Electrical Properties of Materials
I.
Current – I
A.
Definition: Current is defined as the rate at which charge flows through a
surface:
+
+
B.
Direction: The direction of positive current flow is chosen as the direction that
_____________________________ charge flows. (regardless of the true nature
of the charge carrier)
EXAMPLE 1:
I
+
+
EXAMPLE 2:
I
-
C.
Units :
II.
Model for Current in a Conductor
A.
Although the macroscopic view of current is useful in building and
troubleshooting electronic circuits, the actual flow of charge is a microscopic
process involving the motion of electrons, ions, or other microscopic charge
carriers. Thus, it is not surprising that the electrical properties of a material are
strongly dependent on the atomic makeup of a material and requires “small
physics” (Quantum Mechanics and Solid State) to completely describe.
B.
A microscopic understanding of any material used in engineering is important
since it allows us to predict the physical, chemical, and electrical properties of the
material and provides a means for modifying and improving these properties.
This field of engineering is called Material Science. Many of the advances in
electronics, civil engineering, chemical engineering, etc. are due to the
availability of new materials with improved properties. Only physicists build
objects using physics strings and pulleys to understand the laws of nature.
Engineers build actual devices that require real materials!!!
C.
The flow of current through a conductor is the simplest case of current flow and
the only type we consider in this course. The outer electrons in a good conductor
(ex. a metal) are very weakly bound to the atom. Thus, we can consider them to
be free like atoms in a gas. This removes our need for the more exact and
mathematically complex physics of Quantum Mechanics.
“Random Motion in Ideal Gas”
“Random Motion of Charges in a Conductor”
Push
Push
+
-
Voltage
“Random Motion + Gas Flows to Right”
D.
“Random Motion + Current Flow to Right”
Microscopic View
n ≡ number of charge carriers per volume 
Let
Vd ≡ average net velocity of charge carrier (drift velocity)
q ≡ charge on a carrier
A ≡ cross sectional area
Thus, we have
dQ = (number of carriers) (charge per carrier)
dQ =
but dx =
dQ =
I
We define the current density as J ≡
.
A
Thus, we have for the current density the result:
J =nqVd
At the microscopic level, current flow in a material can occur in multiple
dimensions and may have different drift velocities in each direction. Thus, the
current density can be written in full vector form as:

J = n q Vd
EXAMPLE: What is the magnitude of the drift velocity of an electron in aluminum, if
5.00 A of current flow through an aluminum wire of area 4.00x10-6 m2. (Assume that
each aluminum atom provides one electron for current conduction)
I
A
GIVEN: A = 4.00x10-6 m2, ρ = 2.70 g/cm3, I = 5.00 A, and q = 1.60x10-19 C
SOLUTION:
III. Ohm’s Law
George Simon Ohm showed that for some materials the current that flows through
a material is _____________________ ____________________________ to the
potential
difference
across
the
material.
Such
materials
are
called
___________________ materials.
V
A
Test Material
-
+
Supply
Voltage
Voltage
Current
“__________________ Material”
Current
“ __________________ Material”
NOTE: Ohm’s Law is not a law!!! Most materials do not have the correct I-V curve.
IV.
Resistance and Resistors
A.
Resistance is a measure of a materials _____________________ to the flow of
charge through the material. It is the ______________________ of our I-V graph.
For a ____________________ material of fixed dimension, the resistance is
constant for a given temperature.
B.
The unit of resistance is the ________________. Its symbol is the ____________.
C.
Resistor – An electrical element that transfers electrical energy into heat or
mechanical energy while obeying Ohm’s Law.
Resistor Symbol:
Ohm’s Law:
EXAMPLE 1: What is the resistance of a material if you measure a voltage drop of
10.0 V when 4.00 mA of current flows through it?
EXAMPLE 2: What is the voltage drop across the 6.00 kΩ resistor in the circuit below?
2.00 kΩ
4.00 mA
+
6.00 kΩ
V
-
V. Resistivity and Conductivity
A.
The resistance of an element depends not only on the material from which the
element was constructed but also upon the:
1) ________________________________________________
2) ________________________________________________
B.
The resistivity, ρ, is an intrinsic property of material at a given temperature just
like density, melting point, etc.
C.
The relationship that connects the intrinsic material property of resistivity and a
resistor’s resistance is:
D.
Conductivity, σ, is defined as the inverse of resistivity.
E.
Ohm’s Law for a conductor can be written in terms of the resistivity as
EXAMPLE: You are required to construct a 2.00 Ω resistor using a carbon rod with a
cross sectional area of 1.00x10-2 cm2 piece of carbon. How long must your carbon rod
be?
L
A
GIVEN: r = 3.5x10-5 W • m “Table in book”
SOLUTION:
VI.
Temperature Effects of Resistance and Resistivity
A.
As temperature increases, the resistance and resistivity of a material
______________________________________________________!!
Increasing the temperature of a material causes the bound atoms to vibrate at
increased speeds. These atoms scatter the moving charge carriers thereby
reducing current flow. (Consider people trying to travel on a moving sidewalk
without hitting sliding doors that are constantly opening and closing. Higher
temperature corresponds to faster doors!!)
B.
Mathematical Approximation Technique
MATH FACT: Any analytical function, f(t), can be represented as a power
series in t such that
∞
𝑓(𝑡) = ∑ 𝐴𝑛 (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 )𝑛 = 𝐴0 + 𝐴1 (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 ) + 𝐴2 (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 )2 + ⋯
𝑛=0
where the expansion coefficients are found by
𝐴𝑛 =
𝑑𝑛 𝑓
|
𝑑𝑡 𝑛 𝑡=𝑡
𝑜
𝑛!
By analytic, we mean that the function is a continuous, single valued finite
function. This requirement is met by most functions in physics and engineering
and provides us with a powerful tool for modeling real world problems. The
problem of handling non-analytic functions using the Laurent Series will be
covered in your math course work.
By wisely choosing a value t0 such that t-t0 is small, it is possible to approximate
the function with a power series involving only a few terms!!
C.
Temperature Model for Resistivitivy
The resistivity of a material is an analytical function of temperature. Using the
initial temperature of the material for which we know its resistivity as t0, we can
expand the resistivity in terms of a power series as follows:
𝜌(𝑡) =
Using the fact that (t – t0) = ∆t and limiting ourselves to small temperature
changes, we have that:
EXAMPLE: What is the resistivity of silver at 100 C°?
SOLUTION: From tables in the book, we have for silver at 20 C° a resistivity of
1.47x10-8 Ω • m and a temperature coefficient of resistivity of 3.8x10-3 (C°)-1.
VII.
Power in Electric Circuits
A.
The power supplied or consumed by any electrical circuit element (resistor,
Capacitor, battery, inductor, etc.) is given by
B.
Special Formula for Resistor
Since resistors obey Ohm’s law, we can rewrite our general formula as
EXAMPLE: What is the power being dissipated by the resistor and stored by the
capacitor in the circuit below:
5.00 Ω
6.00 A
+
C
4.00 V
-