Module 4 Electrons: 4.1 - 4.3 Flashcards
(108 cards)
what is meant by electric current?
the rate of flow of charge
what is electric current measured in?
amperes or amps
what equation can you use to work out the electric current?
I=ΔQ/Δt
I= current in amperes
ΔQ= change in charge in coulombs
Δt= time taken in seconds
what is the defintion for one coulomb?
the amount of charge that passes 1 second when the current is 1 ampere
what type of electrical component can you use to measure the current flowing through part of a circuit?
an ammeter
what is electric charge measured in?
coulombs (C)
what is the elementary charge?
the smalles unit that charge comes in and is quantised
e= 1.60 x 10-19 C
gives examples of relative charges
Sodium ions have a relative charge of +1
chlorine ions have a relative charge of -1
what is 12kA converted into coulombs per second?
12 000 Cs-1
what is the eqaution used for working out the net charge of an object?
Q= ±ne
what does it suggest when it said that the charge of an object is quantised?
- this means that the charge of the object can only have certain values.
- these calues must be interger multiples of e (1.60 x 10-19)
give the definition for current in a metal and in an electrolyte
current is the movement of electrons in a metal
current is the movement of ions in an electrolyte
answer these questions on charge and current
describe Milikan’s oil drop experiment (the discovery of the quantisation of charge)
- in 1990 Robert Millikan
- managed to levitate charged oil droplets between two oppositely charged metal plates by precisely balancing the weight of the negatively charged droplet acting downwards with an upwards attractive force from the positively charged plate
- by taking very precise measurements he was able to determine the charge on each droplet, and did this for may droplets
- he found the charge on the drops was quantised: it did not take just any value, but only values that were multiples of elementary charge
- Using his data Millikan calculated e to be -1.59 x 10-19
what may a larger current be due to?
- a greater number of electrons moving past a given point each second
- the same number of electrons moving faster through the metal
what is meant by a conventional current?
- a model used to describe electric current in a circuit
- conventional current travels from positive to negative
- it is the direction which positive charges would travel
what do you call liquids that can carry an electric current?
electrolytes
why should an ammeter have the lowest possible resistance?
so they do not reduce the current
answer these questions on moving charges
what does the conservation of charge state?
- the conservation of charge states that electric charge can neither be created nor destroyed
- the total amount of electric charge in the universe is constant
what does Kirchhoff’s first law state?
it states that for any point in an electrical circuit, the sum of currents into that point is eqaul to the sum of current out of that point
what is the eqaution for Kirchhoff’s law?
ΣIin = ΣIout
ΣIin= sum off current into a point
ΣIin = sum of current out of that point
what does kirchhoff’s second law state? what eqaution can you use to show this?
the sum of the e.m.fs around any closed loop of a circuit is equal to the sum of the potential difference
ΣE=ΣV
ΣE is the sum of the e.m.f
ΣV is the sum of potential difference (voltage)
answer these questions on Kirchhoff’s first law