Three metallic segments are welded end-to-end to form a single conductor

PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Current Electricity · Current Electricity

Problem

Three metallic segments are welded end-to-end to form a single conductor. The first segment is 20 cm20\,\text{cm} long, made of copper (ρ=1.7×10−8 Ω⋅m\rho = 1.7 \times 10^{-8}\,\Omega\cdot\text{m}) with cross-sectional area 1.0 mm21.0\,\text{mm}^2. The second segment is 30 cm30\,\text{cm} long, made of aluminium (ρ=2.8×10−8 Ω⋅m\rho = 2.8 \times 10^{-8}\,\Omega\cdot\text{m}) with area 1.5 mm21.5\,\text{mm}^2. The third segment is 25 cm25\,\text{cm} long, made of iron (ρ=1.0×10−7 Ω⋅m\rho = 1.0 \times 10^{-7}\,\Omega\cdot\text{m}) with area 0.8 mm20.8\,\text{mm}^2. (i) Calculate the resistance of each segment at room temperature. (ii) Determine the total resistance of the composite conductor. (iii) A potential difference of 5.0 V5.0\,\text{V} is applied across the free ends of the composite conductor. Find the current in the circuit. (iv) Compute the potential drop across each individual segment.

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