Internal Resistance

OCR AS-level PhysicsElectricityLesson 27 of 30

Work has to be done to move charge carriers through a power source so energy is lost when current flows through the source and the source gets hot.

In a solar cell the materials resist the flow of charge. In a chemical cell the chemicals react together.

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energy: The capacity of a system to do work.
power: The rate at which work is done, or the rate of transfer of energy.
potential difference: The work done, or energy transferred, per unit charge as charge moves between two points in a circuit.
electromotive force: The energy transferred per unit charge from other forms of energy into electrical energy by a source such as a cell.
resistance: The ratio of the potential difference across a component to the current through it.