What causes or reduces resistance in a material?

Resistance can be thought of as the amount of distruption to the flow of electrons. If we look at the equation for resitivity:R=kl/A,where k is the resistivity of the material (and is dependant on the material), l is the length of the material and A the area. We can see that as l increases in size so does R. While if we increase the size of A, R will get smaller. Your answer is shown in the algebra for you, the reason for this is that as the electrons flow through a material, the further they have to flow the more likely they are to be interruped. Wheras if the material has a larger area they can flow more freely with less chance of collision.

Answered by Daniel G. Physics tutor

1023 Views

See similar Physics A Level tutors

Related Physics A Level answers

All answers ▸

What is the minimum initial velocity necessary for an object to leave Earth?


How can an object be accelerating if it does not change in speed?


Explain how the photoelectric effect gives evidence for the photon theory of light.


An alpha particle is accelerated with 5MeV of kinetic energy towards the nucleus of a gold atom with atomic number 79. What is the distance of closest approach that is reached by the alpha particle?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences