Current - Continuity Equation

8.
022 (E&M) Lecture 7

Topics:
Electrical currents
Conductivity and resistivity
Ohms law in microscopic and macroscopic form
Electric current I
Consider a region in which there is a flow of charges:
E.g. cylindrical conductor
We define a current:
the charge/unit time flowing through a certain surface
I=
dQ
dt
Units:
cgs: esu/s
SI: C/s=ampere (A)
Conversion: 1 A = 2.998 x 109 esu/s
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
Current density J
Number density: n = #charges / unit volume
Velocity of each charge: u
ut
A
Current flowing through area A: I = Q / t
where Q= q x number of charges in the prism
I=
Q qN qnV prism qnA cos ut

=
=
=
= qnu i A = J i A
t
t
t
t
Where we defined the current density J as: J qnu

G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
3
: =volume charge densi
ty
More realistic case

We made a number of unrealistic assumptions:
only 1 kind of charge carriers: we could have several, e.g.: + and ions
u assumed to be the same for all particles: unrealistic!
regular surface with J constant on it
Multiple charge carriers:
J qk nk uk k uk
k
E.g.: solution with different kind of ions

NB: + ion with velocity uk is equivalent to ion with velocity -uk
Velocity:
Not all charges have the same velocity
average velocity
J qk nk uk k uk
k
uk =
1
Nk
(u )
k i
Arbitrary surface S, arbitrary J: I =
J idA
S
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
Non standard currents

We usually think of currents as electrons moving inside a conductor
This is only one of the many examples!
Other kinds of currents

Ions in solution such as Salt (NaCl) in water (Demo F5)
+
+
+
+
Cl-
Na+
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
The continuity equation

A current I flows through the closed surface S:
Some charge enters
Some charge exits
What happens to the charge after it enters?

Piles up inside
Leaves the surface
J i dA =
Qinside
t
J
J
NB: - because dA points outside the surface
Apply Gausss theorem and obtain continuity equation:
J i dA = i JdV
S
V
Q inside =
dV
t V
t
G. Sciolla MIT
i J + t dV
8.022 Lecture 7
= 0 iJ +
=0
t
6
Thoughts on continuity equation

Continuity equation:
=0
t
What does it teach us?
i J +
J
S
J
J
Conservation of electric charges in presence of currents

For steady currents:
no accumulation of charges inside the surface: d/dt=0
i J = 0
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
Microscopic Ohms law

Electric fields cause charges to move
Experimentally, it was observed by Ohm that
J =E
Microscopic version of Ohms law:
It reflects the proportionality between E and J in each point
Proportionality constant: conductivity
More stuff here please

G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
Macroscopic Ohms law

Current is flowing in a uniform material of length L in
uniform electric field E // L
J
L
Potential difference between two ends: V=EL
Ohms law J=E holds in every point:
J =E
I
V
=
A
L
G. Sciolla MIT
V = IR
where
L
A
8.022 Lecture 7
Resistance R
Proportionality constant between V and R in Ohms law
L
L
R
A
A
Units: [V]=[R][I]
SI: Ohm () = V/A
cgs: s/cm
Dependence on the geometry:

Inversely proportional to A and proportional to L
Dependence on the property of the material:

Inversely proportional to conductivity
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
10
Resistivity
Resistivity = 1/
Describes how fast electrons can travel in the material
Units: in SI: m; in cgs: s
Depends on chemistry of material, temperature,

Demos F1 and F4
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
11
Resistivity vs. Temperature

Does resistivity depend on T?
Demos F1 and F4
Why?
Room temperature:
depends upon collisional processes
when T increases
more collisions
T
increases
Very low temperature:

Mean free path dominated by impurities or defects in the
~ constant with temperature.
material
With sufficient purity, some metals become superconductors
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
12
Application:
Resistance of a spherical shell
2 concentric spheres; material in between has resistivity

Difference in potential V
current
inner=V; outer=0
Q: what is the resistance R?
Microscopic Ohm will hold: J=E

spherical potential: ( r ) = A + B
Spherical symmetry
r
Boundary conditions: (a)=V and (b)=0
V
a
V=0
a
ab 1
b
a
r
b
a
ab 1
ab 1
E=-grad(): E ( r ) = V
r J = V
b a r2
b a r2
ba
ab
V
V
I = J i dA = J i A = 4 V
R= =
=
ab
b
a
I
4
ab
Sphere
4 V
b
a
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
(r ) = V
13
What if is not constant?

Cylindrical wire made of 2 conductors with conductivity 1 and 2
I
What is the consequence?

Current flowing must be the same in the whole cylinder
I = A 1 E1 = A 2 E2
Electric fields are different in the 2 regions
E discontinuous
surface layer q at the boundary
q =
Esurface
4
E2 E1 I ( 2 1 )
=
4
4 A
When conductivity changes there is the possibility that some charge accumulates
somewhere. This is necessary to maintain steady flow.
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
14
Thoughts on Ohms law

Ohms law in microscopic formulation: J = E
In plain English:
A constant electric field creates a steady current:
Does this make sense? F = ma E a
Ev
Charges are moving in an effectively viscous medium

As sky diver in free fall: first accelerate, then reach constant v
Why? Charges are accelerated by E but then bump into nuclei
and are scattered
the average behavior is a uniform drift
E
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
15
Motion of electrons in conductor

N electrons are moving in a material immersed in E
Two components contribute to the momentum:
Random collision velocity u0:
Impulse due to electric field:
pRandom = mu0
pE = qEt
The average momentum is:

1 N
1 N
1 N
p = m u = (mui + qEti ) = m ui + qE ti
N i =1
N i =1
N i =1
N
For large N:
i =1
m u =
qE N
ti qE
N i =1
ti is the average time between 2 collisions
Where
i =1
Property of the material
G. Sciolla MIT
8.022 Lecture 7
16
Conductivity
From this derivation we can read off the conductivity
J = nq u
m u = qE
J = nq
qE
= E
m
nq 2
m
For multiple carriers:

N
=
i =1
G. Sciolla MIT
nk qk 2 k
mk
8.022 Lecture 7
17

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8.

022 (E&M) Lecture 7

Q qN qnV prism qnA cos ut

Where we defined the current density J as: J qnu

More realistic case

Multiple charge carriers:

E.g.: solution with different kind of ions

Arbitrary surface S, arbitrary J: I =

Non standard currents

Other kinds of currents

The continuity equation

What happens to the charge after it enters?

NB: - because dA points outside the surface

Apply Gausss theorem and obtain continuity equation:

Thoughts on continuity equation

What does it teach us?

Conservation of electric charges in presence of currents

Microscopic Ohms law

More stuff here please

Macroscopic Ohms law

Dependence on the geometry:

Dependence on the property of the material:

Depends on chemistry of material, temperature,

Resistivity vs. Temperature

Very low temperature:

Resistance of a spherical shell

2 concentric spheres; material in between has resistivity

Q: what is the resistance R?

Microscopic Ohm will hold: J=E

What if is not constant?

What is the consequence?

Thoughts on Ohms law

Charges are moving in an effectively viscous medium

Motion of electrons in conductor

The average momentum is:

ti is the average time between 2 collisions

For multiple carriers:

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