Physics 11: Electric Circuits – Circuits

Imagine you walk across a fuzzy carpet an touch a door knob. What happens?
Static electricity is the buildup of fixed electrical charges.. These fixed electrical charges are not the same as the
electricity that we use in everyday life, current electricity.

Current electricity is all about…

The number of charges flowing per second is defined by the specific quantity –
Current (I): I=
t=
n=
e=

However, current will not flow through a conductor unless there Consider a river. The rate of water
is flowing down the river is its __________.
(1)
(2) Note that we talk about the ________ of
water flowing, not the _________ that the
Some examples of voltage sources that we use every day individual water molecules are moving.
are:________________ and ______________________.
The same is true for electric circuits,
The current in a circuit depends on two variables where the current represents how many
electrons pass a certain point in a certain
Voltage (V): amount ______________________.

The units of voltage are __________________ ( )

These three quantities are related using
Ohm’s Law:
Resistance (R):

The units of resistance are __________________ ( )

Electric Current

Consider a circuit of a battery connected to a light bulb. Which direction does the current flow?

Unfortunately, there are __________________________to consider this.

1) Electron Flow: The direction that the electrons actually move. The electrons go from the
___________________________ to the _______________________________.

2) Conventional Current: Flow of positive charge. Positive charges flow from the
___________________________________ to the ________________________________.

In this class, unless otherwise stated, we will always use _________________________________________!!!

 Power From the definition of power and
Ohm’s Law we can derive some
We often talk about the amount of power used by different electrical formulae to describe electric power.
devices. This is often confused with voltage or energy.

Power is…

P=

I=

V=

Example: An electric fan has a resistance of 12 Ω and Example: An electric heater emits 1.00 x 102 W
requires 0.75 A of current to function properly. What when connected to a 120. V power line. What is the
voltage is required to operate the fan? resistance in the heater?

To draw the various devices that can make up electric circuits, we use on schematic diagrams that are…

Schematic Name Function There are two ways that we can attach devices
to a circuit.
(1) Series:

Ex. Draw a battery of two cells connected to

two resistors in series.

(2) Parallel:

Ex. Draw a battery of two cells connected to

two resistors in parallel.
 Measuring Voltage and Current

We can measure the voltage in a circuit using a ___________________ and the current in a circuit
using a ______________________.

We need to connect these two devices in different ways.

A voltmeter must be connected in ________________________. This is because a voltmeter measures

the voltage drop ______________ a device.

Ex.

An ammeter must be connected in _________________________. This is because an ammeter

measures the current ________________ a circuit.

Ex.

One last note…

There are two types of current. DC (__________ _______________) means it flows in one direction such as
the current from a _________________.

AC (______________ ________________) means that it alternates the direction of flow. In the case of home
electric circuits, they alternate at 60 Hz.

As fun as it sounds AC is a little advanced for us just yet so we will be sticking to DC in this course.
 Worksheet 6.1

1) A current of 3.60 A flows for 15.3 s through a conductor. Calculate the number of electrons that pass
through a point in the conductor in this time. (3.44x1020)

2) How long would it take 2.0x1020 electrons to pass through a point in a conductor if the current was 10.0 A?
(3.2 s)

3) Calculate the current if a charge of 5.60 C passes through a point in a conductor in 15.4 s. (0.364 A)

4) What is the potential difference across a conductor to produce a current of 8.00 A if there is a resistance in
the conductor of 12.0 Ω? (96 V)

5) What is the heat produced in a conductor in 25.0 s if there is a current of 11.0 A and a resistance of 7.20 Ω?
(21 800 J)

6) 150 J of heat are produced in a conductor in 5.50 s. If the current through the conductor is 10.0 A, what is
the resistance of the conductor? (0.273 Ω)

7) What is the current through a 400 W electric appliance when it is connected to a 120 V power line?
(3.33 A)

8) a. When an electric appliance is connected to a 120 V power line, there is a current through the appliance of
18.3 A. What is its resistance? (6.56 Ω)

b. What is the average amount of energy given to each electron by the power line? (1.92x10-17 J)

9) a. What potential difference is required across an electrical appliance to produce a current of 20.0 A when
there is a resistance of 6.00 Ω? (120 V)

b. How many electrons pass through the appliance every minute? (7.5x1021)

10) A student designed an experiment in order to measure the current through a resistor at different voltages.
Given the following data:
a. Draw a graph showing the relationship between current and voltage
Voltage (V) Current (I) (V vs. I)
3.0 0.151
6.0 0.310
9.0 0.448
12.0 0.511
15.0 0.750

b) Using the graph, what is the resistance of the resistor? (20.0 +/- 0.5 Ω)
 Series and Parallel Circuits Simulation

Open the PhET Simulation: Circuit Construction Kit.

(1)Cells:
Drag out three individual cells. Measure the voltage across each one individually and Cells  Voltage 
record the value. Then connect the cells in series to make a battery and record the Cell #1 
values.
Cell #2 
Describe the advantage of batteries made by cells attached in series.
Cell #3 
1+2 in 
Use some wires to attach the cells in parallel to make a battery. Measure the voltage series 
and describe the voltage across the whole battery. 1+2+3 in 
series 
Describe the advantage of batteries made by cells attached in parallel.

(2) Simple Circuit:

Construct a circuit with one 9 V cell, one switch and one light bulb
Draw a schematic.

Using a voltmeter and an ammeter, measure the voltage and current through the light bulb.
Include the meters and measurements on your schematic.
Note the brightness of the bulb.
Observe the electrons as they move through the circuit. In this simulation the light bulb has a default resistance
of 10 Ω and the wires have a resistance so low that it can be treated as 0 Ω. Do the electrons move at different
speeds when they are moving through areas of high or low resistance? Explain why or why not.

You can change both the voltage of the cell and the resistance of the light bulb by right-clicking on them. While
an ammeter is connected, manipulate either one and summarize the following relationships:
Current vs. Voltage Current vs. Resistance
(3) Series circuit: Construct a circuit with one 9 V cell, one switch and 3 light bulbs in series
Draw a schematic, including ammeters and voltmeters.
Measure V and I at each bulb
Voltage  Current 
Light Bulb 1 

Light Bulb 2 

Light Bulb 3 

Total 
(at battery) 

How does the brightness of the bulbs compare to the simple circuit?

Series Circuits General Rules:

Voltage:  Current:  Resistance: 

VT =   IT =   RT =  

(4) Parallel circuit: Construct a circuit with one 9 V cell, one switch and 3 light bulbs in parallel
Draw a schematic, including ammeters and voltmeters.
Measure V and I at each bulb
Voltage  Current 
Light Bulb 1 

Light Bulb 2 

Light Bulb 3 

Total 
(at battery) 

How does the brightness of the bulbs compare to the simple circuit?

Parallel Circuits General Rules:

Voltage:  Current:  Resistance: 

VT =   IT =   RT =  

Physics 11: Electric Circuits – Kirchhoff's Laws and Series & Parallel Circuits

We have already seen that we can connect devices to a circuit in two ways: _______________________ or
______________________.

The manner in which we attach components of a circuit can greatly affect the nature of the circuit in particular its
____________________ there are a number of laws that we must use called Kirchhoff’s Laws.

Kirchhoff’s Current Law

For a series circuit:

In a series circuit there is only one path so the current must be…

IT =

For a parallel circuit:

In a parallel circuit the charge can take different paths. Therefore the amount of charge at any point…

IT =

Kirchhoff’s Current Law can be directly stated as: the sum of currents entering a junction…

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law is stated as: The sum of the potential differences in a circuit must…

In a way this is simply restating the…

Remember that there is an increase in the potential across the terminals of a ________________ and that there is
a decrease in potential across a _____________________. Essentially these increases and drops must add up to
zero.

For a series circuit: VT =

Since there is only one path, the total voltage increase across the battery must equal the total drop across each
resistor.
For a parallel circuit:
VT =

Note that the potential difference is…

Kirchhoff vs Ohm

Kirchhoff does not have a law for resistance. We could perform an arduous derivation to find the formula using
Kirchhoff’s other law and Ohm’s Law.

Instead, let’s just reason it out.

For a series circuit: RT =

The total resistance in a series circuit is the __________ of the ______________________. Since each electron
must push its way through each resistor, it should make sense that the resistances are cumulative.

For a parallel circuit:

RT =

We already know that as we add resistors in parallel, the total resistance…

If the electrons are forced through one path, then there will be much more friction than if there are multiple
paths to choose from. This is true even if the additional pathways are of higher resistance.

Let’s recap:

Value Series Parallel

Example:
What are the values of I1, I2
and I3 in the circuit shown?

Example:
What is the value of R2 in the circuit shown?
Example:
What is the potential difference supplied by the power source in this circuit?

Example:
What are the values of V1, V2 and R2 in the circuit?
 Worksheet 6.2 - Circuits Practice

1) What are the values of the currents shown?

(2 A, 2 A, 2A)

2) Find the value of R2.

(12 Ω)

3) What is the potential difference supplied by the power source?

(36 V)

4) Find the values of V1, V2 and R2.

(40 V, 40V, 12 Ω)
5) Find the value of I3.

(3.6 A)

6) Find the value of V2.

(4 V)

7) Find the value of V2 and V3.

(34 V, 34 V)

8) What is the total resistance in this circuit?

(35 Ω)
9) What is the total resistance in this circuit?

(3.4 Ω)

10) What is the total resistance of this circuit?

(4 Ω)

11) What is the total resistance of three resistors in parallel if their individual resistances are: 2 Ω, 4 Ω, and 8 Ω?

(1.1 Ω)

12) What are the values of I1, I2 and P1 in the following circuit?

(1.2 A, 1.2 A, 14.4 W)

13) What is the value of the total current in this circuit and the power dissipated by R1?

(7.5 A, 38W)

14) Find the values of the total current and I2 as well as the total power used by the circuit.

(3.5 A, 1.5 A, 42 W)

15) What are the values of I1, I2 and I3?

(2.7 A, 0.91 A, 2.7 A)

16) Find the potential difference of the power supply and the total power dissipated by the circuit below.

(60 V, 480 W)

17) Find the value of I1 and the total power used by the circuit.

(5.6 A, 140 W)

18) Find R3, I2, I3 and I4.

(16.7 Ω, 1.0 A, 3.0 A, 2.0 A)

Physics 11: Electric Circuits - Electromotive Force
We know that a battery is a source of potential difference (______________) or electric energy. When not
connected to a circuit there is a potential difference between the terminals.

This voltage is also known as…

Despite the name, this is a ___________________ not a ________________.

This dates back to a time when we thought that the two were equivalent.

For example a car battery has an EMF of ___________ and lithium battery has an EMF of ____________.

However, as soon as a battery is connected to a circuit and current flows through it the potential difference across
the terminals is always…

This is due to the fact that every battery has…

Because of this _______________________________ the terminal voltage is always _______________ than the
EMF of the battery.

Where:

Note: Ir =

Note: If the battery is not connected to a circuit…

Consider the following diagram showing a circuit with Example: If a 12.0 V battery has an internal
an external resistance, _______, internal resistance resistance of 0.220 Ω what is the terminal voltage
______ and EMF _______. of the battery when a current of 3.00 A flows
through the battery?

When a battery goes dead it is because…

When a rechargeable battery is being charged an Example:

external voltage is applied to the battery. In order to A 12.0 V car battery is being charged by an
force electrons backwards into the battery the external alternator that can supply 15 V. If the internal
voltage must be… resistance of the battery is 1.3 Ω, what is the
current through the battery?

In fact the external voltage must be:

 Worksheet 6.3 - EMF Practice

1) A battery in a remote control has an EMF of 1.50 V and an internal resistance of 0.300 Ω. If there is a current of 0.500
A running through the circuit, what is the terminal voltage of the battery? (1.35 V)

2) What is the EMF of a battery that has an internal resistance of 0.800 Ω and a terminal voltage of 10.0 V when a
current of 2.40 A runs through it? (11.9 V)

3) A battery has an EMF of 9.0 V and an internal resistance of 0.50 Ω. What is the terminal voltage when it is connected
to a circuit with a resistance of 4.0 Ω? (8.0 V)

4) What is the terminal voltage of the battery in the circuit shown? Consider all values to 3 sig figs

(7.95 V)

5) What is the terminal voltage of the battery in the circuit shown? Consider all values to 3 sig figs

(10.9 V)

6) What is the EMF of the following battery?

(18 V)

7) Determine the internal resistance and the power dissipated by the internal resistance of the battery shown. Consider
all values to 2 sig figs

(3.0 Ω, 4.3 W)