14 ELECTRIC CURRENT

14.1 Conduction of electricity

Electric current is defined as the rate of flow of electric charges, which is caused by the flow of the
charge carriers.
dQ
I
dt
Different conductors have different types of charge carriers. In metals, the charge carriers are the free electrons
but electrolytes contain positive ions and negative ions which are the charge carriers. In semiconductors, the free
electrons and the holes are the charge carriers.
In the circuit above, chemical reactions in the cell push electrons out of the negative (-) terminal, round the
circuit, to the positive (+) terminal. This flow of electrons causes the flow of current in the opposite direction.
An arrow in the circuit indicates the direction from the positive terminal round to the negative terminal. Called
the conventional direction, it is the opposite direction to the actual electron flow.

14.2 Free electrons Model

In metals, most electrons are bound to their atoms. However, some electrons are free electrons which can move
between atoms. When a potential difference is applied, and a current flow, the free electrons are the charge
carriers.
In the absence of electric field, the free electrons are moving randomly with high speed in the order of 10 6 m s-1
due to the thermal energy of the electrons. However, the random motion of the free electrons does not produce
any current because the net movement of the electrons is zero.

When a potential difference is applied across the metal conductor, an electric field is produced across the
conductor. An electrostatic force will act on the free electrons causing the electrons to accelerate towards the
positive terminal of the battery. As the free electrons will collide with the ions and rebound therefore there will
be a small net velocity of the electrons known as the drift velocity v. The drift velocity has a magnitude of order
about 10-3 to 10-4 m s-1.
Relationship between the drift velocity and current

In the wire above diagram, free electrons (each of charge e) are moving with an average speed v. n is the
number of free electrons per unit volume (per m3).
In the wire, the number of free electrons N = nAl
So total charge carried by free electrons Q = nAle
l
 Time t taken for all the free electrons to pass through t 
v
Q
As I 
t
nAle  
I
l
 I  neA

Example 1

A copper wire with cross-sectional area of 1.0  10 m carries electric current of 2.0A. If the amount of free
5 2

29
electron per volume is 10 m-3, estimate the drift velocity of the free electrons.

Solution:
Using I  nAe
Rearrange the equation:
I

nAe
2.0

10 (1.0  10 5 )(1.6  1019 )
29

 1.25  10 5 m s 1
14.3 Current Density

The current density J is the current per unit cross-sectional area.

l
J so J  ne
A

Example 2
A copper wire 1.8 mm in diameter carries a current of 1.3 A.
Calculate (a) the drift velocity of the free electrons.
(b) the current density in the wire.
Assume the density of free electrons n = 1x1029 m-3

Solution:
(a) Drift velocity inside the wire
I

nAe
1.3

10  (0.9  10 3 ) 2 (1.6  1019 )
29

 3.19  10 5 m s 1
(b) Current density
l 1.3
J   5.11105 A m  2

A  0.9 10 3 
2

14.4 Electrical conductivity and resistivity

The resistance R of a conductor depends on its length l and cross-sectional area A:

l
R
A
This relationship can be changed into an equation by means of a constant,  known as the resistivity of the
material:
l
R where l is the length of the conductor.
A
With this equation, the resistance of a wire can be calculated if its dimensions and resistivity are known.
1
And   is the electrical conductivity of the material.

Example 3

3.0mm 2.0mm

A composite wire with length of 50 cm consists of iron as a core and its diameter is 2.0mm. A layer of copper
sheaths the iron core. The diameter of the copper is 3.0 mm.
Calculate the resistance of the wire.
[Resistivity: Iron = 1.0 x 10-7  m, Copper =1.7 x 10-8  m]

Solution:
Iron resistance, R iron :

ironl (1.0 107 )(0.5)

Riron    0.0159
Airon  (1.0 10 3 ) 2

Copper resistance, Rcopper :

copperl (1.7 108 )(0.5)

Rcopper    0.0108
Acopper  ((1.5  1.0) 10 3 ) 2
Both of them are connected in parallel:
1 1 1
 
RT R iron R copper
RT  6.44  10 3 

14.6 Relationship between the electric conductivity and the mean time between collisions
When an electric field is applied across a metal conductor, the free electrons will experience an
electrostatic force and accelerate towards the positive terminal of the battery. The electrons will collide with the
ions with different times between the successive collisions as shown in the diagram below.
Assume that the mean time between collisions is t. The electrostatic force acting on the electrons is
F = Ee
ma = Ee
eE
a=
m
The drift velocity of the electrons is the mean velocity in the electric field
v = u + at
= 0 + at
eE
= t
m
eEt
I  nAve  nA e
m
V VA
I   EA
R l
ne 2 EAt
  EA
m
ne 2t
  ,........( 2)
m
m

ne 2t
Variation of resistivity with temperature
(a) Metal
Metal consists of free electrons. When the temperature is increased, the ions vibrate more vigorously.
As results, more collisions will occur between the free electrons and the ions and the mean time
between collisions decreases.
m
From the equation   , it can be deduced that the resistivity of metals increases when
ne 2t
temperature increases.
(b) Semiconductor
The charge carriers in a semiconductor are free electrons and holes. When temperature is increased,
more electron-hole pairs are produced. Therefore, the density of charge carriers increases. From the
m
equation   , it can be deduced that the resistivity of semiconductor decreases when temperature
ne 2t
increases.

(c) Superconductor
A superconductor is a conductor which has zero resistivity. A very low temperature known as the
transition temperature, the resistivity of superconductor drops to zero.
 The graphs below show the variation of resistivity of a metal, semiconductor and a superconductor with
absolute temperature.

Example 4
(a) An electric iron is labelled 240 V, 1.2 kW. What do you understand by the labelling?
(b) (i) Define drift velocity.
(ii) Copper has molar mass of 63.5x10-3 kg and density 8900 kg m-3. Assuming that each copper atom
contribute one free electron, calculate the drift velocity of the electrons in a copper wire of radius 1.0
mm carrying a current of 0.15 A.
(c) A copper conducting rod carries a current of 15.0 A. The cross-sectional area of the copper rod is a
square of side 4.0 mm and its length is 60 m. Copper has a resistivity of 1.69x10-8 Ω m.
(i) Calculate the density of the current in the copper wire.
(ii) The resistance of the copper rod.

Solution:
(a)  The normal operating voltage is 240 V.
 When a voltage of 240 V is supplied, the power dissipated by the electric iron is 1.2 kW
(b) (i) Drift velocity is the mean velocity of the free electrons taking into consideration the collision with
positive ions when an electric field is applied across a metal conductor. The motion of the free
electrons is opposite in direction with the electric field.
m
(ii) V

NA
n
V
NA

m

NA

63.5  103
8900
 = 8.44 × 1028 m3
I  nAve
I
v
nAe
0.15
v
8.44  10    (1.0  103 ) 2 1.6 1019
28

= 3.54 × 10-6 m s1

(c) (i) Current density
I
J
A
15
=
(4  103 ) 2
= 9.375 × 105 A m2
(ii) The resistance of the copper rod
l
R
A
1.69  108  60

(4.0  103 )2

= 6.34  102 Ω

Example 5
Solution:
(a)  The number of conduction electrons per unit volume/type of material
 The rate of collisions between electrons and ions which is
dependent on temperature

(b) (i) From acceleration of electron in a wire with electric field E

F eE
a =
m m
after each collision time τ
eE
vd  a = 
m
But from J = nevd
and J = E
nevd = E
nevd ne2 E ne 2
= = =
E E m m

ne2
1
(ii)  
 m
m

 ne2
9.11 1031

(1.69  108 ) 8.47  1028 (1.6  1019 )12
 2.49 1014 s