Understanding Ohm's Law: Electric Current & Potential Difference

AI Thread Summary
Ohm's law states that the electric current through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference across it. When a conductor is not connected to an external voltage source, the electric potential is uniform, resulting in a zero potential difference between any two points. Conversely, when connected to a voltage source, different potentials exist at each end, allowing current to flow and enabling the application of Ohm's law between any two points in the conductor. Ideal conductors theoretically have zero resistance, which could lead to infinite current in a perfect scenario, but practical conductors exhibit slight resistance, resulting in a small voltage drop that is often negligible. Understanding these principles is crucial for applying Ohm's law effectively in real-world scenarios.
donaldparida
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According to Ohm's law, "Physical conditions remaining the same, the electric current flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two ends of the conductor"
I have two conceptual queries:
FIRST
When the ends of the conductor are not connected to any external electric potential difference source, the electric potential throughout the conductor remains the same and the electric potential difference across any two arbitrarily selected points in the conductor is 0. Am i correct in saying this?
SECOND
When the ends of the conductor are connected to an external electric potential difference source, the ends of the conductor attain different electric potentials and current exists across the conductor. Every point in the conductor is at different electric potential and the electric potential decreases from one end to the other. Ohm's law can be applied for any two arbitrarily selected points in the conductor in this case and not only for the ends or terminals of the conductor. Am i correct in saying this?
Also does charge require any potential difference to flow across a conductor(ideal)?(V=IR=>V=I*0=>V=0, according to me)
 
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donaldparida said:
When the ends of the conductor are not connected to any external electric potential difference source, the electric potential throughout the conductor remains the same and the electric potential difference across any two arbitrarily selected points in the conductor is 0. Am i correct in saying this?
Yes.
donaldparida said:
When the ends of the conductor are connected to an external electric potential difference source, the ends of the conductor attain different electric potentials and current exists across the conductor. Every point in the conductor is at different electric potential and the electric potential decreases from one end to the other. Ohm's law can be applied for any two arbitrarily selected points in the conductor in this case and not only for the ends or terminals of the conductor. Am i correct in saying this?
Ideally no, practically yes.

Ideal conductors have zero resistance. If you connect the terminals of an ideal voltage source (zero internal resistance) with an ideal conductor, you'll have infinite current. So this is not a valid situation in circuit theory.

Practically, every conductor has a non-zero but very small resistance and hence, there is a small voltage drop across the conductor. This voltage drop, being negligibly small, is often neglected in practice and the conductors are assumed to be ideal.
 
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