Resistance: Ohm's Law

Resistance is the opposition offered by a substance to the passage through it of a steady electric current. We can say that conductive materials such as aluminum offer the least resistance to the flow electrons (electrical current), whereas the insulating materials offer strong resistance. In physics the electrical unit of resistance is called Ohm (Ω).

The resistance of a wire is directly proportional to its length, and inversely proportional to its width. That is to say that the longer the wire is, the more resistance it will offer; and the wider it is, the less resistance it will offer. So, Ω=length/width.

Ohm's law: the Ohm's law states that the strength of an electric current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference (the voltage) across the two points, and inversely proportional to the resistance between them. The equation that describes this relationship is:

I= V/Ω, whereas I is the current in ampere, V the potential difference in volts, and Ω the resistance. The law was named after the German physicist Georg Ohm, who described measurements of applied voltage and current through simple electrical circuits containing various lengths of wire.