1. Electrical Circuits Dr. Sarika Khushalani Solanki
EE223
Electrical Circuits
Dr. Sarika Khushalani Solanki

2. Electric current Describes charge in motion, the flow of charge
This phenomenon can result from moving electrons in a conductive material or moving ions in charged solutions

3. Charge Charge is a basic SI unit, measured in Coulombs (C)
Counts the number of electrons (or positive charges) present.
One Coulomb is quite large, 6.24*1018 electrons.

4. Electric current
An ampere (A) is the number of electrons having a total charge of 1 C moving through a given cross section in 1 s.
As defined, current flows in direction of positive charge flow

5. Current
i = dq/dt – the derivitive or slope of the charge when plotted against time in seconds
Q = ∫ i ∙ dt – the integral or area under the current when plotted against time in seconds
Current
amps 4 3 2 1
Q delivered in 0-5 sec= 12.5 Coulombs
5 sec

6. AC and DC Current DC Current has a constant value
AC Current has a value that changes sinusoidally
Notice that AC current
changes in value and
direction

7. DC vs. AC
A current that remains constant with time is called Direct Current (DC)
Such current is represented by the capital I, time varying current uses the lowercase, i.
A common source of DC is a battery.
A current that varies sinusoidally with time is called Alternating Current (AC)
Mains power is an example of AC

8. Electrical Circuits

9. Electric circuit
An electric circuit is an interconnection of electrical elements linked together in a closed path so that electric current may flow continuously
Circuit diagrams are the standard for electrical engineers

10. (i = current) Rate of flow of charge from node a to node b
Rate of flow of charge from node b to node a
(i = current)
AC = alternating current, not to be confused with air conditioner

11. Voltage
Driving “force” of electrical current between two points
Vab
Voltage at terminal a with respect to terminal b
Vba
Voltage at terminal b with respect to terminal a
Vab = -Vba
Note: In a circuit, voltage is often defined relative to “ground”

12. Direction of current
The sign of the current indicates the direction in which the charge is moving with reference to the direction of interest we define.
We need not use the direction that the charge moves in as our reference, and often have no choice in the matter.

13. Direction of Current II
A positive current through a component is the same as a negative current flowing in the opposite direction.

14. Voltage
Electrons move when there is a difference in charge between two locations.
This difference is expressed at the potential difference, or voltage (V).
It is always expressed with reference to two locations

15. Voltage II
It is equal to the energy needed to move a unit charge between the locations.
Positive charge moving from a higher potential to a lower yields energy.
Moving from negative to positive requires energy.

16. Voltage
The voltage across an element is the work (energy) required to move a unit of positive charge from the “-” terminal to the “+” terminal
A volt is the potential difference (voltage) between two points when 1 joule of energy is used to move 1 coulomb of charge from one point to the other

17. The rate at which energy is converted or work is performed
Power
The rate at which energy is converted or work is performed
A watt results when 1 joule of energy is converted or used in 1 second

18. Power and Energy Voltage alone does not equal power.
It requires the movement of charge, i.e. a current.
Power is the product of voltage and current
It is equal to the rate of energy provided or consumed per unit time.
It is measured in Watts (W)

19. Circuit schematic example

20. What is a circuit?
An electric circuit is an interconnection of electrical elements.
It may consist of only two elements or many more:

21. Units When taking measurements, we must use units to quantify values
We use the International Systems of Units (SI for short)
Prefixes on SI units allow for easy relationships between large and small values

22. Charge II In the lab, one typically sees (pC, nC, or μC)
Charge is always multiple of electron charge
Charge cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred.

23. Passive Sign Convention
By convention, we say that an element being supplied power has positive power.
A power source, such as a battery has negative power.

24. Conservation of Energy
In a circuit, energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Thus power also must be conserved
The sum of all power supplied must be absorbed by the other elements.
Energy can be described as watts x time.
Power companies usually measure energy in watt- hours

25. Circuit Elements Two types: Active elements can generate energy Active
Passive
Active elements can generate energy
Generators
Batteries
Operational Amplifiers

26. Circuit Elements II Passives absorb energy
Resistors
Capacitors
Inductors
But it should be noted that only the resistor dissipates energy ideally.
The inductor and capacitor do not.

27. Ideal Voltage Source
An ideal voltage source has no internal resistance.
It also is capable of producing any amount of current needed to establish the desired voltage at its terminals.
Thus we can know the voltage at its terminals, but we don’t know in advance the current.

28. Ideal Current Source
Current sources are the opposite of the voltage source:
They have infinite resistance
They will generate any voltage to establish the desired current through them.
We can know the current through them in advance, but not the voltage.

29. Ideal sources
Both the voltage and current source ideally can generate infinite power.
They are also capable of absorbing power from the circuit.
It is important to remember that these sources do have limits in reality:
Voltage sources have an upper current limit.
Current sources have an upper voltage limit.

30. Resistivity
Materials tend to resist the flow of electricity through them.
This property is called “resistance”
The resistance of an object is a function of its length, l, and cross sectional area, A, and the material’s resistivity:

31. Ohm’s Law
In a resistor, the voltage across a resistor is directly proportional to the current flowing through it.
The resistance of an element is measured in units of Ohms, Ω, (V/A)
The higher the resistance, the less current will flow through for a given voltage.

32. Resistivity of Common Materials

33. Short and Open Circuits
A connection with almost zero resistance is called a short circuit.
Ideally, any current may flow through the short.
In practice this is a connecting wire.
A connection with infinite resistance is called an open circuit.
Here no matter the voltage, no current flows.

34. Linearity Not all materials obey Ohm’s Law.
Resistors that do are called linear resistors because their current voltage relationship is always linearly proportional.
Diodes and light bulbs are examples of non-linear elements

35. Power Dissipation Running current through a resistor dissipates power.
The power dissipated is a non-linear function of current or voltage
Power dissipated is always positive
A resistor can never generate power

36. Nodes Branches and Loops
Circuit elements can be interconnected in multiple ways.
To understand this, we need to be familiar with some network topology concepts.
A branch represents a single element such as a voltage source or a resistor.
A node is the point of connection between two or more branches.
A loop is any closed path in a circuit.

37. Network Topology
A loop is independent if it contains at least one branch not shared by any other independent loops.
Two or more elements are in series if they share a single node and thus carry the same current
Two or more elements are in parallel if they are connected to the same two nodes and thus have the same voltage.

38. Kirchoff’s Laws Ohm’s law is not sufficient for circuit analysis
Kirchoff’s laws complete the needed tools
There are two laws:
Current law
Voltage law

39. KCL Kirchoff’s current law is based on conservation of charge
It states that the algebraic sum of currents entering a node (or a closed boundary) is zero.
It can be expressed as:

40. KVL Kirchoff’s voltage law is based on conservation of energy
It states that the algebraic sum of voltages around a closed path (or loop) is zero.
It can be expressed as:

41. Series Resistors
Two resistors are considered in series if the same current pass through them
Take the circuit shown:
Applying Ohm’s law to both resistors
If we apply KVL to the loop we have:

42. Series Resistors II Combining the two equations:
From this we can see there is an equivalent resistance of the two resistors:
For N resistors in series:

43. Voltage Division
The voltage drop across any one resistor can be known.
The current through all the resistors is the same, so using Ohm’s law:
This is the principle of voltage division

44. Multiple elements in a series circuit

45. Example: Resistors in series
The resistors in a series circuit are 680 Ω, 1.5 kΩ, and 2.2 kΩ. What is
the total resistance?
The current through each resistor?

46. Example: Voltage sources in series
Find the total voltage of the sources shown
What happens if you reverse a battery?

47. Voltage across each pathway is the same
Parallel circuits
A parallel circuit has more than one current path branching from the energy source
Voltage across each pathway is the same
In a parallel circuit, separate current paths function independently of one another

48. Multiple elements in a parallel circuit
For parallel voltage sources, the voltage is the same across all batteries, but the current supplied by each element is
a fraction of the total current

49. Example: Resistors in parallel
The resistors in a parallel circuit are 680 Ω, 1.5 kΩ, and 2.2 kΩ. What is the total resistance?

50. Example: Resistors in parallel
The resistors in a parallel circuit are 680 Ω, 1.5 kΩ, and 2.2 kΩ. What is the total resistance?
Voltage across each resistor?
Current through each resistor?

51. Parallel Resistors
When resistors are in parallel, the voltage drop across them is the same
By KCL, the current at node a is
The equivalent resistance is:

52. Current Division
Given the current entering the node, the voltage drop across the equivalent resistance will be the same as that for the individual resistors
This can be used in combination with Ohm’s law to get the current through each resistor:

53. References
An Introduction to Electrical Engineering - Aaron Glieberman
Fundamental Electrical Concepts – Northern Arizona University