Current

We know under the application of electric field, electric charge can move through a conductor. The
rate at which charge can pass through unit cross-sectional area of a conductor is known as electric
current.

For a steady current, the magnitude of the current in a circuit is

Q
I
t
where I = the current and Q =the charge passing some point in time t. When the current is not
steady, the instantaneous current, I, is given by

dQ
I
dt

Unit: The appropriate MKS unit of current is Ampere,

1coul
1 Ampere =
1sec

Current Density
The current density at a point in a conductor is defined as the current per unit cross-sectional area at
that point, i.e.

I
J
A
where J= current density, I = current, A = cross-sectional area.
Current density is a vector quantity, it is a characteristic of a point inside a conductor rather than of the
conductor as a whole.

Unit: Its unit in MKS is ampere per square meter.

Ohm’s Law:
Ohm’s Law states that at constant temperature, current passing through a conductor is directly
proportional to the voltage difference between two points of the wire.

Let the voltage difference between two points of the wire is V and I is the current flowing through the
conductor, then I∞ V

Or I = V/R, or V= IR
Here R is a constant and called the resistance of the wire.

Unit: Unit of resistance is Ohm, the ohm is defined as the resistance of a conductor in which a
potential difference of 1 volt is developed when a current of 1 ampere flows through it.

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Laws of Resistance For a conductor:

(1) For a conductor resistance is proportional to the temperature of the conductor.

(2) If the temperature is constant, the resistance (R) of a wire with constant area of cross-
section (A) is proportional to the length (L) of the wire.
(3) If the temperature is constant, the resistance (R) of a wire with constant length (L) is
inversely proportional to the area of cross-section (A) e of the wire.

Kirchhoff's Laws
Kirchhoff's Current Law, or Kirchhoff's First Law ( Rule -1)

The algebraic sum of current into any junction of an electric circuit is zero.
or
At any junction in an electric circuit, the total current flowing into the junction is same as the total current
leaving the junction. We can write it as,

∑ I = 0 ----------- (i)

For an example consider the figure below:

If the current flowing into the junction is regarded as being positive, then the current flowing out must be taken
to be negative.

Thus, from equation (i)

I1 + (-I2) + (-I3) = 0

i.e. I1 = I2 + I3

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Kirchhoff's Voltage Law, or Kirchhoff's Second Law (Rule 2)

The algebraic sum of the potential differences in a complete loop in an electric circuit is zero. So ∑E = ∑ IR

Hence from the figure we can say that v1 + v2 + v3 - v4 = 0.

Resistors in Series:

Let us consider three resistors having resistance R1, R2, and R3 are connected in series.
As they are connected in series same amount of current flows through each resistance.

Assuming that the connecting wires have no resistance the total potential difference, V, is given by

V = V1 + V2 + V3 ------------------ (1)
V
From the definition of resistance R 
I
Here, V1 = IR1, V2 = IR2, V3 = IR3 and V = IRs where Rs is the equivalent resistance of the network.
Substituting the value of V, V1, V2 and V3 in equation (1) gives

IRs  IR1  IR2  IR3

i.e. Rs  R1  R2  R3

Resistors in Parallel:
Let us consider three resistors having resistance R1, R2, and R3 are connected in parallel way in
a circuit. As they are connected in series same amount of current flows through each resistance. In this
case the potential difference across each resistors is same but current is different.

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 Now total current is the circuit, I = I1 + I2 + I3 ---------------- (1)

From the definition of resistance, I1 = V/R1, I2 = V/R2, I3 = V/R3and I = V\Rp, where Rp is the
equivalent resistance of the network. Substituting in eq. (1) gives

V V V V
  
R p R1 R2 R3

1 1 1 1
i.e.   
R p R1 R2 R3

Resistivity: The Resistivity or specific resistance is the resistance offered by a conductor of unit
length and unit cross-section. Its unit is ohm-meter. Thus
L
R
A
Where R = resistance of the conductor, L = length of the conductor,
A = area of cross-section and ρ = the resistivity of the material of which the conductor is made.

Wheatstone bridge
A Wheatstone bridge is an electrical circuit used to measure an unknown electrical resistance by
balancing two legs of a bridge circuit, one leg of which includes the unknown component. The primary
benefit of a wheatstone bridge is its ability to provide extremely accurate measurements. Its operation
is similar to the original potentiometer. It was invented by Samuel Hunter Christie in 1833 and
improved and popularized by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1843.

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In the figure, is the unknown resistance to be measured; , and are resistors of known
resistance and the resistance of is adjustable. If the ratio of the two resistances in the known leg
is equal to the ratio of the two in the unknown leg , then the voltage between the two
midpoints (B and D) will be zero and no current will flow through the galvanometer . If the bridge is
unbalanced, the direction of the current indicates whether is too high or too low. is varied until
there is no current through the galvanometer, which then reads zero.

Detecting zero current with a galvanometer can be done to extremely high accuracy.

At the point of balance, the ratio of

Alternatively, if , , and are known, but is not adjustable, the voltage difference across or
current flow through the meter can be used to calculate the value of , using Kirchhoff's circuit laws

First, Kirchhoff's current rule is used to find the currents in junctions B and D:

Then, Kirchhoff's voltage rule is used for finding the voltage in the loops ABD and BCD:

When the bridge is balanced, then IG = 0, so the second set of equations can be rewritten as:

5
Then, the equations are divided and rearranged, giving:

From the first rule, I3 = Ix and I1 = I2. The desired value of Rx is now known to be given as:

Conductance: The electrical conductance of a conductor is the reciprocal of its resistance, i.e.
1
G
R
Where G = electrical conductance; unit is Ω-1 and R = electrical resistance

Conductivity: The electrical conductivity of a material is the reciprocal of its resistivity, i.e.
1


Where σ = electrical conductivity; unit is Ω-1m-1 and
ρ = electrical resistivity; unit is (Ωm).

Continuity equation: If the net charge crossing a surface bounding a closed volume is not zero, then
the charge density within the volume must change with time in such a way, that the time rate of
increase of charge within the volume is equal to the net rate of flow of charge into the volume. This
statement of conservation of charge can be expressed by an equation known as continuity equation.

Mathematical derivation of Continuity equation

Let us consider a conductor of volume V closed by a surface S has charge density  , which is a
function of time. Now the current due to the transport of charge is

dq d
dt dt v
I  dv ……………(1)

If the net amount of current is flowing outward from a closed surface, the charge contained within that
volume must decrease,
dq
i.e., I   ……… (2)
dt
if J is the current density , then total current will be,
 
I   J .ds ……………….(3)
s
From equation (2) and (3) we get,
  dq
s J .ds   dt

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   d
  J .ds    dv
s
dt v
  
  J .ds    dv
s v
t

  divJ dv    dv
v v
t
  
   divJ  dv  0
v
t 

Since this equation holds for any volume, we can write


divJ  0
t

This is the mathematical expression for the conservation of charge, also called continuity equation.

Physical significance of continuity equation: since charge cannot be created or destroyed, total
current flowing out of some volume must be equal to the rate of decrease of charge within the volume.

Capacitor
A capacitor is a device that can store electric energy. In actual practice, a capacitor is an electrical
device consisting of two conductors separated by an insulating or dielectric medium (including air) and
carrying equal and opposite charges. The conductors are called plates and may be of any shape.

Capacitance: capacitance measures the relative amount of charge that can be stored on a pair of
parallel plate for a given amount of voltage. Since the plates are conductors, all points on a plate are at
the same electric potential. There is a potential difference between the two plates. The charge q and the
potential difference v for a capacitor are proportional to each other.

i.e. q ∞ v , or q= cv, or c = q/v

Units: unit of capacitance is coul/volt and is called Farad related by,

1coul
1 Farad =
1volt
However, farad is very large unit, and smaller unit as microfarad or micro-micro farad is used,
1µF =10-6 F and 1µµF = 10-12 F

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Types of Capacitors according to Shape:
The value of C in equation depends on the size and geometry of the plates, hence we can design the
capacitors of different geometry, the more commonly used capacitors are, (1) a parallel plate capacitor
(2) a cylindrical capacitor (3) a spherical capacitor.

(i) Parallel plate Capacitor

A Parallel plate Capacitor consists of two identical parallel flat conducting plates separated by a
distance, as shown in fig1. Let A be the area of each plate and d is the distance between them. suppose
that there is a charge q on one plate and –q on the other.

Now applying Gauss’s law for plate 1

 
 .dA = q/  0
E

 
or  0  .dA = q
E
or  0 E A=q ………..(1)

If V is the potential difference between the plates then,

f  
v f  vi   E.ds
i
If we take the initial point on the positive plate and the final point on the negative plate, then E and ds
will have opposite direction. Considering v f  vi = v, we can write
f
 
v    E.ds


   Eds cos180 


  Eds


 Ed

We know q=cv, substituting the value of v and q we get,

 0 EA  cEd
0A
c 
d

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This is the expression of capacitance for parallel plate capacitor.
Form the above equation we can see that the value of c depends only on the geometry of the capacitor.

What happen if the space between the plates of a capacitor is filled with a dielectric material.?

If the space between the plates of a capacitor is filled with a dielectric material with dielectric constant
K, then
k A
c 0
d

Where k  is the dielectri cons tan t , or relative permitivity
0
   0 A  A
c   
0  d  d

Problem 1: A parallel plate capacitor consists of two plate of area 500sq.cm separated by a thin sheet
of mica, of thickness 0.075mm. What is the capacitance in practical unit? Assume that the relative
permittivity of mica is 6.5.

Problem2: The parallel plates of an air filled capacitor are everywhere 0.7mm apart. What must be
the plate area be, if the capacitance is up to be 1.3 Farad.

(ii) Cylindrical capacitor

A Cylindrical capacitor consists of two coaxial cylinder of radius a and b and length l. The following figure
shows the sectional diagram of a cylindrical capacitor. To calculate the capacitance let us consider a Gaussian
surface as shown by dotted line having radius r, by using Gauss’s law we get,

 
0  E. dS  q
where q is the charge on the surface,

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Hence 0 E.2rl  q

q
E
2 0 rl

The potential difference between the plates is given by,

[Here, If direction of dl is from outer to inner then E and dl point in opposite directions]

Therefore, the capacitance,

q 2 0 l
C 
V log e (b / a)
From this equation we can see that, the capacitance C depends on geometric factors.

Energy stored in a capacitor in an Electric Field

We know work must be done to separate two equal and opposite charges. This energy is stored in the
system and can be recovered if the charges are allowed to come together again. Similarly, a charged
capacitor has stored in it an electrical potential energy U equal to the work W required to charge it.
This energy can be recovered if the capacitor is allowed to discharge.

Suppose that at time t a charge (t) has been transferred from one plate to the other. The potential
difference V(t) between the plates at that moment will be (t)/C. If an extra increment of charge d
is transferred, the small amount of additional work needed will be

If this process is continued until a total charge q has been transferred, the total work will be found from

-------- (30-25)

From the relation q = CV we can also write this as

------------------------ (30 – 26)

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The energy density
For a parallel plate capacitor if we neglect the fringing, the electric field has the same value for all
points between the plates. Thus the energy density u, which is the stored energy per unit volume is
defined by

Where Ad is the volume between the plates. Substituting for C = leads to

However, V/d is the electric field strength E, so that

This is the stored energy per unit volume at a point of electric field E.

Capacitors in Parallel
Let us consider three capacitors connected in parallel way as shown in the figure.

v c q c q c q

Fig: three capacitors connected in parallel.

In this case potential difference (V) across each capacitor is same. For a charged capacitor q = CV and
therefore

q1 = C1 V
q2 = C2 V
q3 = C3 V
If total charge is q then,

q= q1 +q2 + q3 = (C1 +C2 +C3 )V

or q = (C1 +C2 + C3 )V-------------------(1)

A single capacitor which has the same effect as these three must store charge, q, when the potential
difference across its plates is V, and therefore has a capacitance, C, given by

q = CV-------------------------(2)

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It follows from equation (1) and (2) that three capacitors, whose capacitances are C1, C2 and C3 are in
parallel, have a total (effective) capacitance, Cp, given by

Cp = C1 +C2 +C3

Capacitors in Series
Let us consider three capacitors whose capacitances are C1, C2 and C3 are connected in series way as
shown in the figure. For series capacitors equal charge q will appear in each plates of each capacitor’s.

VAB VMN VXY

C1 C2 C3
A B M N X Y

So we can write,

q
V AB 
C1

q
VMN 
C2
q
V XY 
C3
Therefore total potential difference,

 1 1 1 
V  V AB  VMN  V XY  q   
 1
C C 2 C 3 

 1 1 1 
i.e. V  q   
 1
C C 2 C 3 

A single capacitor which has the same effect as these three would have a capacitance, C, given by

q
V
C
It follows from above equations that three capacitors, whose capacitances are C1, C2 and C3 and which
are connected in series, have a total (effective) capacitance, Cs, given by

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 1  1 1 1 
     ----------- (40.11)
C s  C1 C 2 C 3 

Explanation of the Effect of a Dielectric in a Capacitor

If a dielectric is placed between the plates of a charged capacitor, the field between the plates distorts
the molecules of the dielectric. The (positive) nuclei are shifted slightly in the direction of the field (i.e.
away from the positive plate), and the (negative) electrons are shifted in the opposite direction. The
molecules are said to be polarized, there being an excess positive charge at one end of each molecule
and an excess negative charge at the other end. As a result of this polarization, that surface of the
dielectric which is adjacent to the positive plate of the capacitor acquires a negative charge; the
opposite surface acquires a positive charge.

If the capacitor is isolated: The potential of the positive plate is decreased by the negative charge on
that surface of the dielectric which is near to it; the potential of the negative plate is increased (i.e made
less negative). Thus, the presence of dielectric decreases the potential difference between the plates.
Since the capacitor is isolated, there can be no change in the amount of charge on either plate. For a
charged capacitor, Q=CV, and therefore since Q is unchanged and V degreases, C must have
increased.

If the capacitor is connected to a battery: The potential difference between the plates cannot change
when the dielectric is introduced. The battery maintains the potential of each plate by drawing
electrons off the positive plate and depositing electrons on the negative plate. In this case then, V is
unchanged and Q is increased. It follows from Q = CV that C must have increased. Thus in each case,
the introduction of the dielectric increases the capacitance of the capacitor.

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