Chapter 28

Direct Current Circuits

Direct Current

 When the current in a circuit has a constant

direction, the current is called direct current
 Most of the circuits analyzed will be assumed to be
in steady-state, with constant magnitude and
direction
 Because the potential difference between the
terminals of a battery is constant, the battery
produces a direct current
 The battery is known as a source of emf
Sec 28.1: Electromotive Force
 The electromotive force (emf), e, of
a battery is the maximum possible
voltage that the battery can provide
between its terminals
 The emf supplies energy, it does not
apply a force
 The battery will normally be the
source of energy in the circuit
 The positive terminal of the battery
is at a higher potential than the
negative terminal
 We consider the wires to have no
resistance
 If the internal resistance is zero, the
terminal voltage equals the emf
 In a real battery, there is internal
resistance, r
 The terminal voltage, DV = e – Ir
 Internal Battery Resistance
 The emf is equivalent to the open-circuit voltage
 This is the terminal voltage when no current is in the
circuit
 This is the voltage labeled on the battery
 The actual potential difference between the terminals of the
battery depends on the current in the circuit
 The terminal voltage also equals the voltage across the
external resistance
 This external resistor is called the load resistance
 In the previous circuit, the load resistance is just the external resistor
 In general, the load resistance could be any electrical device
 These resistances represent loads on the battery since it supplies the
energy to operate the device containing the resistance
Power
 The total power output of the battery is
 = I DV = Ie
 This power is delivered to the external resistor
(I 2 R) and to the internal resistor (I2 r)
 = I R +I r
2 2
Sec 28.2: Resistors in Series and Parallel
 Resistors in Series:
 When two or more resistors are connected end-to-end,
they are said to be in series
 For a series combination of resistors, the currents are
the same in all the resistors because the amount of
charge that passes through one resistor must also pass
through the other resistors in the same time interval
 The potential difference will divide among the resistors
such that the sum of the potential differences across
the resistors is equal to the total potential difference
across the combination
 Potentials add, Consequence of Conservation of Energy
 The equivalent resistance has the same effect on the
circuit as the original combination of resistors
Equivalent Resistance – Series
 Req = R1 + R2 + R3 + …
 The equivalent resistance of a series combination
of resistors is the algebraic sum of the individual
resistances and is always greater than any
individual resistance
 If one device in the series circuit creates an open
circuit, all devices are inoperative
 Two resistors are replaced with their equivalent
resistance
 A local change in one part of a circuit may result
in a global change throughout the circuit
 For example, changing one resistor will affect
the currents and voltages in all the other
resistors and the terminal voltage of the
battery
 In a series circuit, there is one path for the
current to take
 In a parallel circuit, there are multiple paths for
the current to take
Resistors in Parallel
 The potential difference across each resistor is the same
because each is connected directly across the battery
terminals
 A junction is a point where the current can split
 The current, I, that enters a point must be equal to the total
current leaving that point
 I=I1+I 2

 The currents are generally not the same

 Consequence of Conservation of Charge

 Equivalent resistance replaces the two original resistances

Equivalent Resistance – Parallel
 Equivalent Resistance 1 1 1 1
= + + +
R eq R1 R 2 R 3
 The inverse of the equivalent resistance of two or
more resistors connected in parallel is the
algebraic sum of the inverses of the individual
resistance
 The equivalent is always less than the
smallest resistor in the group
 In parallel, each device operates
independently of the others so that if one is
switched off, the others remain on
 In parallel, all of the devices operate on the
same voltage
 The current takes all the paths
 The lower resistance will have higher currents
 Even very high resistances will have some
currents
 Household circuits are wired so that
electrical devices are connected in parallel
Sec 28.3: Kirchhoff’s Rules
 There are ways in which resistors can be connected so that
the circuits formed cannot be reduced to a single equivalent
resistor
 Two rules, called Kirchhoff’s rules, can be used instead
Kirchhoff’s Junction Rule
 The sum of the currents at any junction must equal zero
Currents directed into the junction are entered
into the equation as +I and those leaving as -I
A statement of Conservation of Charge
 Mathematically, 
junction
I =0

 I1 - I2 - I 3 = 0
Kirchhoff’s Loop Rule
 The sum of the potential differences across all
elements around any closed circuit loop must be
zero
A
statement of Conservation of Energy
 Mathematically,  DV = 0
closed
loop
 Traveling around the loop from a to b
 In (a), the resistor is traversed in the
direction of the current, and the potential
across the resistor is – IR
 In (b), the resistor is traversed in the
direction opposite of the current; the
potential across the resistor is + IR
 In (c), the source of emf is traversed in the
direction of the emf (from – to +), and the
change in the electric potential is +ε
 In (d), the source of emf is traversed in the
direction opposite of the emf (from + to -),
and the change in the electric potential is –ε
 Any capacitor acts as an open branch in a
circuit
 The current in the branch containing the
capacitor is zero under steady-state
conditions
Sec 28.4: RC Circuits
 In a direct current circuit containing capacitors, the current may
vary with time
 The current is still in the same direction
 An RC circuit will contain a series combination of a resistor and a
capacitor

 Charging a Capacitor:
 When the circuit is completed, the capacitor starts to charge
 The capacitor continues to charge until it reaches its maximum
charge (Q = Cε)
 Once the capacitor is fully charged, the current in the circuit is
zero
 As the plates are being charged, the potential difference across the
capacitor increases
 At the instant the switch is closed, the charge on the capacitor is
zero
Charging an RC Circuit
 Once the maximum charge is reached, the current in the
circuit is zero
 The potential difference across the capacitor matches that
supplied by the battery
 The charge on the capacitor varies with time
 q(t) = Ce(1 – e-t/RC)
= Q(1 – e-t/RC)
ε −t RC
 The current can be found I( t ) = R e
 t is the time constant t = RC
 The time constant represents the time required for the charge
to increase from zero to 63.2% of its maximum
 t has units of time
 The energy stored in the charged capacitor is ½ Qe = ½ Ce2
Discharging a Capacitor in an RC Circuit
 When a charged capacitor is placed in
the circuit, it can be discharged
 q(t) = Qe-t/RC
 The charge decreases exponentially
 At t = t = RC, the charge decreases to
0.368 Qmax
 In other words, in one time constant, the
capacitor loses 63.2% of its initial charge
 The current can be found
dq Q −t RC
I (t ) = =− e
dt RC
 Both charge and current decay
exponentially at a rate characterized
by t = RC