Internal resistance
Perform the following demonstrations to illustrate the effects of internal resistance.
• Use an EHT supply with an internal safety resistor. Set the supply to a few kilovolts. Ask students to predict what will happen if a milliammeter is connected between the terminals (they will almost certainly predict a huge current that will burn out the meter). Demonstrate what really happens: there is a current of just a few milliamps.
• Connect a voltmeter to the terminals of a dry cell. Ask students to predict what will happen to the voltmeter reading if a torch bulb is connected, then show what happens (the meter reading falls). Then connect an identical bulb in parallel: the bulbs glow less brightly and the meter reading falls further.
Using clear diagrams on the board or OHP, explain that any real power supply has some internal resistance and show how this can account for the observations. Introduce the terms terminal potential difference and electromotive force (e.m.f.) and explain that both are ‘voltages’ (i.e. a measure of energy transferred to, or by, charge). Show the derivations of relationships between current I, terminal pd V, e.m.f. E, internal resistance r and external resistance R (e.g. E = I(R + r) = V + Ir).