Ohm’s Law

The power source V, leads electric current I through the resistor R. Thus we can say that the three quantities obey the law of Ohm.

Ohm’s Law relates the voltage (V), the current (I) and resistance (R).


Ohm discovered that the current in a circuit is directly proportional to the voltage applied to the edges of a circuit and inversely proportional to the resistance of the circuit.

V = I x R

This relationship can be expressed in three ways:

I = V / R

R = V / I

V = I x R


V    = voltage (Volts)

I     = current (Ampere)

R    = resistance (Ohm)

The corresponding relationship between units is: Ampere = Volts / Ohm

Thus in a given circuit, the voltage and the current are proportional to each other. This implies that if we double the voltage across the circuit, the current will be doubled; the higher the voltage, the greater the current. However, if we double the resistance of the circuit, the current will reduced by half; the greater the resistance, the less the current.

So by applying the relation V = I x R, if we know any two of the three quantities, we can find the third.

According to Ohm’s law if it is applied potential difference of 1 Volt to the edges of a circuit having a resistance of 1 Ohm, will be generate a current of 1 Ampere.