Electric current metal (ideal) resistor (or other ohmic device): where formula_6 is the current, measured in amperes; formula_26 is the potential difference, measured in volts; and formula_27 is the resistance, measured in ohms. For alternating currents, especially at higher frequencies, skin effect causes the current to spread unevenly across the conductor cross-section, with higher density near the surface, thus increasing the apparent resistance. The mobile charged particles within a conductor move constantly in random directions, like the particles of a gas. (More accurately, a Fermi gas.) To create a net flow of charge, the particles must also move together with an average
Electrical resistance and conductance referred to as a "chordal resistance" or "static resistance", since it corresponds to the inverse slope of a chord between the origin and an "I–V" curve. In other situations, the derivative formula_2 may be most useful; this is called the "differential resistance". In the hydraulic analogy, current flowing through a wire (or resistor) is like water flowing through a pipe, and the voltage drop across the wire is like the pressure drop that pushes water through the pipe. Conductance is proportional to how much flow occurs for a given pressure, and resistance is proportional to how much pressure is required