What is Resistance?

- Resistance is the property of a material or substances like a conductor (it is also called electrical
resistance). It is denoted by the letter R.
- a measure of the opposition to current flow in an electrical circuit.
- *In other words, it is the opposing force that restricts the flow of the electron through the
material or substance.

What is Resistors?
- are versatile electric components that are commonly used in almost every electrical
device around you. The main function of the resistors is that they offer resistance to the
flow of electric current in the electrical devices.
*it is also called passive electrical elements as they themselves do not release any
energy, instead, they absorb the energy and release it in the form of heat, when the
electric current is flowing through them.

EXAMPLES OF RESISTORS
1. Street Lighting - The street lights get automatically switched on in the evening and
switched off in the sunlight. This is because they sense the brightness and the darkness
due to the presence of photoresistors in them.
*The resistance of the photoresistors changes with the change in the intensity of the
light, by using this phenomenon the circuits of the street lights are designed, and they
automatically switched on and off during the night and day respectively.
2. Laptop and Mobile Chargers – it contain many resistors in them as they control the flow
of current and dissipate heat. Various current readings like 1 A, 2A, 500mA, 700mA, etc.,
are inscribed on every charger.
*these readings represent the amount of current that a particular charger can allow to
pass through the mobile or laptop and the speed of the charger in charging the devices.
3. Temperature Control - The temperature or heat in the circuit can be varied by changing
the resistance in the circuit. This can be understood by Joule’s law of heating; Joule’s
law states that the heat in the circuit is directly proportional to the square of the current
(I), Resistance (R), and time (t),
*so, it is clear from this expression that the temperature of the circuit can be varied by
varying the values of current, time, and resistance.
4. Fan Speed Controller - We can change the speed of the ceiling fans by rotating the knob
present on the circuit board. This knob is attached to a variable resistor, called a
potentiometer.
*When we rotate that knob, the resistance values change that results in a change in the
electric current. Hence, the speed of the fan can be controlled by using the
potentiometer.
 5. Fusible Resistors - The fusible resistor is actually a wire-wound resistor. It works as a
normal resistor that limits the electric current at the given power supply, but if the
power supply exceeds the normal value, then it acts like a fuse, and it gets burned, and
it is turned into an open circuit, protecting the devices from the short-circuit.
*So, fusible resistors can be used to perform dual functions, i.e., as a fuse and as normal
resistors in the electric circuits.

TWO TYPES OF RESISTORS - (Variable, Fixed, Thermistors, Varistors,

Photoresistors, Magneto Resistors)
1. Variable Resistors - It is applied in an electronic circuit for adjusting circuit resistance to
control voltage or current of that circuit or part of that circuit.
-*also a type of resistor whose electrical resistance value can be adjusted on demand.

There are main categories of Variable Resistors:

*Potentiometer, Rheostat, Digital Resistor, and Preset

2. Fixed Resistors – these are most commonly used resistors. They have a fixed value of
resistance.
*These are categorized into the following categories
CARBON COMPOSITION - These resistors are made up of carbon particles. For example,
graphite and ceramic dust. They are bound together with a binder under high temperature and
high-pressure conditions.
* This mixture is then molded in a case and fixed either with metal wires or leads and withstand
high energy and are mostly used in high voltage power supplies.
WIREWOUND RESISTORS - a nichrome or a manganin wire is wounded around a core. the wire
conducts electricity with some resistance, while the core is non-conductive.
*Therefore, The core is usually made up of ceramic, plastic, or glass. These resistors work very
accurately for high power ratings and low resistance values.
THICK FILM - These are the widely used resistors in the electronic industry. In these types of
resistors, a ceramic base is layered with a thick resistive film, which is a paste of glass and metal
oxide mixture.
3. Thermistors - The resistance of the thermistors changes with the change in the
temperature. They are so sensitive that even a small change in the temperature can cause a
resistance change of even more than 100 ohms.
*they are broadly divided into two types
Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC)
Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC)

4. Varistors - The electrical resistance of the varistors varies with the applied voltage. So, they
are also known as voltage-dependent resistors (VDR)
*They offer high electrical resistance at low voltages and low resistance at high voltages, and
their resistance drops very rapidly above a certain value of threshold voltage.

5. Photoresistors - also known as light-dependent resistors (LDR) as their resistance

decreases with the increase in the intensity of light due to the photoconductivity process.
*Photoresistors are used in the light-sensitive detectors, and light & dark activated switching
circuits. They have a very high resistance in terms of mega-ohms in the dark, while a very low
resistance of few ohms in the light.

6. Magneto Resistors - the magneto resistors or magnetic dependent resistors (MDR) varies
with the strength and the direction of the magnetic field. MDR works on the principle of
magnetoresistance effect.

*It is widely used in electronic compass, position sensors, and ferrous metal detection.

UNIT OF RESISTANCE
- The resistance is measured in ohm. Therefore, OHM is represented by the Greek letter Ω
(omega).

Georg Simon Ohm (1784-1854) *ohms named after Georg

- a German physicist who studied the relationship between voltage, current and resistance. He is
credited for formulating Ohm's Law.
- *He also states that the current flow through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential
(voltage) and inversely proportional to the resistance.
- The unit of resistance is symbol as SI.
- One Volt (1V) is applied across two ends of a conductor and One Ampere (1A) is current flows
through it, then the resistance of the conductor is said to be One Ohm. *So in SI (unit of
resistance) One Ohm is equal to One Volt and One Ampere.
- The unit ohm is basically used for moderate resistance values.
How Resistance works?
- When the voltage or potential difference is applied across a conductor, then the free electrons
start moving. While the electrons moving, they collide with each other. *Due to collision, the
rate of flow of electrons is restricted, which offers some obstruction opposite to the flow of
electrons through the material or substance. That’s why the substance to the flow of electric
current is called resistance.

There are types of Large and Small Resistance

Resistance Units Unit representation Symbol

Milli Ohm mΩ
Micro Ohm µΩ
Nano Ohm nΩ
Kilo Ohm KΩ
Mega Ohm MΩ
Giga Ohm GΩ

Resistance Symbol
CIRCUIT SYMBOLS – used to represent electrical resistance.
Two Main Types of Circuit Symbols:
Zig-Zag line – *which is widely used in North America
Small Rectangle box with Two Terminals – *which is widely used in Europe and Asia.

LAWS OF RESISTANCE
There are 4 types of Law Resistance that affecting the Electrical resistance of conducting material;

First Law - The First Law states that “the resistance (R) of conductive material is directly proportional
to the length (L) of the material.
 - *According to the first law, the resistance of the conducting material increases with the increase
in the length of the conducting material and decreases with the decrease in the length of the
conducting material.

Second Law - The Second Law states that “the resistance (R) of conductive material is inversely
proportional to the cross-sectional area (A) of that material”

- *According to this law, the resistance of conductive material increases with the decrease in the
cross-sectional area of conductive material, and the resistance decreases with an increase in the
cross-sectional area of conductive material.

Third Law - This third Law states that “the resistance value of the conducting material depends upon
the nature of that material”.

- *For example, two wires having the same length and cross-sectional area, but they are made up
of different types of materials. That’s why they have different resistance values.

Fourth Law - The Fourth Law states that “the resistance of the conducting material depends upon
the temperature of it”

- *According to this law, the resistance value of a metallic conductor is increased with increases in
the temperature of that metallic conductor.

*Considering the first, second, and third law and neglecting the fourth law, we get a relation between
Electrical resistance, Length cross-sectional area of the conductor.

There are 2 materials resist in current flow:

Conductors – Materials that offer very little resistance where electrons can move easily.

EXAMPLES: silver, copper, gold and aluminum.

Insulators – Materials that present high resistance and restrict the flow of electrons.
EXAMPLES: Rubber, Paper, glass, wood and plastic.

*the different between of these 2 is that the Conductor allows the energy between current and heat.
Meanwhile the Insulator does not allow the energy to pass through it.