Question
A student sets up this circuit to investigate how the current through a resistor varies with the potential difference. For a given potential difference the reading on the ammeter is 0.2 A. They reverse the connections to the cells. What will the reading on the ammeter be now?
Answer
4.5
(272 Votes)
Harrison
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
0.2 A
Explanation
## Step 1:In a simple circuit, the current flow is determined by Ohm's law, which states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points. It is represented as
, where
is the current,
is the voltage (or potential difference), and
is the resistance.## Step 2:The question states that the student reverses the connections to the cells. This means that the direction of the current will change, but the magnitude of the current will remain the same. This is because the potential difference and the resistance in the circuit have not changed.## Step 3:Therefore, the reading on the ammeter, which measures the current, will still be
, but the direction of the current will be reversed.