BRAINCAKEElectronic Components
Many electronic components are used to control the current and potential difference in a circuit. The current through a component can be varied using either a variable resistor or a potential divider.
A variable resistor (rheostat) is connected in series with the component. Changing its resistance changes the current, but the current and p.d. across the component can never be reduced to zero.
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Key terms in this lesson
- Potential difference
- The energy transferred per unit charge as charge moves between two points in a circuit.
- Potential divider
- A circuit of two or more resistors in series connected across a source of fixed potential difference, used to produce a smaller, fixed or variable, output p.d.
More in Electric Current
- Measuring Resistance
- Ohm's Law
- Resistivity
- Superconductivity
- Investigating the Characteristics of Components
- IV Graphs
- Fixed Resistors
- Filament Lamp
All 20 lessons in Electric Current · All AQA AS-level Physics topics