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MODULE 1: HISTORY OF ELECTRICITY
The study and development of electricity occurred over
many centuries.
It has its roots about 600 B.C.E. when a Greek
mathematician named Thales documented what
eventually became known as static electricity.
 He recorded that after rubbing amber, a yellowish,
translucent mineral, with a piece of wool or fur
other light objects such as straw or feathers were
attracted to the amber.
For centuries this distinctive property was thought to be
unique to amber.
 He coined the term electricity, which is derived
from the Latin term electricus, meaning to
"produce from amber by friction." It has its roots
in the Greek term elektor, which means, "beaming
sun."
Gradual improvements in the understanding of electricity
have led to the invention of motors, generators, telephones,
radio and television, and computers.
In 1660, a German experimenter named Otto von
Guericke built the first electric generating machine.
 It was constructed of a ball of sulfur, rotated by a
crank with one hand and rubbed with the other.
Other experimenters recognized that other
substances, such as copper, silver, and gold, did
not attract anything.
An Englishman, Stephen Gray, distinguished between
materials that were conductors and nonconductors in 1729.
About 1746, Ewald Georg von Kleist, a German inventor,
and Dutch physicist Pieter van Musschenbroek of the
University of Leyden, working independently, invented an
electrical storage device called a Leyden jar, a glass jar
coated inside and outside with tin foil.
 Static electricity could be discharged by
simultaneously touching the inner and outer foil
layers. It demonstrated that electricity could be
stored for future use.
In 1747, American inventor and statesman, Benjamin
Franklin, suggested the existence of an electrical fluid and
surmised that an electric charge was made up of two types
of electric forces, an attractive force and a repulsive force.
 To identify these two forces, he gave the names
positive and negative, which are still in use today.
 Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment in
1752. He flew a kite with a stiff wire pointing up-
ward as a thunderstorm was about to break. He
attached a metal key to the other end of the hemp
string, and let it hang close to a Leyden jar. Rain
moistened the string, which could then con-duct
electricity. Sparks jumped from the key to the jar.
Although there was no lightning, there was
enough electricity in the air for Franklin to prove
that electricity and lightning are the same thing.
In 1786, an Italian anatomy professor, Luigi Galvani,
observed that a discharge of static electricity made a dead
frog's leg twitch.
 Ensuing experimentation produced what was a
simple electron cell using the fluids of the leg as
an electrolyte and the muscle as a circuit and
indicator.
Expanding on Galvani's findings, Alessandro Volta,
another Italian, built the voltaic pile, an early type of electric
cell or battery.
In 1820, H.C. Oersted, a Danish physicist, discovered that
a magnetic field surrounds a current-carrying wire, by
observing that electrical currents affected the needle on a
compass.
Within two years Andre Marie Ampere, a French
mathematician, observed that a coil of wires acts like a
magnet when electrical current is passed through it.
Shortly thereafter, D. F. Arago invented the electromagnet
and Joseph Henry, an American, demonstrated an
electromagnetic device that was capable of lifting over a
thousand pounds.
Also as the result of the newly discovered electromagnet,
Michael Faraday, an English-man, developed a crude
electric motor in 1831, but a practical motor was not
developed until 1870.
 Both Faraday and Joseph Henry, working
independently, invented the electric generator
with which to power the motor.
In 1831, American Samuel Morse conceived the idea of
sending coded messages over wires using the
electromagnetic telegraph and a code of electrical impulses
identified as dots and dashes that eventually became
known as "Morse Code."
 The first message sent by the electric telegraph
was "What hath God wrought," from the Supreme
Court Room in the U.S. Capitol to the railway depot
at Baltimore on May 24, 1844.
 Morse's electric telegraph is recognized as the first
practical use of electricity and the first system of
electrical communication.

Charles de Coulomb was the first person to measure the
amount of electricity and magnetism generated in a circuit.
Georg Simon Ohm, a German college teacher, formulated
a law showing the relationship between volts, amps, and
resistance.
 Henry and Ohm demonstrated that in a long
electric line it was better to have relatively high
voltage and low current.
Additionally, J. P. Joule, G. R. Kirchhoff, and J. C.
Maxwell also developed mathematical relationships and
rules concerning electrical circuiting.
In the late 1800s, electric lighting was viewed as an ideal
use of electrical energy. Although arc lights were invented
and put to practical use for lighting streets by 1860, it was
not until 1879 that a practical incandescent lamp was
developed independently by Thomas Edison in America
and Joseph Swan in England.
 Edison was the first to patent the commercially
feasible incandescent lamp so he is recognized as
the inventor. The development of electric lighting
is covered in Chapter 20.
 In 1882, the Edison Electric Light Company, later
known as General Electric, successfully
demonstrated the use of artificial lighting by
powering incandescent streetlights and lamps in
London and New York City.
 By the end of the 1880s, small electrical stations
based on Edison's designs were in use a number
of U.S. cities. However, each power station was
able to power only a few city blocks.
Edison's designs still serve as the basis of how we to
distribute electricity from power stations with the
exception that Edison's systems were direct current
systems.
Direct current systems had the problematic
characteristic that current could not be economically
transmitted over long distances.
American Nikola Tesla of Croatian decent, one of
Edison's former employees and a rival of Edison at the
end of the 19th century, is the inventor of 3-phase
power distribution, the alternating current motor,
and wireless transmission.
 He began experimenting on generators in
1883, and discovered the rotating magnetic
field. This phenomenon serves as the basic
principle of the alternating current generator.
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 Tesla then developed plans for an alternating
current induction motor, which become the
first step towards the successful utilization of
alternating current.
In 1885, George Westinghouse, head of the
Westinghouse Electric Company, bought the patent
rights to Tesla's alternating current system. In
America, in 1886 the first alternating current power
station was placed in operation, but as no alternating
current motor was available, the output of this station
was limited to lighting.
 In 1888, the alternating current motor was
introduced and ultimately became the most
commonly used electric motor in buildings
(e.g., for fans, air conditioners, and
refrigerators).
 L. Caulard and J. D. Gibbs announced the
first transformer in 1883. This allowed
alternating current power to be generated at
low voltage, then stepped up to high voltage
for efficient transmission, and then stepped
down to an even lower voltage for safety
reasons.
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Large-scale electric power distribution began on
August 26, 1895, when water flowing over Niagara
Falls was diverted through a pair of high-speed
turbines that were coupled to two 5000-horsepower
generators that powered nearby manufacturing plants.
The following year a portion was transmitted 20 miles
to the city of Buffalo, where it was used for powering
lighting and streetcars. This project involved
generators produced by Westinghouse and later by
General Electric. The Niagara project clearly
demonstrated that large-scale generation and
transmission of electricity was conceptually sound,
technically feasible, and economically practical.
Gradually, electrical power became commercialized in
urban areas of the U.S. Gas lighting that had been used
in streetlights was re-placed by electric lights and
overhead wires eventually connected homes to a large-
scale power plant operated by privately owned electric
companies. By about 1930 most of the occupants of
large cities in the United States had electricity, yet only
10% of the Americans who lived in rural areas had
electricity. At this time, private electric utilities
determined that it was too expensive to run long
transmission lines to spaced farms. The Roosevelt
administration believed that if private enterprise could
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not supply electric power to the people, then it was the they do not move between atoms within that material
duty of the government to do so. In 1935, the Rural very easily.
Electric Administration (REA) was created to bring
electricity to these rural areas. The REA helped to This relative mobility of electrons within a material is
establish hundreds of electric cooperatives that served known as electric conductivity. Conductivity is
determined by the types of atoms in a material (the
millions of rural households. Reliance on electricity has
number of protons in each atom's nucleus, determining
grown significantly over the past decade in all
its chemical identity) and how the atoms are linked
countries. For example, in 2002, the U.S. Department
together with one another. Materials with high electron
of Energy reported that total U.S. net generation of
electricity was 3811 billion kWh, with 50% produced mobility (many free electrons) are called conductors,
by coal-fired plants, 20% from nuclear plants, 18% while materials with low electron mobility (few or no
free electrons) are called insulators.
from gas plants, 7% from hydroelectric plants, 2%
from petroleum-fired plants, and 2% from renewable COMMON EXAMPLES OF CONDUCTORS AND
power sources (e.g., wind, solar electric, and so on). INSULATORS:
In less than a century, the developed world has CONDUCTORS INSULATORS
become extremely dependent on electricity and • silver • glass
problems have occurred because of this dependence. • copper • rubber
In 1965, 1977, and 2003, power failures blacked out • gold • oil
much of the northeastern United States and Canada. • aluminum • asphalt
In 1994 California enacted legislation intended to • iron • fiberglass
deregulate the electric power business in the state and • steel • porcelain
establish a competitive market. It was heralded as a • brass • ceramic
model for developed countries to follow. But, by • bronze • quartz
January 2001, flaws in the California approach had • mercury • (dry) cotton
become evident with the state's utilities driven to the • graphite • (dry) paper
brink of bankruptcy and Californians suffering • dirty water • (dry) wood
electricity shortages and blackouts. The effects of • concrete • plastic
shortages and blackouts experienced by the general • air
public have under-scored the significance of electricity • diamond
in everyday life. • pure water

MODULE 2: CONDUCTORS, INSULATORS, AND
ELECTRON FLOW
The electrons of different types of atoms have
different degrees of freedom to move around. With
some types of materials, such as metals, the outermost
electrons in the atoms are so loosely bound that they
chaotically move in the space between the atoms of
that material by nothing more than the influence of
room-temperature heat energy. Because these
virtually un-bound electrons are free to leave their
respective atoms and float around in the space
between adjacent atoms, they are often called free
electrons.
In other types of materials such as glass, the atoms'
electrons have very little freedom to move around.
While external forces such as physical rubbing can
force some of these electrons to leave their respective
atoms and transfer to the atoms of another material,
It must be understood that not all conductive materials
have the same level of conductivity, and not all
insulators are equally resistant to electron motion.
Electrical conductivity is analogous to the
transparency of certain materials to light: materials
that easily "conduct" light are called "transparent,"
while those that don't are called "opaque." However,
not all transparent materials are equally conductive to
light. Window glass is better than most plastics, and
certainly better than "clear” fiberglass. So it is with
electrical conductors, some being better than others.
For instance, silver is the best conductor in the
"conductors" list, offering easier passage for electrons
than any other material cited. Dirty water and concrete
are also listed as conductors, but these materials are
substantially less conductive than any metal. It should
also be understood that some materials experience
changes in their electrical properties under different
conditions. Glass, for instance, is a very good insulator
at room temperature, but becomes a conductor when

heated to a very high temperature. Gases such as air,
normally insulating materials, also become conductive
if heated to very high temperatures. Most metals
become poorer conductors when heated, and better
conductors when cooled. Many conductive materials
become perfectly conductive (this is called
superconductivity) at extremely low temperatures.
While the normal motion of "free" electrons in a
conductor is random, with no particular direction or
speed, electrons can be influenced to move in a
coordinated fashion through a conductive material.
 This uniform motion of electrons is what we
call electricity, or electric current.
 To be more precise, it could be called dynamic
electricity in contrast to static electricity,
which is an unmoving accumulation of electric
charge.
Just like water flowing through the emptiness of a pipe,
electrons are able to move within the empty space
within and between the atoms of a conductor. The
liquid-flow analogy is so fitting that the motion of
electrons through a conductor is often referred to as a
"flow."
 As each electron moves uniformly through a
conductor, it pushes on the one ahead of it,
such that all the electrons move together as a
group.
The starting and stopping of electron flow through the
length of a conductive path is virtually instantaneous
from one end of a conductor to the other, even though
the motion of each electron may be very slow. An
approximate analogy is that of a tube filled end-to-end
with marbles:
The tube is full of marbles, just as a conductor is full of
free electrons ready to be moved by an outside
influence. If a single marble is suddenly inserted into
this full tube on the left-hand side, another marble will
immediately try to exit the tube on the right. Even
though each marble only traveled a short distance, the
transfer of motion through the tube is virtually
instantaneous from the left end to the right end, no
matter how long the tube is.
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With electricity, the overall effect from one end of a
conductor to the other happens at the speed of light:
a swift 186,000 miles per second!!! Each individual
electron, though, travels through the conductor at a
much slower pace.
If we want electrons to flow in a certain direction to a
certain place, we must provide the proper path for
them to move, just as a plumber must install piping to
get water to flow where he or she wants it to flow. To
facilitate this, wires are made of highly conductive
metals such as copper or aluminum in a wide variety
of sizes.
Remember that electrons can flow only when they
have the opportunity to move in the space between the
atoms of a material. This means that there can be
electric current only where there exists a continuous
path of conductive material providing a conduit for
electrons to travel through.
In the marble analogy, marbles can flow into the left-
hand side of the tube (and, consequently, through the
tube) if and only if the tube is open on the right-hand
side for marbles to flow out. If the tube is blocked on
the right-hand side, the marbles will just "pile up"
inside the tube, and marble "flow" will not occur. The
same holds true for electric current: the continuous
flow of electrons requires there be an unbroken path
to permit that flow. Let's look at a diagram to illustrate
how this works:
A thin, solid line (as shown above) is the conventional
symbol for a continuous piece of wire. Since the
wire is made of a conductive material, such as copper,
its constituent atoms have many free electrons which
can easily move through the wire. However, there will
never be a continuous or uniform flow of electrons
within this wire unless they have a place to come from
and a place to go. Let's add a hypothetical electron
"Source" and "Destination."
Now, with the Electron Source pushing new electrons
into the wire on the left-hand side, electron flow
through the wire can occur (as indicated by the arrows
pointing from left to right). However, the flow will be
interrupted if the conductive path formed by the wire
is broken:

Since air is an insulating material, and an air gap
separates the two pieces of wire, the once continuous
path has now been broken, and electrons cannot flow
from Source to Destination. This is like cutting a water
pipe in two and capping off the broken ends of the
pipe: water can't flow if there's no exit out of the pipe.
 In electrical terms, we had a condition of
electrical continuity when the wire was in one
piece, and now that continuity is broken with
the wire cut and separated.
If we were to take another piece of wire leading to the
Destination and simply make physical contact with the
wire leading to the Source, we would once again have
a continuous path for electrons to flow. The two dots
in the diagram indicate physical (metal-to-metal)
contact between the wire pieces:
Now, we have continuity from the Source, to the
newly-made connection, down, to the right, and up to
the Destination. This is analogous to putting a "tee"
fitting in one of the capped-off pipes and directing
water through a new segment of pipe to its destination.
Please take note that the broken segment of wire on
the right hand side has no electrons flowing through it,
because it is no longer part of a complete path from
Source to Destination. It is interesting to note that no
"wear” occurs within wires due to this electric current,
unlike water-carrying pipes which are eventually
corroded and worn by prolonged flows. Electrons do
encounter some degree of friction as they move,
however, and this friction can generate heat in a
conductor.
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MODULE 3: UNITS OF ELECTRICITY
Fundamental Units of Electricity - Units used to
describe electricity are voltage, amperage and ohms.
These are defined in the sections that follow.
AMPERAGE / CURRENT
Amperage or Inductive Flow (I)
The rate of current flow in a closed electrical system is
measured in a unit called the ampere, frequently called
the amp. An ampere (A) is related to the number of
electrons flowing through a section of conductor (wire)
over a period of time. It is equal to one Coulomb (6.280
x 1018 or 6 280 000 000 000 000 000 electrons)
passing through one point in an electrical circuit in one
second.
I = q/t
Where:
I = Current (A)
q = no. of charges (C)
t = time (s)
VOLTAGE
Voltage or electromotive force (V or EMF)
This is the driving force behind current flow. A
difference in charge creates an electrical pressure,
which moves current in one direction. The unit of
electrical pressure is the volt (V). Voltage level governs
the amount of electrical energy that will flow through
a wire. A boost in volt-age increases current flow and
a drop in voltages reduces flow.
RESISTANCE
Resistance (R) The length of a conductor (wire), the
diameter of the conductor, type of conductor material,
and temperature of the conductor affect the resistance
to flow of current. The unit used to measure electrical
resistance is the ohm (Ω). One ohm is that resistance
that allows one amp to flow when pushed by a pressure
of one volt.
R= ρ
𝑳
𝑨
Where:
R = Resistance

ρ = resistivity constant
L = length of the conductor
A = cross-sectional area
WATER SYSTEM / ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
ANALOGY
Forces that influence flow of current in an electrical
sys-tem resemble those found in a water system. It is
helpful to relate electron flow to water flow to assist in
developing a good understanding of how the
fundamental units of electricity relate. Voltage is similar
in nature to water pressure. In a water system, a
greater system pressure results in a greater flow of
water. With electrical systems, voltage is the electrical
pressure. A higher voltage level produces a higher level
of electron flow.
 Voltage is the driving force of current flow.
Amperage describes the rate of electrical
current flow.
In water systems, rate of flow is described in a flow
rate, usually expressed in number of gallons of water
per minute (gpm) that flow past a given point in a pipe.
In an electrical system, amperage describes the
number of electrons that flow past a given point.
Pressure losses reduce pressure available at a given
point in a water system. A greater resistance to water
flow results when pipe diameter is decreased or pipe
length is increased. In an electrical system, resistance
to electron flow increases as conductor diameter
decreases or length increases.
OHM’S LAW
 Current flow is caused by electromotive
force or voltage.
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 Amperage is the rate of current flow and
may be referred to as inductive flow.
 Resistance (R) refers to the ability of a
conductor to resist current flow and is
measured in ohms.
Voltage (V), amperage (I), and resistance (Ω) in an
active electrical circuit are related through Ohm's Law:
V = IR
* Ohms' Law makes it possible to determine one of
these values, if the other two are known.
POWER
Power is the rate at which work is accomplished; it is
work or energy released divided by time. The unit of
power measurement that most individuals are likely
familiar with is horse-power. One horsepower is
equivalent to 33 000 foot-pounds (ft-lb) of work per
minute (550 ft-lb/s). This is the equivalent of lifting a
one-ton weight at a rate of 6/2 feet per minute. One
horsepower is equivalent to 746 watts power.
The electrical unit of power is the watt. In theory, the
watt can be related to other measures of power:
1 horsepower (hp) = 746 watts
1 watt (W) = 3.413 Btu/hr
1 kilowatt (kW) = 1000 W
1 megawatt (MW) = 1 000 000 W
On a direct current circuit, voltage (V) and amperage
(I) are related to wattage through the DC power
equation, also known as Joule's Law:
P = VI
ENERGY
If power used by an appliance is multiplied by the
amount of time that the unit operates, the energy
consumption value or amount of work accomplished is
determined.
 The measurement of electrical energy
consumption, the rate at which power is being
consumed over a specified period of time in
hours, results in watt-hours (Wh) of energy.
 The standard billing for energy consumption
is the kilowatt-hour (kWh), which is
equivalent to 1000 watt-hours.
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1000 watt-hours (Wh) = one kilowatt hour (kWh)

Electrical energy consumption (E) in watt-hours

may be determined by the following expression, where
power (P) is expressed in watts and time (t) in hours
of operation:

E = Pt

ELECTRECUTION

Humans are conductors of electricity and have

electrical resistance similar to any other material. When
a person comes in contact with electricity, that person
can feel the current flow through his or her body,
ranging from faint tingling sensations to death. The
lowest level at which people can perceive electrical
current is about 0.001A (1 milliamp). Slightly above this
level, a mild tingling sensation is felt. At cur-rents
higher than 0.05 A (50 milliamps), heat produced by
electrical current is enough to burn human skin and
tissue. At levels of current flow exceeding 0.1 A (100
milliamps), the heart stops. A person may survive an
electrocution if his or her heart can be started again.
Care should be exercised when working with electricity.