ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

Department of Electromechanical Engineering

Fundamentals of Electric Circuits

By: Tariku B
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 Unit Two
Electric Circuit parameters
Electrical circuit
• An electrical circuit consists of three parts:
 Energy source; battery or generator
 The load or sink; lamp or motor
 Connecting wires
• The purpose of the circuit is to transfer electrical energy from
the source to the load
• If the current path is broken so that the current can’t flow, the
circuit is called an open circuit
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 Circuit Elements
• Electrical elements in electrical circuit can be broadly divided
in to active and passive electrical elements
• Active electrical elements are those which are capable of
delivering average power greater than zero to some external
source over an infinite time interval. Energy sources, may be
voltage or current sources are active elements
• Passive electrical elements are those which cannot supply
average power that is greater than zero over an infinite time
interval. Resistor, capacitor and inductor are passive elements

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 Passive Components
Resistor
• When a current flows in a material, the free electrons move
through the material and collide with other atoms
• These collisions cause the electrons to lose some of their
energy. This loss of energy per unit charge is the drop in
potential across the material
• The amount of energy lost by the electrons is related to the
physical property of the material. These collisions restrict the
movement of electrons
• The property of a material to restrict the flow of electrons is
called resistance, denoted by R
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 Resistor
• The unit of resistance is ohm (Ω). Ohm is defined as the
resistance offered by the material when a current of
one ampere flows between two terminals with one volt
applied across it
• According to Ohm’s law, the current is directly
proportional to the voltage and inversely proportional
to the total resistance of the circuit, i.e.
𝑉
𝐼=
𝑅
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 Resistor
• When current flows through any resistive material, heat is
generated by the collision of electrons with other atomic
particles. The power absorbed by the resistor is converted to
heat
• The power absorbed by the resistor is given by;
𝑝 = 𝑣 ∗ 𝑖 = 𝑖𝑅 ∗ 𝑖 = 𝑖 2 ∗ 𝑅
• While the energy lost in a resistor in time t is
given by 𝑤 = ∫ 𝑝 ∗ 𝑑𝑡 = ∫ (𝑖 2 ∗ 𝑅)𝑑𝑡

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 Inductance
• When a wire of certain length twisted into a coil, it becomes a
basic inductor. If current is made to pass through an inductor,
an electromagnetic field is created. A change in the
magnitude of the current changes the electromagnetic field.
• Therefore, a change in current produces change in the
electromagnetic field, which induces a voltage across the coil
according to Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction
• The symbol for inductor is;
𝑑𝑖
• The induced voltage is given by; 𝑣 = 𝐿
𝑑𝑡

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 Inductance
For a inductor, the following can be concluded
• The induced voltage across an inductor is zero if the current through it is
constant (𝑣 = 0). That means an inductor acts as short circuit to dc
• A small change in current within zero time through an inductor gives an
infinite voltage across the inductor, which is physically impossible. In a
fixed inductor the current cannot change abruptly
• The inductor can store finite amount of energy, even if the voltage across
the inductor is zero, and
• A pure inductor never dissipates energy, only stores it. That is why it is also
called a non-dissipative passive element. However, physical inductors
dissipate power due to internal resistance

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 Capacitor
• A capacitor is a device used to store electrical charge and
electrical energy. It consists of at least two electrical
conductors (electrodes) separated by an insulator (dielectric)
• A capacitor stores energy in the form of an electric field that is
established by the opposite charges on the two electrodes
• If the plates have an area A and are separated by a distance d,
the electric field generated across the plates is,
𝑞
𝐸=
𝜀 ∗ 𝐴

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 Capacitance
• Capacitor model

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 Capacitor
• The voltage across the capacitor plates is
q∗ d
V = E∗ d =
ε∗ A
where ε is the permittivity the dielectric material
𝑑𝑞 𝑑 𝑣𝜀𝐴 𝜀𝐴 𝑑𝑣
𝑖= = =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑 𝑑 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑣 𝜀𝐴
𝑖 = 𝐶 ,where 𝐶 =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑
• Capacitance represents the efficiency of charge storage and it is measured
in units of Farads (F)

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 Capacitor
• The capacitance C of a capacitor is defined as the ratio of
the maximum charge 𝑄 that can be stored in a capacitor to
𝑞
the applied voltage 𝑣 across its plates 𝐶 =
𝑣
• Note that for DC (constant current in time) signals
(𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑡 = 0) the capacitor acts as an open circuit (𝑖 = 0)
𝑑𝑣 = 1/𝐶 ∗ 𝑖𝑑𝑡
1 1
∫ 𝑑𝑣 = 𝐶
∫ 𝑖𝑑𝑡 ⇒ 𝑣 𝑡 − 𝑣 0 = ∫ 𝑖𝑑𝑡
𝐶
1
⇒ 𝑣 𝑡 = ∫ 𝑖𝑑𝑡 + 𝑣(0)
𝐶

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 Capacitor
• The power absorbed by the capacitor is given by; 𝑝 = 𝑣𝐶 𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑡
• The energy stored in the capacitor is, 𝑤 = ∫ 𝑝𝑑𝑡
𝑤 = 1 2 𝐶𝑣 2
• When a dc voltage is applied to a capacitor, the voltage
across its terminals is found to build up in accordance with
𝑉𝑐 = 50(1 − 𝑒 −100𝑡 ). After a lapse of 0.01 s, the current flow
is equal to 2 mA
a) Find the value of capacitance in microfarads
b) How much energy is stored in the electric field at this
time?
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 For a capacitor we can say the following
• The current in a capacitor is zero if the voltage across it is constant;
that means, the capacitor acts as an open circuit to dc
• A small change in voltage across a capacitance within zero time
gives an infinite current through the capacitor, which is physically
impossible. In a fixed capacitance, the voltage cannot change
abruptly
• The capacitor can store a finite amount of energy, even if the
current through it is zero, and
• A pure capacitor never dissipates energy, but only stores it; that is
why it is called non-dissipative passive element. However, physical
capacitors dissipate power due to internal resistance

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 VOLTAGE AND CURRENT SOURCES
Independent and Dependent Sources
• The most important active elements are voltage or current
sources that generally deliver power to the circuit connected
to them
• There are two kinds of sources: independent and dependent
sources
• An ideal independent source is an active element that
provides a specified voltage or current that is completely
independent of other circuit elements
• An ideal dependent (or controlled) source is an active element
in which the source quantity is controlled by another voltage
or current
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 Dependent sources
• Dependent or controlled sources are of the following
types:
a) Current Controlled Current Source (CCCS)
b) Voltage Controlled Current Source (VCCS)
c) Voltage Controlled Voltage Source (VCVS)
d) Current Controlled Voltage Source (CCVS)
• Dependent sources are useful in modelling elements
such as transistors, operational amplifiers, and
integrated circuits
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 Cont…
Active Elements Passive Elements

• A dependent source is an active element in which

the source quantity is controlled by another
voltage or current.

• They have four different types: VCVS, CCVS,

Independent Dependent VCCS, CCCS. Keep in minds the signs of
sources sources dependent sources.

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 Cont…
Example
Obtain the voltage v in the branch shown below for i2 = 1A

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 Cont…
Compute the power absorbed or supplied by each component of
the circuit and find 𝑉0 in the second circuit

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 Examples
• For the circuit shown below, calculate the voltage v, the
conductance G, and the power p

• Find the voltage across the capacitors and the energy stored
in the circuit shown below under dc conditions

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 Examples
• Determine 𝑣𝐶 , 𝑖𝐿 and the energy stored in the capacitor and
inductor in the circuit shown below under dc conditions

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