Back to Circuits

Lesson PreviewLesson 3 of 6 in this unit

7.3 Resistance & Ohm's Law

Part of Circuits in Honors Physics. Read the opening section, then create a free account for the full interactive lesson, practice, and progress tracking.

Start free

Resistance

Resistance is a material's tendency to resist the flow of electric charge. Resistors are the components in a circuit that are typically associated with having resistance. Think about them as being in a zig-zag shape, making electrons bump into the walls and slowing them down, reducing the current. The electrons transform their kinetic energy into thermal energy and heat up the resistor and its environment, which will be explained further in the next lesson. Resistance is a scalar, measured in Ohms (Ω), and represented with the variable R{R}. Note that wires have no resistance conventionally.

In this unit

6 lessons

  1. 7.1Electric CurrentPreview lesson
  2. 7.2CircuitsPreview lesson
  3. 7.3Resistance & Ohm's LawThis lesson
  4. 7.4Electric PowerPreview lesson
  5. 7.5DC CircuitsPreview lesson
  6. 7.6Kirchhoff's RulesPreview lesson

Continue the full lesson in Stellar

Create a free account to unlock the remaining sections, checkpoints, course practice, and progress tracking for Honors Physics.

Start free