# 16.2 Current

 Page 1 / 1

## Flow of charge

We have been talking about moving charge. We need to be able to deal with numbers. How much charge is moving, how fast is it moving? The concept that represents this information is called current . Current allows us to quantify the movement of charge.

When we talk about current we talk about how much charge moves past a fixed point in circuit in one second. Think of charges being pushed around the circuit by the battery, there are charges in the wires but unless there is a battery they won't move. When one charge moves the charges next to it also move. They keep their spacing as if you had a tube of marbles like in this picture.

If you push one marble into the tube one must come out the other side. If you look at any point in the tube and push one marble into the tube, one marble will move past the point you are looking at. This is similar to charges in the wires of a circuit.

If one charge moves they all move and the same number move at every point in the circuit. This is due to the conservation of charge.

## Current

Now that we've thought about the moving charges and visualised what is happening we need to get back to quantifying moving charge. I've already told you that we call moving charge current but we still need to define it precisely.

Current

Current is the rate at which charges moves past a fixed point in a circuit. We use the symbol I to show current and it is measured in amperes (A). One ampere is one coulomb of charge moving in one second.

$I=\frac{Q}{\Delta t}$

When current flows in a circuit we show this on a diagram by adding arrows. The arrows show the direction of flow in a circuit. By convention we say that charge flows from the positive terminal on a battery to the negative terminal. We measure current with an ammeter

## Series circuits

In a series circuit, the charge has a single path from the battery, returning to the battery.

The arrows in this picture show you the direction that charge will flow in the circuit. They don't show you much charge will flow, only the direction.

## Interesting fact

Benjamin Franklin made a guess about the direction of charge flow when rubbing smooth wax with rough wool.He thought that the charges flowed from the wax to the wool (i.e. from positive to negative) which was opposite to the realdirection. Due to this, electrons are said to have a negative charge and so objects which Ben Franklin called “negative” (meaning a shortage of charge) really have an excessof electrons. By the time the true direction of electron flow was discovered, the convention of “positive” and “negative” hadalready been so well accepted in the scientific world that no effort was made to change it.
A battery does not produce the same amount of current no matter what is connected to it. While the voltageproduced by a battery is constant, the amount of current supplied depends on what is in the circuit.

How does the current through the battery in a circuit with several resistors in series compare to the current in a circuit with asingle resistor (assuming all the resistors are the same)?

## Experiment : current in series circuits

Aim:

To determine the effect of multiple resistors on current in a circuit

Apparatus:

• Battery
• Resistors
• Light bulb
• Wires

Method:

1. Construct the following circuits
2. Rank the three circuits in terms of the brightness of the bulb.

Conclusions:

The brightness of the bulb is an indicator of how much current is flowing. If the bulb gets brighter because of a change then more current is flowing. If the bulb gets dimmer less current is flowing. You will find that the more resistors you have the dimmer the bulb.

## Parallel circuits

How does the current through the battery in a circuit with several resistors in parallel compare to the current in a circuit with asingle resistor?

## Experiment : current in series circuits

Aim:

To determine the effect of multiple resistors on current in a circuit

Apparatus:

• Battery
• Resistors
• Light bulb
• Wires

Method:

1. Construct the following circuits
2. Rank the three circuits in terms of the brightness of the bulb.

Conclusions:

The brightness of the bulb is an indicator of how much current is flowing. If the bulb gets brighter because of a change then more current is flowing. If the bulb gets dimmer less current is flowing. You will find that the more resistors you have the brighter the bulb.

Why is this the case? Why do more resistors make it easier for charge to flow in the circuit? It is because they are in parallel so there are more paths for charge to take to move. You can think of it like a highway with more lanes, or the tube of marbles splitting into multiple parallel tubes. The more branches there are, the easier it is for charge to flow. You will learn more about the total resistance of parallel resistors later but always remember that more resistors in parallel mean more pathways. In series the pathways come one after the other so it does not make it easier for charge to flow.

What fields keep nano created devices from performing or assimulating ? Magnetic fields ? Are do they assimilate ?
why we need to study biomolecules, molecular biology in nanotechnology?
?
Kyle
yes I'm doing my masters in nanotechnology, we are being studying all these domains as well..
why?
what school?
Kyle
biomolecules are e building blocks of every organics and inorganic materials.
Joe
anyone know any internet site where one can find nanotechnology papers?
research.net
kanaga
sciencedirect big data base
Ernesto
Introduction about quantum dots in nanotechnology
what does nano mean?
nano basically means 10^(-9). nanometer is a unit to measure length.
Bharti
do you think it's worthwhile in the long term to study the effects and possibilities of nanotechnology on viral treatment?
absolutely yes
Daniel
how to know photocatalytic properties of tio2 nanoparticles...what to do now
it is a goid question and i want to know the answer as well
Maciej
Abigail
for teaching engĺish at school how nano technology help us
Anassong
Do somebody tell me a best nano engineering book for beginners?
there is no specific books for beginners but there is book called principle of nanotechnology
NANO
what is fullerene does it is used to make bukky balls
are you nano engineer ?
s.
fullerene is a bucky ball aka Carbon 60 molecule. It was name by the architect Fuller. He design the geodesic dome. it resembles a soccer ball.
Tarell
what is the actual application of fullerenes nowadays?
Damian
That is a great question Damian. best way to answer that question is to Google it. there are hundreds of applications for buck minister fullerenes, from medical to aerospace. you can also find plenty of research papers that will give you great detail on the potential applications of fullerenes.
Tarell
what is the Synthesis, properties,and applications of carbon nano chemistry
Mostly, they use nano carbon for electronics and for materials to be strengthened.
Virgil
is Bucky paper clear?
CYNTHIA
carbon nanotubes has various application in fuel cells membrane, current research on cancer drug,and in electronics MEMS and NEMS etc
NANO
so some one know about replacing silicon atom with phosphorous in semiconductors device?
Yeah, it is a pain to say the least. You basically have to heat the substarte up to around 1000 degrees celcius then pass phosphene gas over top of it, which is explosive and toxic by the way, under very low pressure.
Harper
Do you know which machine is used to that process?
s.
how to fabricate graphene ink ?
for screen printed electrodes ?
SUYASH
What is lattice structure?
of graphene you mean?
Ebrahim
or in general
Ebrahim
in general
s.
Graphene has a hexagonal structure
tahir
On having this app for quite a bit time, Haven't realised there's a chat room in it.
Cied
what is biological synthesis of nanoparticles
what's the easiest and fastest way to the synthesize AgNP?
China
Cied
how did you get the value of 2000N.What calculations are needed to arrive at it
Privacy Information Security Software Version 1.1a
Good
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!