current
Internal Resistance As noted before, a 12-V truck battery is physically larger, contains more charge and energy, and can deliver a larger current than a 12-V motorcycle battery. Both are lead-acid batteries with identical emf, but, because of its size, the truck battery has a smaller internal resistance r . Internal resistance is the inherent resistance to the flow of current within the source itself. Figure 21.9 is a schematic representation of the two fundamental parts of any voltage source. The emf represented by a script E in the figure and internal resistance r are in series. The smaller the internal resistance for a given emf, the more current and the more power the source can supply.