Ohms Law and Power

Ohms Law and Power

The relationship between Voltage, Current and Resistance in any DC electrical circuit was
firstly discovered by the German physicist Georg Ohm.
Georg Ohm found that, at a constant temperature, the electrical current flowing through a
fixed linear resistance is directly proportional to the voltage applied across it, and also
inversely proportional to the resistance. This relationship between the Voltage, Current and
Resistance forms the basis of Ohms Law and is shown below.
Ohms Law Relationship
The three basic principles for this tutorial can be explained using electrons, or more
specifically, the charge they create:

Voltage is the difference in charge between two points.

Current is the rate at which charge is flowing.

Resistance is a material’s tendency to resist the flow of charge (current).
So, when we talk about these values, we’re really describing the movement of charge, and
thus, the behavior of electrons. A circuit is a closed loop that allows charge to move from
one place to another. Components in the circuit allow us to control this charge and use it to
do work.
Georg Ohm was a Bavarian scientist who studied electricity. Ohm starts by describing a unit
of resistance that is defined by current and voltage. So, let’s start with voltage and go from
there.
By knowing any two values of the Voltage, Current or Resistance quantities we can use
Ohms Law to find the third missing value. Ohms Law is used extensively in electronics
formulas and calculations so it is “very important to understand and accurately remember
these formulas”.
To find the Voltage, ( V )
[V=IxR] V (volts) = I (amps) x R (Ω)
To find the Current, ( I )
[I=V÷R] I (amps) = V (volts) ÷ R (Ω)
To find the Resistance, ( R )
[R=V÷I] R (Ω) = V (volts) ÷ I (amps)
It is sometimes easier to remember this Ohms law relationship by using pictures. Here the
three quantities of V, I and R have been superimposed into a triangle (affectionately called
the Ohms Law Triangle) giving voltage at the top with current and resistance below. This
arrangement represents the actual position of each quantity within the Ohms law formulas.
Ohms Law Triangle

Transposing the standard Ohms Law equation above will give us the following
combinations of the same equation:

Then by using Ohms Law we can see that a voltage of 1V applied to a resistor of 1Ω will
cause a current of 1A to flow and the greater the resistance value, the less current that will
flow for a given applied voltage.
Any Electrical device or component that obeys “Ohms Law” that is, the current flowing
through it is proportional to the voltage across it ( I α V ), such as resistors or cables, are
said to be “Ohmic” in nature, and devices that do not, such as transistors or diodes, are
said to be “Non-ohmic” devices.
Voltage
We define voltage as the amount of potential energy between two points on a circuit. One
point has more charge than another. This difference in charge between the two points is
called voltage. It is measured in volts, which, technically, is the potential energy difference
between two points that will impart one joule of energy per coulomb of charge that passes
through it. The unit “volt” is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta who
invented what is considered the first chemical battery. Voltage is represented in equations
and schematics by the letter “V”.
When describing voltage, current, and resistance, a common analogy is a water tank. In this
analogy, charge is represented by the water amount, voltage is represented by the water
pressure, and current is represented by the water flow. So for this analogy, remember:
The pressure at the end of the hose can represent voltage. The water in the tank represents
charge. The more water in the tank, the higher the charge, the more pressure is measured at
the end of the hose.
We can think of this tank as a battery, a place where we store a certain amount of energy
and then release it. If we drain our tank a certain amount, the pressure created at the end of
the hose goes down. We can think of this as decreasing voltage, like when a flashlight gets
dimmer as the batteries run down. There is also a decrease in the amount of water that
will
flow through the hose. Less pressure means less water is flowing, which brings us to
current.
Current
We can think of the amount of water flowing through the hose from the tank as current. The
higher the pressure, the higher the flow, and vice-versa. With water, we would measure the
volume of the water flowing through the hose over a certain period of time. With electricity,
we measure the amount of charge flowing through the circuit over a period of time. Current
is measured in Amperes (usually just referred to as “Amps”). An ampere is defined as
6.241*1018 electrons (1 Coulomb) per second passing through a point in a circuit. Amps are
represented in equations by the letter “I”.
Let’s say now that we have two tanks, each with a hose coming from the bottom. Each tank
has the exact same amount of water, but the hose on one tank is narrower than the hose on
the other.
We measure the same amount of pressure at the end of either hose, but when the water
begins to flow, the flow rate of the water in the tank with the narrower hose will be less than
the flow rate of the water in the tank with the wider hose. In electrical terms, the current
through the narrower hose is less than the current through the wider hose. If we want the
flow to be the same through both hoses, we have to increase the amount of water (charge) in
the tank with the narrower hose.
This increases the pressure (voltage) at the end of the narrower hose, pushing more water
through the tank. This is analogous to an increase in voltage that causes an increase in
current.
Now we’re starting to see the relationship between voltage and current. But there is a third
factor to be considered here: the width of the hose. In this analogy, the width of the hose
is the resistance. This means we need to add another term to our model:

Water = Charge (measured in Coulombs)

Pressure = Voltage (measured in Volts)
 
Flow = Current (measured in Amperes, or “Amps” for short)

Hose Width = Resistance
Resistance
Consider again our two water tanks, one with a narrow pipe and one with a wide pipe.

It stands to reason that we can’t fit as much volume through a narrow pipe than a wider one
at the same pressure. This is resistance. The narrow pipe “resists” the flow of water through
it even though the water is at the same pressure as the tank with the wider pipe.
In electrical terms, this is represented by two circuits with equal voltages and different
resistances. The circuit with the higher resistance will allow less charge to flow, meaning
the circuit with higher resistance has less current flowing through it.
This brings us back to Georg Ohm. Ohm defines the unit of resistance of “1 Ohm” as the
resistance between two points in a conductor where the application of 1 volt will push 1
ampere, or 6.241×1018 electrons. This value is usually represented in schematics with the
greek letter “Ω”, which is called omega, and pronounced “ohm”.
Ohm's Law
Combining the elements of voltage, current, and resistance, Ohm developed the formula:
Where

V = Voltage in volts

I = Current in amps

R = Resistance in ohms
This is called Ohm’s law. Let’s say, for example, that we have a circuit with the potential of
1 volt, a current of 1 amp, and resistance of 1 ohm. Using Ohm’s Law we can say:

Let’s say this represents our tank with a wide hose. The amount of water in the tank is
defined as 1 volt and the “narrowness” (resistance to flow) of the hose is defined as 1 ohm.
Using Ohms Law, this gives us a flow (current) of 1 amp.
Using this analogy, let’s now look at the tank with the narrow hose. Because the hose is
narrower, its resistance to flow is higher. Let’s define this resistance as 2 ohms. The amount
of water in the tank is the same as the other tank, so, using Ohm’s Law, our equation for the
tank with the narrow hose is
But what is the current? Because the resistance is greater, and the voltage is the same, this
gives us a current value of 0.5 amps:

So, the current is lower in the tank with higher resistance. Now we can see that if we know
two of the values for Ohm’s law, we can solve for the third. Let’s demonstrate this with an
experiment.
An Ohm's Law Experiment
For this experiment, we want to use a 9 volt battery to power an LED. LEDs are fragile and
can only have a certain amount of current flowing through them before they burn out. In the
documentation for an LED, there will always be a “current rating”. This is the maximum
amount of current that can flow through the particular LED before it burns out.
Materials Required
In order to perform the experiments listed at the end of the tutorial, you will need:

A multimeter

A 9-Volt battery

A 560-Ohm resistor(or the next closest value)

LED
NOTE: LEDs are what’s known as a “non-ohmic” devices. This means that the equation for
the current flowing through the LED itself is not as simple as V=IR. The LED introduces
something called a “voltage drop” into the circuit, thus changing the amount of current
running through it. However, in this experiment we are simply trying to protect the LED
from over-current, so we will neglect the current characteristics of the LED and choose the
resistor value using Ohm’s Law in order to be sure that the current through the LED is
safely under 20mA.
For this example, we have a 9 volt battery and a red LED with a current rating of 20
milliamps, or 0.020 amps. To be safe, we’d rather not drive the LED at its maximum current
but rather its suggested current, which is listed on its datasheet as 18mA, or 0.018 amps. If
we simply connect the LED directly to the battery, the values for Ohm’s law look like this:

therefore:

and since we have no resistance yet:

Dividing by zero gives us infinite current! Well, not infinite in practice, but as much current
as the battery can deliver. Since we do NOT want that much current flowing through our
LED, we’re going to need a resistor. Our circuit should look like this:
We can use Ohm’s Law in the exact same way to determine the reistor value that will give
us the desired current value:

therefore:

plugging in our values:

solving for resistance:

So, we need a resistor value of around 500 ohms to keep the current through the LED under
the maximum current rating.

500 ohms is not a common value for off-the-shelf resistors, so this device uses a 560 ohm
resistor in its place. Here’s what our device looks like all put together.
Success! We’ve chosen a resistor value that is high enough to keep the current through the
LED below its maximum rating, but low enough that the current is sufficient to keep the
LED nice and bright.
This LED/current-limiting resistor example is a common occurrence in hobby electronics.
You’ll often need to use Ohm’s Law to change the amount of current flowing through the
circuit. Another example of this implementation is seen in the LilyPad LED boards.
With this setup, instead of having to choose the resistor for the LED, the resistor is already
on-board with the LED so the current-limiting is accomplished without having to add a
resistor by hand.
Current Limiting Before or After the LED?
To make things a little more complicated, you can place the current limiting resistor on
either side of the LED, and it will work just the same!
Many folks learning electronics for the first time struggle with the idea that a current
limiting resistor can live on either side of the LED and the circuit will still function as usual.
Imagine a river in a continuous loop, an infinite, circular, flowing river. If we were to place
a dam in it, the entire river would stop flowing, not just one side. Now imagine we place a
water wheel in the river which slows the flow of the river. It wouldn’t matter where in the
circle the water wheel is placed, it will still slow the flow on the entire river.
This is an oversimplification, as the current limiting resistor cannot be placed anywhere in
the circuit; it can be placed on either side of the LED to perform its function.
Electrical Power in Circuits
Electrical Power, ( P ) in a circuit is the rate at which energy is absorbed or produced within
a circuit. A source of energy such as a voltage will produce or deliver power while the
connected load absorbs it. Light bulbs and heaters for example, absorb electrical power and
convert it into either heat, or light, or both. The higher their value or rating in watts the more
electrical power they are likely to consume.
The quantity symbol for power is P and is the product of voltage multiplied by the current
with the unit of measurement being the Watt ( W ). Prefixes are used to denote the various
multiples or sub-multiples of a watt, such as: milliwatts (mW = 10-3W) or kilowatts (kW =
103W).
Then by using Ohm’s law and substituting for the values of V, I and R the formula for
electrical power can be found as:
To find the Power (P)
[P=VxI] P (watts) = V (volts) x I (amps)
Also,
[ P = V2 ÷ R ] P (watts) = V2 (volts) ÷ R (Ω)
Also,
[ P = I2 x R ] P (watts) = I2 (amps) x R (Ω)
Again, the three quantities have been superimposed into a triangle this time called a Power
Triangle with power at the top and current and voltage at the bottom. Again, this
arrangement represents the actual position of each quantity within the Ohms law power
formulas.
The Power Triangle

and again, transposing the basic Ohms Law equation above for power gives us the following
combinations of the same equation to find the various individual quantities:

So we can see that there are three possible formulas for calculating electrical power in a
circuit. If the calculated power is positive, (+P) in value for any formula the
component
absorbs the power, that is it is consuming or using power. But if the calculated power is
negative, (-P) in value the component produces or generates power, in other words it is a
source of electrical power such as batteries and generators.
Electrical Power Rating
Electrical components are given a “power rating” in watts that indicates the maximum rate
at which the component converts the electrical power into other forms of energy such as
heat, light or motion. For example, a 1/4W resistor, a 100W light bulb etc.
Electrical devices convert one form of power into another. So for example, an electrical
motor will covert electrical energy into a mechanical force, while an electrical generator
converts mechanical force into electrical energy. A light bulb converts electrical energy into
both light and heat.
Also, we now know that the unit of power is the WATT, but some electrical devices such as
electric motors have a power rating in the old measurement of “Horsepower” or hp. The
relationship between horsepower and watts is given as: 1hp = 746W. So for example, a two-
horsepower motor has a rating of 1492W, (2 x 746) or 1.5kW.
Ohms Law Pie Chart
To help us understand the the relationship between the various values a little further, we can
take all of the Ohm’s Law equations from above for finding Voltage, Current, Resistance
and of course Power and condense them into a simple Ohms Law pie chart for use in AC
and DC circuits and calculations as shown.
Ohms Law Pie Chart

As well as using the Ohm’s Law Pie Chart shown above, we can also put the individual
Ohm’s Law equations into a simple matrix table as shown for easy reference when
calculating an unknown value.
Ohms Law Matrix Table
Ohms Law Example No1
For the circuit shown below find the Voltage (V), the Current (I), the Resistance (R) and the
Power (P).

Voltage [ V = I x R ] = 2 x 12Ω = 24V

[ I = V ÷ R ] = 24 ÷ 12Ω =
Resistance
Current 2A[ R = V ÷ I ] = 24 ÷ 2 = 12 Ω
Power [ P = V x I ] = 24 x 2 = 48W
Power within an electrical circuit is only present when BOTH voltage and current are
present. For example, in an open-circuit condition, voltage is present but there is no current
flow I = 0 (zero), therefore V x 0 is 0 so the power dissipated within the circuit must also be
0. Likewise, if we have a short-circuit condition, current flow is present but there is no
voltage V = 0, therefore 0 x I = 0 so again the power dissipated within the circuit is 0.
As electrical power is the product of V x I, the power dissipated in a circuit is the same
whether the circuit contains high voltage and low current or low voltage and high current
flow. Generally, electrical power is dissipated in the form of Heat (heaters), Mechanical
Work such as motors, Energy in the form of radiated (Lamps) or as stored energy
(Batteries).
Electrical Energy in Circuits
Electrical Energy is the capacity to do work, and the unit of work or energy is the joule
( J ). Electrical energy is the product of power multiplied by the length of time it was
consumed. So if we know how much power, in Watts is being consumed and the time, in
seconds for which it is used, we can find the total energy used in watt-seconds. In other
words, Energy = power x time and Power = voltage x current. Therefore electrical power is
related to energy and the unit given for electrical energy is the watt-seconds or joules.

Electrical power can also be defined as the rate of by which energy is transferred. If one
joule of work is either absorbed or delivered at a constant rate of one second, then the
corresponding power will be equivalent to one watt so power can be defined as “1Joule/sec
= 1Watt”. Then we can say that one watt is equal to one joule per second and electrical
power can be defined as the rate of doing work or the transferring of energy.
Electrical Power and Energy Triangle

or to find the various individual quantities:

We said previously that electrical energy is define as being watts per second or joules.
Although electrical energy is measured in Joules it can become a very large value when
used to calculate the energy consumed by a component.
For example, if a 100 watt light bulb is left-“ON” for 24 hours, the energy consumed will be
8,640,000 Joules (100W x 86,400 seconds), so prefixes such as kilojoules (kJ = 103J) or
megajoules (MJ = 106J) are used instead and in this simple example, the energy consumed
will be 8.64MJ (mega-joules).
But dealing with joules, kilojoules or megajoules to express electrical energy, the maths
involved can end up with some big numbers and lots of zero’s, so it is much more easier to
express electrical energy consumed in Kilowatt-hours.
If the electrical power consumed (or generated) is measured in watts or kilowatts (thousands
of watts) and the time is measure in hours not seconds, then the unit of electrical energy
will be the kilowatt-hours,(kWhr). Then our 100 watt light bulb above will consume 2,400
watt hours or 2.4kWhr, which is much easier to understand the 8,640,000 joules.
1 kWhr is the amount of electricity used by a device rated at 1000 watts in one hour and is
commonly called a “Unit of Electricity”. This is what is measured by the utility meter and is
what we as consumers purchase from our electricity suppliers when we receive our bills.
Kilowatt-hours are the standard units of energy used by the electricity meter in our homes to
calculate the amount of electrical energy we use and therefore how much we pay.
So if you switch ON an electric fire with a heating element rated at 1000 watts and left it on
for 1 hour you will have consumed 1 kWhr of electricity. If you switched on two electric
fires each with 1000 watt elements for half an hour the total consumption would be exactly
the same amount of electricity – 1kWhr.
So, consuming 1000 watts for one hour uses the same amount of power as 2000 watts (twice
as much) for half an hour (half the time). Then for a 100 watt light bulb to use 1 kWhr or
one unit of electrical energy it would need to be switched on for a total of 10 hours (10 x
100 = 1000 = 1kWhr).
Now that we know what is the relationship between voltage, current and resistance in a
circuit, in the next tutorial relating to DC Circuits, we will look at the Standard Electrical
Units used in electrical and electronic engineering to enable us to calculate these values and
see that each value can be represented by either multiples or sub-multiples of the standard
unit.