Criticize the statement below on theoretical and experimental grounds. Be specific and precise. Refer to your own experiments, or describe any new experiments you perform: “A flashlight battery always puts out the same amount of current, no matter what is connected to it.”

Short Answer

Expert verified

The provided statement is false. Current in a circuit changes with change in resistance.

Step by step solution

01

Given data

According to a statement: “A flashlight battery always puts out the same amount of current, no matter what is connected to it.”

02

Current in a circuit

The current in a circuit depends on the total resistance of the circuit. More the resistance, lesser the current.

03

Check of the provided statement

A battery can never put out the same amount of current if the load is changed. A battery can only provide a fixed amount of force into the electrons. While passing through each resistance, a part of the energy is lost. Thus the rate of flow decreases.

Hence more number of resistances reduces the current from the same battery. This can be tested by performing an experiment with a battery and multiple resistances. The current can be measured each time the resistance is changed. The observation will be change in current in each case.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

When a single thick-filament bulb of a particular kind and two batteries are connected in series, 3×1018 electrons pass through the bulb every second. When two batteries in series are connected to a single thin-filament bulb, with a filament made of the same material and length as the thick-filament bulb but a smaller cross-section, only 1.5×1018 electrons pass through the bulb every second. (a) In the circuit shown in Figure 18.109, how many electrons per second flow through the thin-filament bulb? (b) What approximations or simplifying assumptions did you make? (c) Show approximately the surface charge on a diagram of the circuit.

In the circuit shown in Figure 18.91, all of the wire is made of Nichrome, but one segment has a much smaller cross-sectional area. On a copy of this diagram, using the same scale for magnitude that you used in the previous question for Figure 18.90, show the steady-state electric field at the locations indicated, including in the thinner segment. Before attempting to answer these questions, draw a copy of this diagram. All of the locations indicated by letters are inside the wire.

(a)On your diagram, show the electric field at the locations indicated, paying attention to relative magnitude. Use the same scale for magnitude as you did in the previous question.

(b)Carefully draw pluses and minuses on your diagram to show the approximate surface charge distribution that produces the electric field you drew. Make your drawing show clearly the differences between regions of high surface charge density and regions of low surface-charge density. Use your diagram to determine which of the following statements about this circuit are true.

(1) There is a large gradient of surface charge on the wire between locations Cand E. (2) The electron current is the same at every location in this circuit.

(3) Fewer electrons per second pass location Ethan location C.

(4) The magnitude of the electric field at location Gis smaller in this circuit than it

was in the previous circuit (Figure 18.90).

(5) The magnitude of the electric field is the same at every location in this circuit.

(6) The magnitude of the electric field at location D is larger than the magnitude of the electric field at location G.

(7) There is no surface charge at all on the wire near location G.

(8) The electron current in this circuit is less than the electron current in the previous circuit (Figure 18.90).

The drift speed in a copper wire is 7×10-5msfor a typical electron current. Calculate the magnitude of the electric field inside the copper wire. The mobility of mobile electrons in copper is 4.5×10-3ms/NC. (Note that though the electric field in the wire is very small, it is adequate to push a sizable electron current through the copper wire.)

There are very roughly the same number of iron atoms per m3 as there are copper atoms per m3 , but copper is a much better conductor than iron. How does uiron compare with ucopper?

Why don’t all mobile electrons in a metal have exactly the same speed?

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