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Charge & Current (DP IB Physics: SL)

Revision Note

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Charge

  • Charge is measured in coulombs (C). One coulomb is defined as:

The charge carried by an electric current of one ampere in one second 

  • Charge is a scalar quantity
    • Electrons have a negative charge 
    • Protons have a positive charge 
  • Like charges repel each other and attract opposite ones
  • In neutral (i.e. uncharged) atoms and objects the number of electrons and the number of protons are equal
  • The movement of electrons determines the charge of an atom or object
  • In charged atoms or objects there is a net amount of either positive or negative charge
    • An object that gains electrons has an overall negative charge
    • An object that loses electrons has an overall positive charge

  • In conductors, some electrons are free to move between atoms

Free Electrons Conductor

Delocalised electrons in the outer shell of the atoms in a conductor can move between atoms. When a neutral atom loses electrons it becomes a positive ion

  • When several differently charged but identical objects are brought together briefly and then separated they end up with the same charge
    • Calculate the total charge present at the point of contact
    • Then divide by the number of objects brought together
    • This will give the value of the charge present on each object after separation

Electric Current

  • The electric current through a conductive material is defined as follows:

The rate of flow of electric charge past a cross-section of material 

  • Current is measured in amperes (A)
    • The ampere is a fundamental unit of the SI system

  • Current is calculated as follows:

I space equals space fraction numerator capital delta q over denominator capital delta t end fraction

  • Where:
    • I = current in amperes (A)
    • Δq = net charge flowing past a cross-section of material in coulombs (C)
    • Δt = time interval in seconds (s)

  • The conventional direction of current is from positive to negative
    • Electrons flow opposite to the conventional direction of current

Electric current flow, downloadable AS & A Level Physics revision notes

By definition, conventional current always goes from positive to negative (even through electrons go the other way)

Worked example

A charge of 20 μC flows through a given section of a conductor in 60 ms.

Calculate the electric current.

Step 1: Write down the known quantities 

    • Δq = 20 μC = 20 × 10–6 C
    • Δt = 60 ms = 60 × 10–3 s

Note the conversions:

    • The amount of charge must be converted from micro coulombs (μC) into coulombs (C)
    • The time must be converted from milliseconds (ms) into seconds (s)

Step 2: Write down the equation for the electric current I

Step 3: Substitute the numbers into the equation 

I = 3.3 × 10–4 A

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Ashika

Author: Ashika

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Ashika graduated with a first-class Physics degree from Manchester University and, having worked as a software engineer, focused on Physics education, creating engaging content to help students across all levels. Now an experienced GCSE and A Level Physics and Maths tutor, Ashika helps to grow and improve our Physics resources.