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Electric potential difference and Ohm's law review

Review the key terms, equations, and skills related to Ohm's law, including how electric potential difference, current, and resistance are related.

Key terms

TermMeaning
BatteryDevice that transforms chemical energy into electrical energy. An ideal battery has no internal resistance.
Electric potential difference (ΔV)Energy change per unit charge between two points. Also called voltage or electric potential. Has SI units of Volts V=JC.
Electromotive force (EMF, ϵ)EMF is the potential difference produced by a source such as an ideal battery. Has SI units of V.

Equations

EquationSymbolsMeaning in words
I=ΔVRI is current, ΔV is electric potential difference, and R is resistanceCurrent is directly proportional to electric potential difference and inversely proportional to resistance.

Ohm’s Law

Ohm’s law states that for some devices there is a relationship between electric potential difference, current, and resistance.
The equation is: I=ΔVR
Where I is current, ΔV is electric potential difference, and R is resistance.

How are electric potential difference and current related?

For a given resistance R, increasing the electric potential difference ΔV increases the current I and vice versa.

How are current and resistance related?

For a given electric potential difference ΔV, if the resistance R increases, then the current I decreases and vice versa.

How are resistance and electric potential difference related?

For a given current I, if the electric potential difference ΔV increases, then the resistance R also increases and vice versa.

Analyzing electric potential difference across a resistor using Ohm’s law

If the current encounters resistance, the electric potential difference decreases according to Ohm’s law. We sometimes call this a voltage drop.
Figure 1: Electric potential drop across a resistor

Analyzing electric potential difference and current across a battery

A common source of electric potential is a battery, which is represented in diagrams by the symbol below (Figure 2). The short side is the negative end, with a lower electric potential, and the long side is the positive end, with a higher electric potential.
Electrons flow from the negative terminal to the positive terminal. Conventional current I travels from the positive terminal (higher electric potential), through the circuit, and finally to the negative end (lower electric potential).
Figure 2: The symbol for a battery. The long side is the positive terminal, and the short side is the negative terminal.
Current flow and electric potential difference can be better understood by using the analogy of a boulder rolling down a hill. At the top of the hill, the boulder has a lot of gravitational potential energy. Similarly, an electron has a lot of stored energy in the form of electric potential energy when it is at the negative terminal of a battery. The boulder will naturally fall toward the ground where potential energy is lower. The electron at the negative terminal of a battery will naturally flow toward the positive terminal, where the electric potential is lower.
As the boulder falls downward, the stored energy is converted to kinetic energy. As the electron flows across electrical components, the stored energy is converted into various forms of energy such as heat and light.

Common mistakes and misconceptions

Sometimes people think all devices follow Ohm’s law. However, a device is only ohmic when the current is directly proportional to the electric potential difference, and inversely proportional to the resistance. If we plotted an electric potential vs. current graph for an ohmic device, the relationship would be linear (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: Relationship between electric potential difference and current for ohmic and non-ohmic devices.
Some devices such as light bulbs are non-ohmic. This means that their electric potential difference-current graphs are non-linear, as in Figure 3. For non-ohmic devices, we can’t use I=ΔVR to solve for an unknown.

Learn more

For deeper explanations on electric potential and Ohm's law, see our video on circuits and Ohm's law.
To check your understanding and work toward mastering these concepts, check out the exercise on Ohm's law.

Want to join the conversation?

  • blobby green style avatar for user sadman.sakib
    I was stuck in this place, where is says the electrons move to the positive terminal because the potential is lower.

    " The boulder will naturally fall toward the ground where potential energy is lower. The electron at the negative terminal of a battery will naturally flow toward the positive terminal, where the electric potential is lower."

    But a few paragraphs up it says the opposite..?

    " The short side is the negative end, with a lower electric potential, and the long side is the positive end, with a higher electric potential."
    (19 votes)
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    • blobby green style avatar for user ZechariahT
      The reason for this is that electrons are negatively charged. They are in a state of high potential when at the negative end and low potential at the positive end.
      Before physicists knew that electrons moved, they assumed that positive charges were doing the moving. For this reason, conventional circuits state positive (+) to be high potential and negative (-) to be low potential.
      (14 votes)
  • purple pi teal style avatar for user Vedanti12
    I couldn’t understand how non-ohmic devices work. How do non ohmic devices work if they do not follow a directly/indirect proportion to the electric potential difference and resistance?
    (6 votes)
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    • blobby green style avatar for user Rawan Maamoun
      Resistance not only depends on length, area and type of the conductor, it also changes with temperature for some devices. So in a light bulb, because the temperature increases when it is illuminated, its resistance changes...we then have three variables and the relation between the current and the potential difference no longer gives a straight line (since its gradient, the resistance, is no longer a constant).
      Devices whose temperature changes affect the resistance are called non-ohmic devices.
      (6 votes)
  • blobby green style avatar for user Ms Butler
    I understand the equation for Ohms law and how electric potential is directly proportional to current and resistance. But conceptionally electric potential increasing when resistance increases doesn’t make sense. How does this relationship make sense conceptually? Wouldn’t voltage decrease if there is more resistance added?
    (5 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user Youssef Khedher
    * "How are resistance and electric potential difference related?
    For a given current III, if the electric potential difference \Delta VΔVdelta, V increases, then the resistance R also increases and vice versa." *
    but u said in the video that R is constant?!
    (4 votes)
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  • female robot grace style avatar for user Kritika Patnaik
    In the previous video, the speaker said that R is a constant and that with an increase in the V, there would only be a corresponding increase in I.
    But here they state that "For a given current I, if the electric potential difference ΔV\Delta VΔVdelta, V increases, then the resistance R also increases and vice versa."
    (3 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user amujurik
    i have a doute

    a bulb of a resistance 200 ohms is connected to 10v[voltage ] battery the power consumpition is

    can any one say
    (2 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user miss.philosphical
    Can someone please explain the direction of flow of current? Is it in the direction of conventional current or the opposite?I have gone through many MCQs which require the direction of current flow and I am always confused by this.
    (2 votes)
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    • blobby green style avatar for user Rawan Maamoun
      The direction of the current opposes the direction of the electrons in a conductive wire. Electrons move from the negative terminal of the battery to the positive one, and so the direction of the current is from the positive to the negative terminals of the battery. Some people like to assume that the direction of the current takes the direction of the positively charged atoms that the electrons leave behind when conducting in the wire...it's like when the electron moves out the atom to conduct, it pushes that newly postive ion back as it moves forward and it pushes the ones behind and so on. This is the direction of the current (opposes the flow of electrons)
      (2 votes)
  • primosaur seed style avatar for user Bhagyashree U Rao
    In the section:
    How are resistance and electric potential difference related?
    For a given current II, if the electric potential difference \Delta VΔV increases, then the resistance RR also increases and vice versa.
    Should it not be like-"If the resistance R inc. then the potential diff. delV across the resistance also inc." Because, the resistance cannot be changed by inc or dec delV.
    (2 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user Morgan Fude
    Should I assume that in the questions the systems are ohmic?
    (2 votes)
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  • spunky sam blue style avatar for user Muhammad Yasir
    in the figure 3. The Current is plotted against x-axis and potential difference against y-axis isn't it wrong.
    (1 vote)
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