Basic Electricity

DESCRIPTION:
Covers basic circuits and theory of fundamental concepts of electricity. Presents a practical
approach to discussion of components and devices.
REALATIONSHIP OF THE COURSE TO CURRICUUM OBJECTIVES:
COURSE CONTENT:
Basic Concepts
The Basic Electrical Circuit

A simple circuit:
Electrical circuits involve 3 basic components:
is the force created by the separation of charges. Kind of like when two
opposite poles of a magnet are put close together, but are separated by a short
distance. A force tries to pull them together. When there are more negative charges on
the inside of the membrane of a cell, there is a force driving positive charges inward
to neutralize them. The unit of voltage is the volt and it is represented by the symbol
V. Voltage is also called "potential" or "potential difference".
is a measure of how hard it is for charges to move in the system. In
a cell, the lipid portion of the membrane is impermiable to ions, so
the resistance to current across the membrane is determined by the opening and
closing of ion channels. When the channels open, the resistance decreases. When they
close, resistance increases (because ions can't move through the membrane). The units
of resistance are ohms and it is represented by the symbol R. (Note - When talking
about channels, "conductance" is usually used instead of resistance. Conductance is
the inverse of resistance (1/R), or how easy it is to pass charges. Its units are seimans
[S].)
is the movement of charges. In an electrical circuit, electrons move from
the negative pole to the positive pole (although electrical current is
defined as the movement of positive charges, so current is said to go from the positive
pole to negative pole - go figure). In cells, current is when ions move through the
membrane (usually Na+, K+, Ca2+, or Cl-).

 Electrical Quantities and Units

Basic Circuits, Laws and Measurements

Basic circuits, and Ohm's law

Imagine a simple circuit, which consists only of a wire

connected between the two poles of a 3V battery. The wire is made of metal, probably copper,
and like any metal it contains millions of electrons which are free to move if made to do so by
a voltage (remember that a voltage acts as an electrical driving force). Because all of the
electrons throughout the whole wire have to move together, if there is a break in the wire no
current will be able to flow, despite the existence of the potential difference produced by the
battery.

In the real world, electrons cannot pass through a wire unimpeded: the wire itself will
inevitably have a certainresistance (measured in Ohms, symbol ), which makes it more
difficult to push current through it. We usually ignore the resistance of wire as it is very
low, but if we try to drive our current through e.g. a light-bulb, we would have to take
account of the significant resistance of this device.
We could model this in a circuit diagram as a single resistor R, represented as a
rectangular symbol, connected to the battery via lines which represent (theoretical) "zeroresistance wires". A battery is conventionally represented by two parallel vertical lines, one
shorter and thicker than the other.

Wh
at if we now measure voltages in the circuit? If we record from any two points on the same
length of wire on the left hand side, we will record zero volts. This is because there is no
potential difference along that bit of wire there is no resistance between the two points which
would cause the potential to change, and so the potential of the wire at any point is the same
as the potential of the pole of the battery to which the wire is connected. You would also
record zero volts if you put both recording electrodes anywhere on the piece of wire on the
right hand side.

However, if you put one electrode on the wire

on the left, and one on the wire on the right, we now record +3V: the potential difference
between these two points must be the same as the potential difference between the two poles
of the battery. This must also be the potential difference across the resistor!
So the voltage across the resistor, which represents the "driving force" pushing current in
the form of electrons through it, is 3 volts. But how much current actually flows? We would
need to know what the value of the resistance was: for a given driving force, less current
will flow if you have a bigger resistor to push it through. This relationship is expressed
in Ohm's law, voltage = current x resistance, the most important law in electronics, and
perhaps in physiology too.

Ohm's law: V = IR

For example, if the voltage is 3V and the resistance is 6 , we can calculate using Ohm's
law that the current must be 0.5 amps. But if the resistance were only 1 , the current
would be 3 amps: a smaller resistance means that more current can flow, for the same
driving force (voltage) supplied by the battery.

 Circuit Component

Multiple-Load Circuits
Complex-Circuit Analysis
Magnetism and Electromagnetics
Power in AC Circuits
Capacitance
Inductance
Transformers
R C and L Circuits
Electric Motors
Instruments and Measurements

LEARNER OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course students should have:
A basic understanding of the use of meters and test equipment used to measure
electrical quantities.
A basic understanding of voltage, current resistance and power in dc circuits and
network analysis using Ohms Law, and Kirchoffs Laws.
A basic understanding of magnetic field theory.
A basic understanding of inductance, capacitance and impedance in ac circuits
and network analysis.
A basic knowledge of motors and transformers
EVALUATION
1. Attendance, homework and class-work, lab exercises, projects, quizzes and test