Page 1 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes

Electric charge
 Matter – anything that has weight and occupies space.
 Atom
o Smallest unit of matter that forms a chemical element.
o It has a nucleus located at the center.
o The nucleus contains two types of particles - protons and neutrons.
o Protons each have a positive electric charge while neutrons have a neutral electric
charge (no charge).
o Smaller, negatively charged particles – electrons, orbit around the nucleus.

o A proton has an average mass of approximately 1.67 ×10−27 kg and so does a

neutron. Electrons are much smaller than protons or neutrons and have an average
mass of approximately 9.11× 10−31 kg.

o A proton has an electric charge of 1.602 ×10−19 C and so does an electron. A neutron
has no charge.
⇒ an electron, therefore, has an electric charge the same strength as that of a
proton, but opposite in polarity.

Electrostatic field
o The region surrounding a charged particle that is at rest and within which it is able
to exert a force is called an electrostatic field.
 An electrostatic field is represented using electric field lines.
 Electric field lines are shown to be directionally emanating from a positive
charge and getting into a negative charge.

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 2 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes
o The figure below illustrates the electrostatic field patterns in a region near two
charged particles.

o The fundamental characteristic of an electric charge is its ability to exert a force.

o This is a non-contact force that acts over some distance of separation.

o The three variables here are charge 1, charge 2 and distance.

Coulomb’s law
o The quantitative expression for the effect of the three variables on electric force is
known as Coulomb's law. It states,

The electrical force between two charged particles is directly proportional to the product of the
quantity of charge on the particles and inversely proportional to the square of the separation
distance between the two particles.

o Mathematically,

Q1 Q2 1
F=k 2
r

Where,
Q1 is the quantity of charge on particle 1 (in Coulombs, C),

Q2 is the quantity of charge on particle 2 (in Coulombs, C),

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 3 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes
d is the distance of separation between the two particles (in meters, m).

k is a proportionality constant known as the Coulomb's constant. The value of this

constant is dependent upon the medium that the charged objects are immersed in. In the
case of air, the value is approximately 8.99 x 109 Nm2 / C2.
Example: Three protons are separated from a single electron by a distance of 1 x 10 -6 m.
Find the electrostatic force between them. Is this force attractive or repulsive?
Solution:

Potential difference
 Because of the force of its electrostatic field, an electric charge has the ability to do the
work of moving another charge by attraction or repulsion.
The ability of a charge to do work is called its potential.

 When one charge is different from the other, there must be a difference in potential
(potential difference) between them.
The sum of the differences of potential of all charges in an electrostatic field is referred to
as electromotive force (emf).

 The basic unit of potential difference is the volt (hence the term voltage) and it’s denoted
as V.
 Voltage is the potential difference between two points.

 P.d. across a conductor causes current to flow (figure below):

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 4 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes

Electron flow through a conductor with a potential difference.

 P.d. is measured by use of a voltmeter (Error: Reference source not found).

A voltmeter in a circuit (note: voltmeter is connected across the load - bulb).

Electric current
 Electric current (I) is the flow of electrons. To produce current, the electrons must be
moved by a potential difference.

 The basic unit of current is the ampere (A).

Definition: One ampere of current is defined as the movement of one coulomb of charge
past any point of conductor during one second of time.
Thus,
Q
I=
t

Where, I is the current in ampere (A), Q is the charge in coulombs (C) and t is the time
in seconds (s).

 A conductor (say copper wire) has free electrons that can be made to move by the
application of a potential difference across its two ends.

 Direction of current flow:

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 5 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes
o Conventional current assumes that current flows out of the positive terminal,
through the circuit and into the negative terminal of the source.
o Electron flow is what actually happens and electrons flow out of the negative
terminal, through the circuit and into the positive terminal of the source (figure
below).

Direction of flow of electric current.

 Current is measured by use of an ammeter.

An ammeter in a circuit (note: ammeter is connected in series with the load - bulb).

 Electric current can be direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC)

o Direct current (DC) flows continuously in the same direction through a conductor.
o Alternating current (AC) periodically reverses direction and hence flows in both
directions through a conductor.
o AC is sourced from the main electricity outlets (say sockets). It has to be converted
into DC for use in most electronic devices.

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 6 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes
Resistance
 Electrical resistance is opposition to the flow of electric current.
 The resistance of a conductor results from the slowing down of electrons as they flow
through the conductor due to collisions with other electrons and other particles (such as
positive ions) inside the conductor.
 The resistance of a conductor to the flow of current depends on its:
o length – resistance is directly proportional to the length of the conductor i.e. the
longer a conductor the greater the resistance.
Rαl

o cross-sectional area (thickness) – resistance is inversely proportional to the cross-

sectional area of the conductor i.e. the thicker a conductor the lesser the resistance.
1
Rα
A
o temperature – the resistance of pure metals increase with increase in temperature
and decrease with decrease in temperature.
o nature (type) – some metals have lower resistance than others. For instance, copper
has low resistance while nichrome has high resistance.

 Mathematically, therefore, the relationship between the resistance of a conductor, its

length and cross-sectional area is expressed as:
l l
Rα =ρ
A A

Where,
o R is the resistance in Ohms (Ω),
o l is the length of the conductor (in m),
o A is the cross-sectional area of the conductor (in m2), and
o ρ (Greek letter Rho) is called the resistivity of the conductor.

 From the equation above, resistivity can be expressed as,

R 2 Ω
ρ=A =m ∙ =Ω m
l m

Since A is in m2, R is in Ω and l is in m, the unit for resistivity ρ becomes Ωm

(Ohm.meter).
NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 7 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes

 Therefore, resistivity is a measure of a material's ability to oppose electric current.

It varies from one material to another as shown in the table below:

e.g. ρcopper =1.72× 10−8 Ω m, ρnichrome =150 ×10−8 Ω m. Copper has a lower resistivity than
nichrome at 20°C. Copper is therefore a better conductor of electricity than nichrome.

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 8 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes

Ohm's Law
 As earlier discussed, the potential difference applied across a conductor causes current to
flow through it. The relationship between the applied potential difference and the
resulting electric current is given by Ohm’s law which states,

The electric current (I) flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential
difference (V) applied across its ends provided that physical conditions (such as temperature,
pressure, etc) do not change.
 Thus,

VαI

V =RI

Where, V is the potential difference (in V), I is the current (in A) and the proportionality
constant R is the resistance of the conductor (in Ω).
 From the equation above,

V
I=
R

Therefore, the electric current flowing through a conductor

i. is directly proportional to the potential difference applied across it ends,
ii. is inversely proportional to the resistance.
Thus, the current flowing through a conductor depends on the potential difference applied
across its ends and its electrical resistance.

 Example: use Ohm’s law to determine the current flowing through the 3 k resistor shown
in the figure below,

V 9V
From ohm’s law, I = R = 3
=3 mA
3 ×10 Ω

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 9 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes
Sources of electric current
i. Electrochemical cells (voltaic cell, Daniel cell, dry cell)
 These are apparatus which are used to produce electric current from spontaneous
chemical reactions.
 They convert stored chemical energy of substances into electrical energy.
 Chemicals can be combined with certain metals to cause a chemical reaction that will
transfer electrons to produce electrical energy. This process works on the
electrochemistry principle.
One example of this principle is the voltaic cell, shown in the figure below:

o It consists of two metal electrodes immersed in a chemical mixture (called an

electrolyte) designed to facilitate an electrochemical reaction.

o The two electrodes are made of different materials, both of which chemically react
with the electrolyte in some form of ionic bonding.

o Connecting together more than one of these cells will produce a battery.
One common example is the lead-acid battery - the negative electrode is lead and
the positive is lead dioxide. The electrolyte solution is a dilute sulfuric acid.

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 10 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes

ii. Generators
 A generator is a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by using
the principle of magnetic induction.

 Magnetic induction is used to produce a voltage by rotating coils of wire through a

stationary magnetic field, as shown in the figure below:

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 11 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes
iii. Piezoelectric effect
 By applying pressure to certain crystals (such as quartz), electrons can be driven out of
orbit in the direction of the force.

 In such crystals, electrical charges are perfectly balanced and if pressure is applied on the
crystal, its structure is deformed thereby upsetting the electrical balance and causing net
electrical charges to appear.
This effect carries through the whole structure so net positive and negative charges
appear on opposite, outer faces of the crystal, as shown in the diagram below:

 If external wires are connected while pressure and voltage are present, electrons will flow
and current will be produced. This is called the piezoelectric effect.

iv. Other sources of electric current: thermoelectricity, photoelectric effect, etc.

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 12 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes

The electric circuit

 An electric circuit is a conductive path through which electrons can flow.

 A simple practical circuit has at least four parts:

o A source of emf (battery, generator, etc)
o A conductor (wire – offer low resistance to current)
o A load (resistor – represents a device which uses electrical energy)
o A means of control (switch, fuse)

 As shown in the figure below, an electric circuit can either be,

o Complete (closed) - an unbroken path (complete) for current from the source
(emf), through the load and back to the source
or
o Incomplete (open) - broken path (incomplete) for current.

 A fuse serves to protect a circuit. It is placed directly into a circuit so that it will open the
circuit whenever a dangerously large current flows. It permits currents smaller than the
fuse value to flow but melts (and therefore breaks the circuit) if a larger current flows.
 As shown in the figure below, a fuse is usually connected in series with the load:

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.
Page 13 of 13 SPH 2110: Instrumental Electronics Lecture Notes

Electric power
 The electric power (P) used in any part of a circuit is given by,
P=VI
Where, P is power in Watts (W), V is the potential difference (voltage) in volts (V) and I
is the current in Ampere (A).

Electric energy
 Electric energy is given by,
E=Pt
Where, P is the power in kilowatts (kW) and t is the time in hours (h) during which the
power is used.
 The unit for electric energy therefore is the kilowatt hour (kWh).

NB: Supplement your learning from the lecture and lecture notes by independent study and discussions.