PHY 150/NY

TUTORIAL 5
DC CIRCUITS

1. A dry cell of emf 1.5 V is connected in series with a resistor. When a current of 3.0 A
flows from the cell, the voltage across the cell is 0.42 V. What is the internal resistance of
the dry cell?
[ 0.36 Ω ]

2. A load resistance of 8 Ω is connected to a 12 V battery whose internal resistance is 0.20 Ω.

a. What current is delivered to the load?
b. What will be the reading of a voltmeter placed across the battery terminals while the
load is attached?
[ 1.46 A , 11.71 V ]

3. A 65 Ω resistor is connected to the terminals of a battery whose emf is 12 V and whose

internal resistance is 0.5 Ω, Figure 1. Calculate
a) the current in the circuit.
b) the terminal voltage of the battery, Vab.

Figure 1

[ 0.183 A , 11.91 V ]

4. Calculate the terminal voltage for a battery with an internal resistance of 0.90 Ω and an
emf of 6.00 V when the battery is connected in series with
a) an 81 Ω resistor, and
b) an 810 Ω resistor.
[ 5.91 V @ 5.93 V , 5.99 V ]

5. Four 1.50 V emf are connected in series to a 12 Ω light bulb. If the resulting current is 0.45
A, what is the internal resistance of each cell, assuming they are identical and neglecting
the resistance of the wires?
[ 0.333 Ω ]

6. What is the internal resistance of a 12.0 V car battery whose terminal voltage drops to 8.4
V when the starter draws 95 A? What is the resistance of the starter?
[ 0.038 Ω , 0.088 Ω ]

7. A battery has an emf of 12 V and an internal resistance of 0.05 Ω. The terminals are
connected to a load resistance of 3.00 Ω. Find the current in the circuit and the terminal
voltage of the battery.
[ 3.93 A , 11.80 @ 11.79 V ]

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8. A battery with a terminal voltage of 11.5 V when delivering 0.50 A has an internal
resistance of 0.10 Ω. What is its emf?
[ 11.55 V ]

9. The battery in a circuit has an emf of 9.0 V. It is attached to a resistor and an ammeter that
shows a current of 0.10 A. If a voltmeter across the battery’s terminals reads 8.9 V, what is
its internal resistance?
[1Ω]

10. A battery has emf of 6.0 V and internal resistance of 1.0 Ω. A resistor is connected to the
battery and the current flowing in the closed circuit is 2.0 A. Determine the resistance of
the resistor.
[2Ω]

11. A battery has emf of 12.0 V and internal resistance of 0.10 Ω. The battery is connected to
an external circuit. A current of 10 A flows through the battery. Determine
a) the terminal voltage when the current is flowing
b) the total resistance in the external circuit.
[ 11 V , 1.1 Ω ]

12. A resistor of 100 Ω is connected across a battery of emf 12 V and internal resistance 1 Ω.
Determine
a) the current in the circuit
b) the terminal p.d
c) the electrical power generated by the battery
d) the power dissipated by the resistor
e) the power dissipated by the internal resistor

[ 0.119 A , 11.88 V @ 11.9 V , 1.43 W , 1.42 W , 0.014 W ]

13. A 9.0V battery whose internal resistance r is 0.5Ω is connected in the circuit shown in
Figure 2
a. Find the equivalent resistance for external loaded
b. How much current is drawn from the battery?
c. What is the terminal voltage of a battery?

A B

ɛ = 9V r = 0.5Ω

R5 = 6Ω
R4 = 10Ω

R2 = 8Ω
C R1 = 5Ω D

R3 = 4Ω

Figure 2
[ 10.34 Ω , 0.83 A , 8.59 V @ 8.58 V ]
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14. Calculate the currents I1, I2 and I3 in the three branches of the circuit in Figure 3.
30 

I1
40  1
2 = 45 V

I3
I2
20 

1 = 80 V 1

Figure 3
[ -0.85 A , 2.58 A , 1.73 A ]

15. What is the potential difference between points A and D in Figure 4 and what is the
terminal voltage of each battery?
34 

I1
 2 = 45 V
47  1
B C
A D
I3
I2
18 

F E

 1 = 75 V 1

Figure 4

[ -0.86 A , 2.41 A & 1.55 A , 29 V , 43.45 V & 72.59 V ]

16. Calculate the currents in each resistor of Figure 5.

58 V
25 

3.0 V

120  64  110 

82 

Figure 5

[ 120 Ω = 0.24 A , 82 Ω = 0.24 A, 64 Ω = 0.15 A , 25 Ω = 0.092 A , 110 Ω = 0.092 A ]

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17. Determine the currents I1, I2 and I3 in Figure 6. Assume the internal resistance of each
battery is r = 1.0 Ω. What is the terminal voltage of the 6.0 V battery?
12 V
r I1

12 
22 
12 V
I2 r 11 

15  18 

I3
6V
Figure 6

[ 0.511 A , 0.508 A & 2.97 × 10-3 A , 5.997 V ]

18. Refer to the circuit shown in Figure 7. The potentiometer wire AB is 100 cm long and the
p.d. across it is 1.5 V. Determine the distance between two points on the wire across which
a p.d. of 0.75 V is produced.

B
A
D E
Figure 7
[ 0.5 m ]

19. A Wheatstone bridge is a type of “bridge circuit” used to make measurements of

resistance. The unknown resistance to be measured, Rx, is placed in the circuit with
accurately known resistances R1 = 630 Ω, R2 = 972 Ω, and R3 = 42.6 Ω. One of these, R3,
is a variable resistor which is adjusted so that when the switch is closed momentarily, the
ammeter shows zero current flow. If a Wheatstone bridge is “balance”, what is the value of
the unknown resistance?

Figure 8
[ 65.73 Ω ]

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20. An unknown length of platinum wire 0.923 mm in diameter is placed as the unknown
resistance in a Wheatstone bridge as shown in figure below. Resistors R1 and R2 have
resistance of 38.0  and 46.0  respectively. Balance is achieved when the switch closed
and R3 is 3.48 . Find the length of the platinum wire if its resistivity is 10.6 x 10-8  m.

Figure 11
[ 26.57 m ]