Don’t understand how nonlinear resistors violate Ohm’s law

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Ohm’s law states that the voltage across a resistor is directly proportional to the current through. This is given by the formula v=iR. But most textbooks say that this law is violated when the v vs i graph is nonlinear. However, at each point along the graph of a non linear resistor, v=iR holds, only now R is changing. So, is my understanding of the above definition of Ohm’s law wrong? Is Ohm’s law exclusively defined for linear resistors?

Best Answer

What one refers to as "Ohm's law" is a linear relationship between the current and the potential difference, i.e., (see also this answer) $$ V = IR\text{ where } R=const $$ If $R$ is not a constant, the relationship is non-linear which is equivalent to saying that the Ohm's law does not hold.

One can (and does) introduce effective resistance/conductance that is dependent on the potential difference or current either as their ratio $$ R(V)=\frac{V}{I(V)} $$ or as a slope of the I-V characteristics $$ \frac{1}{R(V)}=\frac{dI(V)}{dV}. $$