{"id":2063,"date":"2022-05-27T06:02:06","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T06:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/35.94.173.37\/blog\/?p=2063"},"modified":"2026-05-06T18:31:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:31:05","slug":"engineering-fundamentals-ohms-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/engineering-fundamentals-ohms-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering Fundamentals: Ohm\u2019s Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ohm\u2019s Law, discovered by Georg Simon Ohm and first published in 1827, is the earliest and arguably most important connection between current, voltage, and resistance. A straightforward and practical technique for studying electric circuits, Ohm\u2019s Law is very commonly used and has been documented on a broad range of scales. For aspiring electrical engineers studying the basics or for seasoned professionals looking to refresh their knowledge, this scientific law is worth having a deep understanding of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

More About Voltage, Currents, and Resistance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Current flows are the continuous flow of free electrons through a circuit. This can be likened to liquid flowing through a hollow pipe.\u00a0Voltage\u00a0is the force that causes electrons to \u201cflow\u201d in a circuit. The higher the voltage, the stronger the force pushing electrons from one end of a circuit to another..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resistance<\/strong> refers to the resistance of motion \/ amount of friction present as free electrons pass across conductors. The quantity of current<\/strong> in a circuit is determined by the voltage available to drive the electrons as well as the degree of resistance in the circuit to prevent electron flow. Resistance, like voltage, is a quantity that exists between two places. As a result, voltage and resistance values are frequently expressed as \u201cbetween\u201d or \u201cacross\u201d two locations in a circuit. In order to make meaningful assertions about these characteristics in circuits, we need to be able to quantify them similarly to how we would for temperature, length, or any physical property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this reason, specific measurements are used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

> Current<\/strong> is measured in Ampere, or \u201cAmps\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

> Voltage<\/strong> is measured in Volts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

> Resistance<\/strong> is measured in Ohms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does Ohm\u2019s Law State?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For any given temperature, Ohm\u2019s law asserts that the amount of electric current flowing through a metal conductor in a circuit is always proportional to the voltage across it. The law is described in the equation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E = 1R<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where voltage (represented by E), is equal to the current (represented by I) multiplied by the resistance (represented by R). This equation can be re-written to solve for either I or R:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I = E\/R <\/strong>or R = E\/I<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Closeup<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WATER AND PIPE ANALOGY<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To think of this concept another way, consider how Ohm\u2019s Law can be thought of as water going through a pipe. In this analogy, the three variables can be described as water pump pressure (voltage), the water (current), and a constraint (resistance), respectively. Assuming that the resistance to the flow of water remains constant despite the rise in pump pressure, then it stands to reason that the flow rate must increase with it. If the pressure remains constant but the resistance rises (making the water flow more difficult), the flow rate must decrease. If the flow rate remained constant but the resistance to flow decreased, the pump\u2019s necessary pressure would also decrease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELECTRICAL POWER CALCULATION<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Aside from voltage and current, power is another way to quantify free electron activity within a circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broadly defined, power refers to the metric that measures how quickly a certain quantity of work is completed. Within the context of circuitry, power is defined as a function of voltage and current in electric circuits. This is outlined using the equation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P = IE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In which P is representative of power, which is equal to the current multiplied by the voltage. The unit of measurement for power is measured in watts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mathematical link between the dissipation of power and current through a resistance was discovered by a man named James Prescott Joule. Published in 1841, this finding became known as Joule\u2019s Law, and is represented by the equations of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P = I2R<\/strong>, P = IE<\/strong>, and P = E2\/R<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RESISTANCE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Resistors are devices that are used in electric circuits to give exact quantities of resistance. Both the resistance (measured in ohms) and the capacity to disperse thermal energy are used to assess resistors (measured in watts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although estimated power ratings may be calculated from the physical dimensions of the resistor(s) in question, resistor resistance ratings cannot. The greater the resistor, the more it can properly dissipate power without causing harm to the circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A load is defined as any equipment that uses electricity to accomplish a beneficial purpose. In schematic designs, resistor symbols are sometimes used to signify a non-specific load rather than one of a real resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The information and formulas in the post are derived from Chapter 2 of \u201cLessons in Electric Circuits \u2013 Volume 1\u201d by Tony R. Kuphaldt under the design science license. https:\/\/www.gnu.org\/licenses\/dsl.html<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ohm\u2019s Law, discovered by Georg Simon Ohm and first published in 1827, is the earliest and arguably most important connection between current, voltage, and resistance. A straightforward and practical technique for studying electric circuits, Ohm\u2019s Law is very commonly used and has been documented on a broad range of scales. For aspiring electrical engineers studying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[124,161,505,510,675,910,958],"class_list":["post-2063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-circuits","tag-circuits","tag-current","tag-obsolete-tech","tag-ohms-law","tag-resistance","tag-technology","tag-voltage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2063"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3798,"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063\/revisions\/3798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.apexwaves.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}