Extension Board
Extension Board
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,
[1]
one arrives at the usual mathematical equation that describes this
relationship:[2]
The law was named after the German physicist Georg Ohm, who, in a
treatise published in 1827, described measurements of applied voltage
and current through simple electrical circuits containing various
lengths of wire. He presented a slightly more complex equation than
the one above to explain his experimental results. The above equation
is the modern form of Ohm's law.
In physics, the term Ohm's law is also used to refer to various
generalizations of the law originally formulated by Ohm. The simplest
example of this is:
Series circuits
Series circuits are sometimes called current-coupled or daisy
chain-coupled. The current in a series circuit goes through
every component in the circuit. Therefore, all of the
components in a series connection carry the same current.
There is only one path in a series circuit in which the current
can flow.
A series circuit's main disadvantage or advantage, depending
on its intended role in a product's overall design, is that
because there is only one path in which its current can flow,
opening or breaking a series circuit at any point causes the
entire circuit to "open" or stop operating. For example, if even
one of the light bulbs in an older-style string of Christmas tree
Resistors
The total resistance of resistors in series is equal to the sum of
their individual resistances:
Inductors
Inductors follow the same law, in that the total inductance of
non-coupled inductors in series is equal to the sum of their
individual inductances:
Capacitors
Capacitors follow the same law using the reciprocals. The
total capacitance of capacitors in series is equal to the
reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of their individual
capacitances:
Parallel circuits
If two or more components are connected in parallel they have
the same potential difference (voltage) across their ends. The
potential differences across the components are the same in
magnitude, and they also have identical polarities. The same
voltage is applicable to all circuit components connected in
parallel. The total current is the sum of the currents through
the individual components, in accordance with Kirchhoffs
current law.
Voltage
In a parallel circuit the voltage is the same for all elements.
Resistors
The current in each individual resistor is found by Ohm's law.
Factoring out the voltage gives
.
To find the total resistance of all components, add
the reciprocals of the resistances of each component and
.
For only two resistors, the unreciprocated expression is
reasonably simple:
.
If the inductors are situated in each other's magnetic fields,
this approach is invalid due to mutual inductance. If the
mutual inductance between two coils in parallel is M, the
equivalent inductor is:
If
Applications
Most common application of series circuit in consumer
electronics is the 9 volt block battery, the fire alarm battery,
which is internally built of six batteries, 1.5 volts each.
Series circuits were formerly used for lighting in electric
multiple unit trains. For example, if the supply voltage was
600 volts there might be eight 70-volt bulbs in series (total
560 volts) plus a resistor to drop the remaining 40 volts.
Series circuits for train lighting were superseded, first
by motor-generators, then by solid state devices.
Series resistance can also be applied to the arrangement of
blood vessels within a given organ. Each organ is supplied by
a large artery, smaller arteries, arterioles, capillaries, and veins