Tutorial 1

Basic Electrical Circuits and Components

1) Give the following prefixes for the following powers: 10−15, 10−12 , 10−9 , 10−6 , 10−3 , 103 , 106 , 109 , 1012.

Ans:

2) Explain the difference between 1 mΩ and 1 MΩ ?

Ans:

3) Calculate the undefined currents 𝐼𝐼3 and 𝐼𝐼1 in the following arrangements. (Ans -8A, -10A)

𝐼𝐼1 = 5𝐴𝐴 𝐼𝐼2 = 3𝐴𝐴 𝐼𝐼1 = ? 𝐼𝐼2 = 7𝐴𝐴

𝐼𝐼3 = ? 𝐼𝐼3 = 3𝐴𝐴

(a) (b)

Ans:

4) Calculate the undefined 𝑉𝑉3 voltage in the following arrangement: (Ans: 1V)

𝑉𝑉1 = 8𝑉𝑉

𝐸𝐸 = 12𝑉𝑉 𝑉𝑉2 = 5𝑉𝑉

𝑉𝑉3 = ?

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5) Ohms law: Calculate the 3rd parameter in the following Ohm’s law scenario involving a resistor

a) Resistance: 5 𝑘𝑘Ω ; Voltage across: 5V ; Current through = _____ ? (Ans: 1 mA)

b) Voltage across: 9V ; Current through: 1.5 mA ; Resistance = _______ ? (Ans: 6 kΩ)

6) Calculate the Power dissipated by a Resistor for the following scenarios:

a) Resistance: 25 Ω ; Voltage across: 25V; Power Dissipated = _______ ? (Ans: 25 W)

b) Resistance: 400 Ω ; Current through: 5 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇; Power Dissipated = _______ ? (Ans: 10 nW)

7) Calculate the effective resistance between terminals A and B in the following arrangements.
(Ans: 1.5086 kΩ, 208 Ω)

𝐴𝐴 𝐴𝐴

1 𝑘𝑘Ω 3.3 𝑘𝑘Ω 150 Ω 300 Ω

1.2 𝑘𝑘Ω 1.5 𝑘𝑘Ω 270 Ω 180 Ω

𝐵𝐵 𝐵𝐵
(a) (b)

Ans:

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8) Clarification between Junction voltages and p.d (Potential Differences). In the given circuit,

𝑉𝑉1 𝑅𝑅1

𝑅𝑅2

𝑉𝑉3

note the following differences in voltages:

• 𝑉𝑉1 and 𝑉𝑉3 are Junction Voltages. They are of some value that is taken with reference to a ground point,
which is not shown – you just have to assume it exists somewhere out there and the voltage of that ground
point is 0 V.
• 𝑉𝑉2 is drawn with an arrow, it is a p.d (potential difference) across the resistor 𝑅𝑅2

Note that the voltage divider rule is based on p.ds and not on Junction Voltages:
𝑝𝑝. 𝑑𝑑. 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉
=
𝑝𝑝. 𝑑𝑑. 𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉𝑉
Now apply the voltage divider rule, write 𝑉𝑉2 in terms of 𝑉𝑉1, 𝑉𝑉3 , 𝑅𝑅1 and 𝑅𝑅2 .

Ans:

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9) Calculate the following voltage 𝑉𝑉1, 𝑉𝑉2 , and 𝑉𝑉3 in the following arrangements. (Ans: 16V, 4V, -8V)

𝑉𝑉1

9𝑉𝑉 1 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 6 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 2 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 18𝑉𝑉

(a)

25 𝑘𝑘Ω 30 𝑘𝑘Ω
9𝑉𝑉 −14𝑉𝑉

20 𝑘𝑘Ω 𝑉𝑉2 60 𝑘𝑘Ω 𝑉𝑉3

0𝑉𝑉 −2𝑉𝑉

(b) (c)

10) A sinusoidal current quantity has a frequency 𝑓𝑓 = 1 kHz and a maximum amplitude of 30A. What is its period 𝑇𝑇
and its rms value? (Ans: 𝑇𝑇 = 1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 , 𝐴𝐴𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 21.2132 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴)

11) A sinusoidal voltage quantity has a period of 𝑇𝑇 = 16.66667 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 and a rms amplitude of 120V (North American AC
outlet). What is its frequency and what is its maximum amplitude? (Ans: 𝑓𝑓 = 60 Hz , 𝐴𝐴 = 169.71 ≈ 170 V )

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