What is Ohms Law – formula, equation & triangle

Ohm's Law is one of the most fundamental of laws for electrical theory. The Ohms Law formula links voltage and current to the properties of the conductor in a circuit.

Ohm's Law is one of the most fundamental and important laws governing electrical and electronic circuits.

Ohm's Law relates the voltage or potential across a load to the current flowing though it.

With current and voltage being two of the major circuit quantities, this means that Ohm's Law is also immensely important.

Ohm's Law discovery

There is a mathematical relationship which links current, voltage and resistance. A German scientist named Georg Ohm performed many experiments in an effort to show a link between the three. In the days when he was performing his experiments there were no meters as we know them today.

Only after considerable effort and at the second attempt did he manage to devise what we know today as Ohm's Law.

Ohm's Law definition

Ohm's Law states that the current flowing in a circuit is directly proportional to the applied potential difference and inversely proportional to the resistance in the circuit.

In other words by doubling the voltage across a circuit the current will also double. However if the resistance is doubled the current will fall by half.

In this mathematical relationship the unit of resistance is measured in Ohms.

Ohm's Law formula

The Ohm's Law formula or equation is very straightforward.

Ohm's law can be expressed in a mathematical form:

$V=IR$
Where:
V = voltage expressed in Volts
I = current expressed in Amps
R = resistance expressed in Ohms

The formula can be manipulated so that if any two quantities are known the third can be calculated.

$I=\frac{V}{R}$
$R=\frac{V}{I}$

Ohm's law triangle

To help remember the formula it is possible to use a triangle with one side horizontal and the peak at the top like a pyramid. This is sometimes known as the Ohm's law triangle.

In the top corner of the Ohms law triangle is the letter V, in the left hand corner, the letter I, and in the right hand bottom corner, R.

To use the triangle cover up the unknown quantity and then and then calculate it from the other two. If they are in line they are multiplied, but if one is on top of the other then they should be divided. In other words if current has to be calculated the voltage is divided by the resistance i.e. V/R and so forth.

If the voltage has to be calculated then it is found by multiplying the current by the resistance i.e. I x R.

Ohms Law calculation example

If a voltage of 10 volts is placed across a 500 ohm resistor determine the amount of current that will flow.

Looking at the Ohms Law triangle the current is the unknown leaving the voltage and resistance as the known values.

In this way the current is found by dividing the voltage by the resistance.

Linear graph

It can be seen that if the voltage and current were plotted for a fixed resistor or a length of wire, etc, there would be a linear curve.

It can be seen that doubling the voltage doubles the current that passes through the particular circuit element.

On the graph, there are two lines, one for a higher resistance - this one requires more voltage to be applied for a given current flowing. Accordingly this must have a higher resistance. Conversely the curve for the lower resistance shows a component that requires a lower voltage to be applied for a given current.

Non-linear components

Ohm’s law in its basic form where a doubling in voltage results in a doubling in current applies to linear components like ordinary resistors. Some components like diodes have non-linear curves where the resistance is affected by the applied voltage.

Ohm’s Law is one of the most basic concepts within electrical and electronic engineering. The concept of an item having a certain resistance which determines the amount of current that flows through it for a certain voltage is key to the operation virtually all circuits.

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