CAUSE OF RESISTANCE IN A CONDUCTOR (X CBSE Physics)

Flow of electrons in a conductor is electric current. The particles of conductor create hindrance to flow of electrons; because of attraction between them. This hindrance is the cause of resistance in the flow of electricity.

Resistance in a conductor depends on nature, length and area of cross section of the conductor.

Factors on which resistance of a conductor depends:

(1) On its length (l)

(2) On its cross sectional area (A)

(3) On the nature of material

Length of conductor: Resistance R is directly proportional to the length of the conductor. This means, Resistance increases with increase in length of the conductor. This is the cause that long electric wires create more resistance to the electric current.

Thus, Resistance (R) ∝ length of conductor (l)

or R ∝ l --------(i)

Area of cross section: Resistance R is inversely proportional to the area of cross section ( A) of the conductor. This means R will decrease with increase in the area of conductor and vice versa. More area of conductor facilitates the flow of electric current through more area and thus decreases the resistance. This is the cause that thick copper wire creates less resistance to the electric current.

Thus, resistance ∝ 1/Area of cross section of conductor (A)

Nature of material: Some materials create least hindrance and hence are called good conductors. Silver is the best conductor of electricity. While some other materials create more hindrance in the flow of electric current, i.e. flow of electrons through them. Such materials are called bad conductors. Bad conductors are also known as insulators. Hard plastic is the one of the best insulators of electricity.

 Where ρ (rho) is the proportionality constant. For a material irrespective of length and area, the resistivity is a constant. It is called the electrical resistivity of the material of conductors.

From equation (iii)

The SI unit of resistivity: Since, the SI unit of R is Ω, SI unit of Area is m² and SI unit of length is m. Hence

Thus, SI unit of resistivity (ρ) is Ω m.

Materials having resistivity in the range of 10⁻⁸ Ω m to 10⁻⁶ Ω m are considered as very good conductors. Silver has resistivity equal to 1.60 X 10⁻⁸ Ω m and copper has resistivity equal to 1.62 X 10⁻⁸ Ω m.

Rubber and glass are very good insulators. They have resistivity in the order of 10¹² Ω m to 10¹⁷ Ω m.

"Resistivity of a material vary with temperature"

Resistivity of an alloy (homogeneous mixture of metals) is generally higher than of its constituent metals. Example Constantan (alloy of Cu & Ni) Alloys have high resistivity and do not oxidise (burn) readily at high temperature, for this reason they are commonly used in electrical heating devices, like electric iron, heater, toasters etc. For example “Tungsten” as filament of electric bulb.

Example 1: What will be the resistivity of a metal wire of 2 m length and 0.6 mm in diameter, if the resistance of the wire is 50 Ω.

Solution: Given, Resistance ( R ) = 50 Ω, Length ( l ) = 2 m

Diameter = 0.6 mm

Hence, radius = 0.3 mm = 3 x 10⁻⁴ m

Resistivity (ρ) = ?

Now, area of cross section of wire = π r²

Or, A = 3.14 x (3 x 10⁻⁴)²

Or, A = 28.26 x 10⁻⁸ m²

= 2.826 x 10⁻⁹ m²

Example 2: The resistance of an electric wire of an alloy is 10 Ω. If the thickness of wire is 0.001 meter, and length is 1 m, find its resistivity.

Solution: Given, Resistance ( R ) = 10 Ω, Length ( l ) = 1 m

Diameter = 0.001 m

Therefore, radius = 0.0005 m

Resistivity (ρ) =?

Now, area of cross section of wire = π r²

Or, A = 3.14 x (0.005)² m²

Or, A = 0.00007850 m²

Example 3: The resistivity of a metal wire is 10 x 10⁻⁸ Ω m at 20°C. Find the resistance of the same wire of 2 meter length and 0.3 mm thickness.

Solution: Given, Resistivity (ρ) = 10 x 10⁻⁸ Ω m, Length ( l ) = 2 m, Diameter = 0.3 mm

Resistance (R) =?

Now, Radius of wire = Diameter / 2 = 0.3 mm / 2 = 0.15 mm = 1.5 x 10⁻⁵ m

Now, area of cross section of wire = π r²

Or, A = 3.14 x (1.5 x 10⁻⁵)²

Or, A = 70.65 x 10⁻¹⁰ m²

Example 4: The area of cross section of wire becomes half when its length is stretched to double. How the resistance of wire is affected in new condition?

Solution: Let the area of cross section of wire = A

Let length of wire before stretching = L

Let Resistance of wire = R

After stretching of wire, let

Area of cross section = A / 2

Length = 2L

Resistance = R1

Thus, ratio of resistance before stretching to resistance after stretching can be given as follows:

This means R = 1 and R1 = 4

Thus, resistance increases four times after stretching of wire.