BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

DEFINITION OF TERMS
Electricity - flow of energy in a wire that is invisible; comes from electron (Greek work for amber)
Electric Circuit -any combination of a conductor and a source of electricity connected together to permit the electrons to travel around a
continuous stream

Electrostatic force -attraction between the nucleus and the electron which holds the electron in an orbit.
First Law of Electrostatics - It state that like charges of electricity repel each other and unlike charges attract each other

Second Law of Electrostatics - force of attraction or repulsion between the two electrically charged particles is directly proportional to the
product of magnitudes of two charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between two
charges

Charge (Q) -a body with excess or deficit of electrons from its normal value due to sharing; quantity that flows in a circuit
- Unit is Coulomb ( C )

Resistance (R) -impedes the flow of current; Unit is ohm (Ω)

Voltage (V) - total work per unit charge associated with the motion of charge between two points; force that “pushes” the
charge carriers ; unit is Volt (V)
Power (P) - Work done per unit time; ; unit is Watts (W) or Horsepower (HP)

Energy -ability to do work; power dissipated over a length of time; unit is Joule (J)

Current - quantity responsible for electricity

Kilowatt-hour (kW-hr)- unit in which electrical energy is sold to a customer.

Conductance - reciprocal of resistance; measure of the material’s ability to conduct electric current; unit is mho or siemens
Conductivity - reciprocal of resistivity; measure of the element to conduct electricity ; unit is siemen per meter

Capacitor -any device on which electrical charges can be stored so as to possess electrical potential. It consists of two conducting
plates separated by a layer of an insulating medium called dielectric.

Capacitance - a unit of how well a capacitor can store electric charges

Source - a voltage or current generator capable of supplying energy to a circuit. Usually in the form of cells and batteries.
 Types of Resistors

Types of Materials

Electric Circuit