What happens to the resistance in a circuit as temperature increases?

As temperature increases, the resistance in a circuit typically increases for most conductors. This phenomenon occurs because the atoms in the conductor vibrate more at higher temperatures, which leads to more frequent collisions between the electrons flowing through the conductor and the vibrating atoms. These collisions impede the flow of electrons, which directly increases the resistance.

This behavior is consistent with the properties of most metallic conductors, where the temperature coefficient of resistance is positive, signifying that resistance increases with temperature. Understanding this principle is essential for analyzing and predicting the behavior of circuits under varying temperature conditions, which is vital in engineering applications and circuit design.