CURRENT ELECTRICITY - Question Bank

CURRENT ELECTRICITY - Very Short Answer Type

1. Define the term mobility of charge carriers in a conductor. Write its S.I. unit.
2. Name the colours corresponding to the digits 4 and 7 in the colour code scheme for carbon
resistors.
3. How does a random motion of free electrons in a conductor get affected when a potential
difference is applied across its ends?
4. Write the expression for drift velocity of charge carriers in a conductor of length l across which a
potential difference V is applied.
5. How does one explain increase in resistivity of a metal with increase in temperature?
6. Show variation of resistivity of copper as a function of temperature in a graph.
7. A 10 V battery of negligible internal resistance is connected across a battery and a resistance of
38 ꭥ as shown in figure - 1. Find the value of the current in the circuit.

8. The emf of a cell is always greater than its terminal voltage. Why? Give reason.
9. Why is the terminal voltage of a cell less than its emf?
10. Two students A and B were asked to pick a resistor of 15 k ꭥ from a collection of carbon resistors.
A picked a resistor with bands of colours: brown, green, orange, while B choose a resistor with
bands of black, green, red. Who picked the correct resistor?
11. Two identical cells, each of emf E, having negligible internal resistance, are connected in parallel
with each other across an internal resistance R. What is the current through this resistance?
12. When electrons drift in a metal from lower to higher potential, does it mean that all the free
electrons of the metal are moving in the same direction?
13. Two wires of equal length, one of copper and the other of manganin have the same resistance.
Which wire is thicker?
14. A resistance R connected across a cell of emf ɛ and internal resistance r. A potentiometer now
measures the potential difference between the terminals of the cell as V . State the expression for r
in terms of ɛ, V and R.
15. A parallel combination of two cells of emf ’s E 1 and E2 and internal resistance r1 and r2 is used to
supply current to a load of resistance R. Write the expression for the current through the load in
terms of E1, E2, r1 and r2
16. Two connecting wires X and Y of same diameter but different materials are joined in series across
a battery. If the number density of electrons in X is twice that in Y, find the ratio of drift velocity
of electrons in the two wires.
17. A wire of resistance 8R is bent in the form of a circle. What is the effective resistance between the
ends of a diameter AB?
18. State the underlying principle of a potentiometer.

CURRENT ELECTRICITY - 2 Mark Type

1. Draw a plot showing the variation of resistivity of a (i) conductor and (ii) semiconductor, with the
increase in temperature. How does one explain this behaviour in terms of number density of
charge carriers and the relaxation time?
2. Distinguish between emf ɛ, and terminal voltage V of a cell having internal resistance r. Draw a
plot showing the variation of terminal voltage V vs the current I drawn from the cell. Using this
plot, how does one determine the internal resistance of the cell?
3. A cell of emf ‘E’ and internal resistance ‘r’ is connected across a variable resistor ‘R’. Plot a
graph showing variation of terminal voltage ‘V’ of the cell versus the current ‘I’. Using the plot,
show how the emf of the cell and its internal resistance can be determined.

4. Estimate the average drift speed of conduction electrons in a copper wire of cross sectional area
1.0 x 10 -7 m 2 carrying a current of 1.5 A. Assume the density of conduction electrons to be 9 x
10 28 m -3.
5. In the circuit shown in Fig - 2, find the total resistance of the circuit and the current in the arm
CD.

Fig -2 Fig -3

6. Draw a graph showing variation of resistivity with temperature for nichrome. Which property of
nichrome is used to make standard resistance coils?
7. A battery of emf E and internal resistance r ohm when connected across an external resistance of
12 ꭥ produces a current of 0.5 A. When connected across a resistance of 25 ꭥ, it produces a
current of 0.25 A. Determine (i) the emf and (ii) the internal resistance of the cell.
8. A battery of emf E and internal resistance r ohm when connected across an external resistance of
5 ꭥ produces a current of 1 A. When connected across a resistance of 11 ꭥ, it produces a current
of 0.5 A. Determine (i) the emf and (ii) the internal resistance of the cell.
9. A battery of emf 10 V and internal resistance 3 ohm is connected to a resistor. If the current in the
circuit is 0.5 A, find: (i) the resistance of the resistor and (ii) the tertminal voltage of the battery.
10. A cell of emf E and internal resistance r is connected to two external resistances R1 and R2 and a
perfect ammeter. The current in the circuit is measured in four different situations:
(i) Without any external resistance in the circuit
(ii) With resistance R1 only
(iii) With R1 and R2 in series combination
(iv) With R1 and R2 in parallel combination

The currents measured in four cases are 0.42 A, 1.05 A, 1.4 A and 4.2 A, but not necessarily in
that order. Identify the currents corresponding to the four cases mentioned above.

11. Two heating elements of resistances R1 and R2 when operated at a constant supply voltage, V,
consume powers P1 and P2 respectively. Deduce the expressions for the power of their
combination when they are, in turn connected in (i) series and (ii) parallel across the same voltage
supply.
12. State Kirchoff’s rules. Explain briefly how these rules are justified.
13. A uniform wire of resistance 12 ꭥ is cut into three pieces so that the ratio of the resistances R1 : R2
: R3 = 1: 2: 3 and the three pieces are connected to form a triangle across which a cell of emf 8
V and internal resistance 1 ꭥ is connected as shown in Fig -3. Calculate the current through each
part of the circuit.
14. In the metre bridge experiment, balance point was observed at J with AJ = l
(i) The values of R and X were doubled and then interchanged. What would be the new
position of the balance point?
(ii) If the galvanometer and battery are interchanged at the balance position, how will the
balance point get affected?
15. The network PQRS, shown in the circuit diagram in Fig - 4, has the batteries of 4 V and 5 V and
negligible internal resistance. A milliammeter of 20 ꭥ resistance is connected between P and R.
Calculate the readings in the milliammeter.

Fig -4 Fig -5

16. Using Kirchoff’s rules in the given circuit in Fig -5, determine (i) the voltage drop across the
unknown resistor R and (ii) the current I in the arm EF.
17. Calculate the value of the unknown potential V for the given potentiometer circuit in Fig - 6. The
total length (400 cm) of the potentiometer wire has a resistance of 10 ꭥ and the balance point is
obtained at a length of 240 cm.
Fig -6 Fig -7

18. For the circuit shown in Fig - 7, would the balancing length increase, decrease or remain the
same, if, (i) R 1 is decreased, (ii) R2 is increased, without any other change, (in each case) in the
rest of the circuit. Justify your answer in each case.

CURRENT ELECTRICITY - 3 Mark Type

1. Define relaxation time of the free electrons. Define relaxation time of the free electrons drifting in
a conductor. How is it related to the drift velocity of free electrons? Use this relation to deduce the
expression for the electrical resistivity of the material
2. Define the term current density of a metallic conductor. Deduce the relation connecting current
density J and the conductivity σ of the conductor, when an electric field E, is applied to it.
3. Define the terms (i) drift velocity, (ii) relaxation time. A conductor of length L is connected to a
dc source of emf ϵ. If this conductor is replaced by another conductor of same material and same
area of cross section but of length 3 L, how will the drift velocity change?

4. Write any two factors on which internal resistance of a cell depends. The reading on a high
resistance voltmeter, when a cell is connected across it, is 2.2 V. When the terminals of the cell
are also connected to resistance of 5 ꭥ as shown in the circuit in Fig - 8 , the voltmeter reading
drops to 1.8 V. Find the internal resistance of the cell.
5. Two cells of emfs E1 and E2, having internal resistances r1 and r2 respectively are connected in
parallel as shown in Fig – 9. Deduce the expressions for the equivalent emf and equivalent
internal resistance of a cell which can replace the combination between the points B1 and B2.

Fig -8 Fig -9
6. In the electric network shown in the Figure - 10, use Kirchhoff’s rules to calculate the power
consumed by the resistance R = 4 ꭥ .
7. Answer the following: (a) Why are the connections between the resistors in a meter bridge made
of thick copper strips ? (b) Why is it generally preferred to obtain the balance point in the middle
of the meter bridge wire ? (c) Which material is used for the meter bridge and why?

8. State Kirchhoff’s laws of current distribution in an electrical network. Using these rules determine
the value of the current I1 in the electric circuit given below in Fig - 11.

Fig -10 Fig -11

9. The galvanometer, in each of the two given circuits shown in Fig - 12, does not show any
deflection. Find the ratio of the resistors R1 and R2 , used in these two circuits.
10. Using Kirchhoff’s rules determine the value of unknown resistance R in the circuit in Fig - 13 so
that no current flows through 4 ꭥ resistance. Also find the potential difference between A and
D.

Fig -12 Fig -13

11. Calculate the value of the resistance R in the circuit shown in the figure - 14, so that the current in
the circuit is 0.2 A. What would be the potential difference between points B and E?
12. What is Wheatstone bridge? Deduce the condition for which Wheatstone bridge is balanced.
OR

The given figure – 15 shows a network of resistances R1 , R2 , R3 and R4 . Using Kirchhoff’s

laws, establish the balance condition for the network.

OR

Use Kirchhoff's law to obtain the balance condition for Wheastone bridge.
Fig -14 Fig -15

13. In the circuit shown in Fig - 16, R1 = 4 ꭥ, R2 = R3 = 15 ꭥ, R4 = 30 ꭥ and E = 10 V. Calculate the

equivalent resistance of the circuit and the current in each resistor.

Fig -16 Fig -17

14. State Kirchhoff’s rules. Use these rules to write the expressions for the currents I 1 , I2 and I3 in
the circuit diagram shown in Fig - 17.

15. In a meter bridge shown in Fig - 18, the null point is found at a distance of 40 cm from A. If a
resistance of 12 ꭥ is connected in parallel with S, the null point occurs at 50.0 cm from A.
Determine the values of R and S.
V

Fig -18 Fig -19