Ohm's law

noun

, Electricity.

1. the law that for any circuit the electric current is directly proportional to the voltage and is inversely proportional to the resistance.

Ohm's law

noun

1. the principle that the electric current passing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference across it, provided that the temperature remains constant. The constant of proportionality is the resistance of the conductor

Ohm's law

/ ōmz /

1. A law relating the voltage difference between two points, the electric current flowing between them, and the resistance of the path of the current. Mathematically, the law states that V = IR, where V is the voltage difference, I is the current in amperes, and R is the resistance in ohms. For a given voltage, higher resistance entails lower current flow.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Ohm's law¹

First recorded in 1840–50; named after G. S. Ohm

Example Sentences

Electric conduction, which is crucial for many devices, follows Ohm's law: a current responds proportionally to applied voltage.

From Science Daily

Among much else, and without telling anyone, Cavendish discovered or anticipated the law of the conservation of energy, Ohm’s law, Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures, Richter’s Law of Reciprocal Proportions, Charles’s Law of Gases, and the principles of electrical conductivity.

From Literature

Ohm’s Law: Anyone who so much as touches a high-voltage issue will encounter disproportionate resistance.

From Washington Post

Professor Ohm, who made a special study of the relative effects of the resistance inserted in the circuit, the electromotive force, and the current produced, enunciated the following law, which, after him, has been called "Ohm's Law."

From Project Gutenberg

Almanack, Young appointed superintendent of the, 232.Newton's analysis and synthesis of white light, 213;rings, Young's explanation of, 222;theory of light, 219.Nicol prisms given to Clerk Maxwell, 282.O.Œrsted's discovery, 255.Ohm's law, discovered by Cavendish, 143;meaning of, 143.Optical glass, Faraday's work on, 259.Otto von Guericke, contributions of, to electricity, 3;experiments of, with the Magdeburg hemispheres, 17.P.Paris,

From Project Gutenberg