Physics 202: Lecture 5 & Physics 2B: Lecture 13

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture notes.

Resistance

Opposition to the flow of electric current in a circuit.

Resistors

Components designed to provide a specific resistance in a circuit.

Series Circuit

A circuit where components are connected one after another along a single path.

Parallel Circuit

A circuit where components are connected along multiple paths.

Ohm's Law

The relationship between voltage, current, and resistance in an electrical circuit (V = IR).

Electric Circuit

A closed path through which electrons can flow.

Current

The rate of flow of electric charge through a conductor.

Kirchhoff's Laws

A set of laws that describe the conservation of charge and energy in electrical circuits.

Electrostatic Equilibrium

A condition where there is no net motion of charge within a conductor.

Capacitor

An electrical component used to store electrical energy in an electric field.

Capacitance

The measure of a capacitor's ability to store charge (C = Q/V).

Farad (F)

The unit of capacitance.

Parallel Plate Capacitor

A capacitor made of two parallel conducting plates separated by a distance.

Permittivity of Free Space (ε0)

A physical constant that describes the ability of a vacuum to permit electric fields.

Dielectric

An insulating material placed between the plates of a capacitor to increase its capacitance.

Dielectric Constant (κ)

A measure of how much the capacitance of a capacitor increases when a dielectric is inserted between its plates.

Equivalent Capacitance (Ceq)

The total capacitance of a combination of capacitors in a circuit.

Stored Energy in a Capacitor (U)

The amount of energy stored in a charged capacitor (U = 1/2 QV = 1/2 CV^2 = 1/2 Q^2/C).