Learning Objectives
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:
- Explain the concept of resistivity
- Use resistivity to calculate the resistance of specified configurations of material
- Use the thermal coefficient of resistivity to calculate the change of resistance with temperature
The information presented in this section supports the following AP® learning objectives and science practices:
- 1.E.2.1 The student is able to choose and justify the selection of data needed to determine resistivity for a given material. (S.P. 4.1)
- 4.E.4.2 The student is able to design a plan for the collection of data to determine the effect of changing the geometry and/or materials on the resistance or capacitance of a circuit element and relate results to the basic properties of resistors and capacitors. (S.P. 4.1, 4.2)
- 4.E.4.3 The student is able to analyze data to determine the effect of changing the geometry and/or materials on the resistance or capacitance of a circuit element and relate results to the basic properties of resistors and capacitors. (S.P. 5.1)
Material and Shape Dependence of Resistance
Material and Shape Dependence of Resistance
The resistance of an object depends on its shape and the material of which it is composed. The cylindrical resistor in Figure 3.13 is easy to analyze, and, by so doing, we can gain insight into the resistance of more complicated shapes. As you might expect, the cylinder's electric resistance is directly proportional to its length similar to the resistance of a pipe to fluid flow. The longer the cylinder, the more collisions charges will make with its atoms. The greater the diameter of the cylinder, the more current it can carry (again similar to the flow of fluid through a pipe). In fact, is inversely proportional to the cylinder's cross-sectional area .
For a given shape, the resistance depends on the material of which the object is composed. Different materials offer different resistance to the flow of charge. We define the resistivity of a substance so that the resistance of an object is directly proportional to Resistivity is an intrinsic property of a material, independent of its shape or size. The resistance of a uniform cylinder of length of cross-sectional area and made of a material with resistivity is
Table 3.1 gives representative values of The materials listed in the table are separated into categories of conductors, semiconductors, and insulators, based on broad groupings of resistivities. Conductors have the smallest resistivities, and insulators have the largest; semiconductors have intermediate resistivities. Conductors have varying but large free charge densities, whereas most charges in insulators are bound to atoms and are not free to move. Semiconductors are intermediate, having far fewer free charges than conductors, but having properties that make the number of free charges depend strongly on the type and amount of impurities in the semiconductor. These unique properties of semiconductors are put to use in modern electronics, as will be explored in later chapters.
Material | Resistivity ( ) |
---|---|
Conductors | |
Silver | |
Copper | |
Gold | |
Aluminum | |
Tungsten | |
Iron | |
Platinum | |
Steel | |
Lead | |
Cu, Mn, Ni alloy | |
Cu, Ni alloy | |
Mercury | |
Nichrome (Ni, Fe, Cr alloy) | |
Semiconductors1 | |
Carbon (pure) | |
Carbon | |
Germanium (pure) | |
Germanium | |
Silicon (pure) | |
Silicon | |
Insulators | |
Amber | |
Glass | |
Lucite | |
Mica | |
Quartz (fused) | |
Rubber (hard) | |
Sulfur | |
polytetrafluoroethylene | |
Wood |
Example 3.5 Calculating Resistor Diameter: A Headlight Filament
A car headlight filament is made of tungsten and has a cold resistance of If the filament is a cylinder 4.00 cm long (it may be coiled to save space), what is its diameter?
Strategy
We can rearrange the equation to find the cross-sectional area of the filament from the given information. Then its diameter can be found by assuming it has a circular cross-section.
Solution
The cross-sectional area, found by rearranging the expression for the resistance of a cylinder given in , is
Substituting the given values, and taking from Table 3.1, yields
The area of a circle is related to its diameter by
Solving for the diameter and substituting the value found for gives
Discussion
The diameter is just under a tenth of a millimeter. It is quoted to only two digits, because is known to only two digits.
Temperature Variation of Resistance
Temperature Variation of Resistance
The resistivity of all materials depends on temperature. Some even become superconductors (zero resistivity) at very low temperatures. (See Figure 3.14.) Conversely, the resistivity of conductors increases with increasing temperature. Since the atoms vibrate more rapidly and over larger distances at higher temperatures, the electrons moving through a metal make more collisions, effectively making the resistivity higher. Over relatively small temperature changes (about or less), resistivity varies with temperature change as expressed in the following equation
where is the original resistivity and is the temperature coefficient of resistivity. (See the values of in Table 3.2 below.) For larger temperature changes, may vary or a nonlinear equation may be needed to find Note that is positive for metals, meaning their resistivity increases with temperature. Some alloys have been developed specifically to have a small temperature dependence. Manganin (which is made of copper, manganese and nickel), for example, has close to zero (to three digits on the scale in Table 3.2), and so its resistivity varies only slightly with temperature. This can be useful for making a temperature-independent resistance standard.
Material | Coefficient (1/°C)2 |
---|---|
Conductors | |
Silver | |
Copper | |
Gold | |
Aluminum | |
Tungsten | |
Iron | |
Platinum | |
Lead | |
Cu, Mn, Ni alloy | |
Cu, Ni alloy | |
Mercury | |
Nichrome (Ni, Fe, Cr alloy) | |
Semiconductors | |
Carbon (pure) | |
Germanium (pure) | |
Silicon (pure) |
Note also that is negative for the semiconductors listed in Table 3.2, meaning that their resistivity decreases with increasing temperature. They become better conductors at higher temperature because increased thermal agitation increases the number of free charges available to carry current. This property of decreasing with temperature is also related to the type and amount of impurities present in the semiconductors.
The resistance of an object also depends on temperature, since is directly proportional to For a cylinder we know and so, if and do not change greatly with temperature, will have the same temperature dependence as . Examination of the coefficients of linear expansion shows them to be about two orders of magnitude less than typical temperature coefficients of resistivity, and so the effect of temperature on and is about two orders of magnitude less than on Thus,
is the temperature dependence of the resistance of an object, where is the original resistance and is the resistance after a temperature change Numerous thermometers are based on the effect of temperature on resistance. (See Figure 3.15.) One of the most common is the thermistor, a semiconductor crystal with a strong temperature dependence, the resistance of which is measured to obtain its temperature. The device is small, so that it quickly comes into thermal equilibrium with the part of a person it touches.
Example 3.6 Calculating Resistance: Hot-Filament Resistance
Caution must be be used in applying and for temperature changes greater than . However, for tungsten, the equations work reasonably well for very large temperature changes. What, then, is the resistance of the tungsten filament in the previous example if its temperature is increased from room temperature () to a typical operating temperature of ?
Strategy
This is a straightforward application of , since the original resistance of the filament was given to be , and the temperature change is
Solution
The hot resistance is obtained by entering known values into the above equation:
Discussion
This value is consistent with the headlight resistance example in Ohm's Law: Resistance and Simple Circuits.
PhET Explorations: Resistance in a Wire
Learn about the physics of resistance in a wire. Change its resistivity, length, and area to see how they affect the wire's resistance. The sizes of the symbols in the equation change along with the diagram of a wire.
Applying the Science Practices: Examining Resistance
Using the PhET Simulation “Resistance in a Wire,” design an experiment to determine how different variables—resistivity, length, and area—affect the resistance of a resistor. For each variable, you should record your results in a table and then create a graph to determine the relationship.