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Ohm's law is not a "law" in the sense of "laws of physics" (for example, Newton's laws, conservation of energy, conservation of charge, etc.). Instead, it describes a linear relationship between current and voltage that holds true for some circuit elements, namely resistors. There are, however, other circuit elements that do not follow Ohm's law. Vary the voltage of the source and note the linear current-voltage relationship for the resistor. Compare this to the nonlinear response of a diode and a lightbulb (voltage is given in volts and current is given in amperes). Restart.

• Resistor
• Diode (voltage scale is tenth of Volts)
• Real lightbulb

Illustration authored by Anne J. Cox.
Script authored by Wolfgang Christian and Anne J Cox.