is the power consumed by a device that carries 1 A of current
when operated at a potential difference of 1 V. Thus,
●​ 1 W = 1 volt × 1 ampere = 1 V A
●​ Watt → kilowatt
○​ 1 kW h = 1000 watt × 3600 second
○​ = 3.6 × 106 watt second
○​ = 3.6 × 106 joule (J)

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●​ Equivalent resistance = the single resistance that can replace a

whole circuit without changing how current flows
●​ Equivalent resistance: It’s the total resistance of a combination
of resistors.
●​ Why do we use it?
○​ To make calculations easy :)
○​ To treat many resistors as one
●​ Rules

➡️
○​ Series: Req = R1 + R2 +R3
■​ Resistance increases
○​ Parallel: 1 = 1 + 1 + 1

➡️
○​ Req R1 R2 R3
■​ Resistance decreases