Current Electricity and Resistance

Current electricity is a steady flow of electric charge through the conductor, whereas static electricity includes a flow of charges between two objects, which is known as electrostatic charge. Here, resistance measures the opposition of this current flow. In the 17th century, the famous scientist Benjamin Franklin undertook his kite experiment and discovered electricity. He proved that static electricity and lightning are both the same. Since then, electricity has been a very important part of human lives. Keep reading to know about current electricity, what resistance is, and its expressions.

Electricity

Electricity is the flow of charged particles. The word electricity is derived from the word ‘Elektron,’ which means amber. It is one of the best inventions in human lives. Almost everything that we see runs on electricity. Hence, electricity is very important for our everyday lives and is generated using fossil fuels, coal, natural gas, oil, renewable energy, wind, solar, nuclear power, and many other sources. There are two types of electricity, namely current electricity, and static electricity.

Current electricity

In general, current electricity can be defined as an electric charge in motion with a flow of negatively charged electrons within the electric circuit. It is a flow of electric charge that exists across the electric field through a conductor. Here, the electric current flows from high potential to low potential. 

Types of current electricity

Current electricity is classified into two types based on their source of voltage. They are Direct Current (abbreviated as DC) and Alternating Current (abbreviated as AC). 

 Direct current (DC)

 In direct current, the source of a voltage produces a constant flow of electrons only in a single direction. A battery can be called a common example of a direct current.

 Alternating current (AC)

 In alternating current, the source of a voltage produces a positive and negative flow of electrons in direction as well as magnitude. An electrical wall outlet can be called a common example of alternating current.

Electric current

Electric current (I) can be termed as the rate of flow of charge through any cross-section in an electric circuit. Its S.I. unit is ampere (A) and can be derived by:

 Electric Current (I) = flow of charge (q)/ time (t) = q/t = ne/t

 Where, ne = total number of charged particles constituting the current.

Static electricity

In the case of static electricity, the electrons come together in one place and then start moving randomly in all directions. It is the way of association between an equal amount of positively and negatively charged protons and electrons. Here, the particles are opposite (+,-) to cause friction. This process ends within a very short period.

 In short, static electricity is an electronic phenomenon where the charged negative and positive particles transfer from one place to another randomly. Lightning can be considered as one of the best examples of static electricity where the attractions of opposite charges (+,-) form friction between the air, water droplets, and the ice particles. 

Resistance 

Resistance is also called ohmic resistance or electrical resistance. It is a measure of the opposition to the current flow in an electrical circuit. When there is high resistance in the electric circuit, the barrier against the flowing current is much greater.

Resistance definition

Resistance can be defined as the ratio of potential difference that is applied across the ends of the conductor to the flow of current. 

 If the 1 volt potential is applied across two leads of a conductor and the current flowing through it is 1 ampere, the resistance of the conductor is called 1 ohm. Mathematically, it can be represented as, Ω.

R = V/I

 Resistance can also be measured as Volt (V) per ampere (A).

 Expressions of resistance

The units of resistance are derived according to their values. They are all given as follows:

Conclusion

Electricity has a wide range of applications in our everyday life and is produced using fuel, wind, nuclear power, etc. It can be termed as the flow of electrons in any object. It can be classified as static electricity and current electricity. Current electricity includes the flow of negatively charged electrons in the electrical circuit. It is further classified as direct current and Alternating current. Here, resistance is called the measure of the opposing flow of electrons in the electrical circuit.