Unit 1 : Circuit Concepts

Electrical Quantities
Charge and Electric Force :
There are two types of charge:
1. Positive.
2. Negative.
The electric charge is an invisible property acquired by matter that can be observed
by the interactions it produces.
All matter (solids, liquids, and gases) are made of atoms.An atom is composed
of electrons, protons and neutrons.

Electrons have a negative charge while protons have a positive charge.Neutrons

have no electric charge.
The amount of negative charge on an electron
is exactly equal to the amount of (opposite)
positive charge on a proton.
Charges that are same (or like) repel each other.
Charges that are different (or unlike) attract each
other.
The fundamental unit of charge is the coulomb (C).
A single electron has a charge
of1.6021019C and a single proton has a charge of+1.6021019C.

Coulomb's Law :
Coulomb's law states that the electrical force between two charged objects is
directly proportional to the product of the quantity of charge on the objects and
inversely proportional to the square of the separation distance between the two
objects.

where q1 = quantity of charge on object 1 (C) ,

q2 = quantity of charge on object 2 (C) and
d = distance between the two objects (in
meters)

The materials can be broadly divided into :

1. Conductors : They allow the current to flow easily.
2. Insulators : They do not allow current to flow easy.
3. Semiconductors : They are in between conductors and insulators.
Conductors Materials that naturally allow electric current to flow as well as
those that respond to electric fields are called conductors.
Insulators Materials that do not respond to the presence of an electric field as
well as resisting the flow of charge are considered insulators.
Semiconductors Heres where things get a little weird, as materials that are
classified as semi-conductors are materials that can either allow or prevent
current from flowing, depending on the energetic state of the material at the
time.

Current :
Current is moving positive electrical charge.
Measured in Amperes (A) = 1 Coulomb/s. Current is represented by I or i.
In general, current can be an arbitrary function of time.
Constant current is called direct current (DC).
Current that can be represented as a sinusoidal function of time (or in some
contexts a sum of sinusoids) is called alternating current (AC).

Voltage :
Voltage is electromotive force provided by a source or a potential
difference between two points in a circuit.
Measured in Volts (V): 1 J of energy is needed to move 1 C of charge
through a 1 V potential difference.
Voltage is represented by V or v.

Potential difference (V) :

Potential difference is the work done per unit charge. A potential difference of 1 V
means that 1 joule of work is done per coulomb of charge. ( 1 V = 1 J C-1) .
Potential difference in a circuit is measured using a voltmeter which is placed in
parallel with the component of interest in the circuit.

V = potential difference in volts, V

W = work done or energy transferred in joules, J
Q = charge in coulombs, C

Power :
Power is defined as the time rate of change of doing work. We express this as,

dw
p
dt
We can write equation as follows:

dw dq
p
vi
dq dt
Power has units of watts.

Energy :
Electrical energy is defined as the product of Power and Time .
Therefore unit of energy will be watt-hour or Joules.

P x t

The energy is the area under the power-time curve.

Energy is also defined as capacity to do work.

Ideal independent voltage source :

An ideal dependent voltage source is characterized as having a constant voltage
across its terminals, regardless of the load connected to the terminals.
The ideal voltage source can supply any amount of current. Furthermore, the ideal
independent voltage source can supply any amount of power.
The standard symbols of the ideal independent voltage source are shown below.

v(t)

Most often
used

Sometimes
used

Ideal independent current sources :

An ideal independent current source is characterized as providing a constant
value of current, regardless of the load.
If the current source is truly ideal, it can provided any value of voltage and any
amount of power.
The standard symbol used for the ideal independent current source is shown
below.
+

i(t)

1 amp

1 meg

V=?

Dependent voltage source :

A dependent voltage source is characterized by depending ona voltage or current
somewhere else in the circuit.
The symbol for the current source is shown below. Note the diamond shape.

10

A circuit containing a dependent voltage

source is shown below :
A circuit with a current controlled dependent
voltage source.

20
30

+
5V _

10Iy

Iy
12

Dependent current source :

A dependent current source is characterized by depending on a voltage or current
somewhere else in the circuit. The symbol for a dependent current source is
shown as follows:

10

A circuit containing a dependent current

source is shown below :

20
30
+

5V

+_

4vx

vx
_

A circuit with a voltage controlled dependent

current source

12

Waveforms :
A Waveform is a graph of magnitude of quantity w.r.t time.

The quantity plotted on X-axis is time and on Y-axis is voltage ,current or

power , etc.

The shape of an A.C quantity such as current , voltage or power need not be
a sinwave always.
The figure of sinusoidal waveform is as follows :