My name is Alexander FufaeV and here I write about:

What is the Difference Between an Ohmic and Non-Ohmic Conductor?

Ohmic conductors are characterized by the fact that the set voltage $U$ on the ohmic conductor is proportional to the electric current $I$, where the proportionality constant is the electric resistance $R$:

$$ \begin{align} U = R \, I, ~~~ R = \text{const.} \end{align} $$

If the voltage $U$ is doubled, then the current $I$ through the conductor is also doubled.

What is an ohmic conductor?

The resistance $R$ of an ohmic conductor is constant and the U-I graph is a straight line.

An ohmic conductor has a straight U-I graph, a non-ohmic conductor has a curved U-I graph.

Non-Ohmic conductors, on the other hand, are all conductors that do not satisfy Ohm's law 1. This means that the doubling of the voltage $U$ does not have to result in the doubling of the current $I$. In illustration 2, the U-I graphs of non-ohmic conductors are sketched as examples: Transistor graph (1), gas discharge graph (2) and diode graph (3).

Three examples of U-I graphs of non-ohmic conductors.

What is a non-ohmic conductor?

For non-ohmic conductors, the resistance depends on the voltage and the U-I graph is not a straight line.