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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

202: Principles of electrical science

Handout 2: Mathematical principles
Learning outcome
The learner will:
1. understand mathematical principles which are appropriate to electrical installation,
maintenance and design work.
Assessment criteria
The learner can:
1.1. identify and apply appropriate mathematical principles which are relevant to electrical work
tasks.
Range
Mathematical principles: fractions and percentages, algebra, indices, transposition, triangles and
trigonometry, statistics

Mathematical principles
One of the issues with working with electricity is that under normal circumstances we can’t see it or
hear it, although we can smell it if something goes wrong. If we are to understand the quantities
involved we need to measure the relevant electrical quantities and, from these, calculate other
quantities. So, if we are to understand electrical principles we need to have a good understanding
of certain mathematical principles.
Fractions and percentages
A fraction represents a part of a whole. In everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts
of a certain size there are, for example, one-half or 0.5, eight-fifths or 1.6, three-quarters or 0.75.
Fractions can be classified in two ways:
 vulgar fractions
 decimal fractions.
Vulgar fractions
A vulgar fraction consists of an integer (whole number) numerator displayed above a line (or before
a slash), and a non-zero integer denominator, displayed below (or after) that line. Some examples
are:
1 3
8⁄5 3⁄8
2 4
The number at the bottom (or to the right of the slash) is the denominator and tells us how many
pieces an item is divided up by. The number on the top (or to the left of the slash) tells us how
many of those pieces we have. Here are some examples.
 The picture to the right represents a cake.
 It has been divided into eight equal pieces.
 Because the cake has eight equal pieces the denominator will be 8.
 We are taking the green pieces of the cake and there are three of
these.
 These three pieces will be the numerator, or the number of pieces we
have.
 The resulting fraction will be:
3
or 3⁄8
8

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

Fractions with the same denominator are referred to as like fractions. Add or subtract the
numerators and write the answer as the new numerator above common denominator. For
example:
2 1 3 9 3 6 3
+ = or − = =
5 5 5 16 16 16 8
Note that in the second example the answer was 6⁄16 but this can be simplified to 3⁄8 by
cancelling.
If the fractions have different denominators we must first make the fractions equivalent by creating
the same denominator. For example:
3 3 9 + 6 15 5
+ = = =
8 12 24 24 8
To solve this, we first had to find the lowest common multiple (LCM) which is the smallest number
that all denominators will divide into without any remainder; in this case, 24. Next, the numerators
need to be converted. Divide the original denominator in each case into the LCM and then multiply
the respective numerator by the answer; 8 divided into 24 equals 3, 3 (numerator) times 3 equals
9; 12 divided into 24 equals 2; 3 (numerator) times 2 equals 6. We then add the new numerators
together to give 15 which is then placed over the new denominator (24) to give 15⁄24. This can
then be simplified by cancelling to give 5⁄8.
Decimal fractions
A decimal fraction is a fraction where the denominator (the bottom number) is a power of 10 (such
as 10, 100, 1,000, etc).
You can write decimal fractions with a decimal point (and no denominator), which makes it easier
to do calculations like addition and multiplication of fractions. For example:
43
= 0.43
100
Decimal fractions are ideal for use with calculators and they can be entered directly into the
calculator. Vulgar fractions can be converted to decimal fractions by dividing the numerator by the
denominator. For example:
17
= 17 ÷ 32 = 0.53125
32
Percentages
‘Percent’ means out of 100. The current basic income tax rate is 20 per cent taxable pay, this
means that for £100 you will have to pay £20 in income tax. The symbol % means per cent.
How to calculate a percentage
A percentage is a fraction with a denominator of 100.
60% (60 in each 100) as a fraction is 60/100.
60% as a decimal is 0.6.
You will frequently need to find a percentage of a quantity. First, write the percentage as a fraction
or a decimal, then multiply by the quantity.
Example: The maximum permitted voltage drop in a lighting circuit is 3% of the supply voltage.
Calculate the maximum voltage drop if the supply voltage is 230 volts.
First, write 3% as a fraction: 3% = 3⁄100
Now multiply by the quantity: 3⁄100 × 230 = 6.9 volts

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

Algebra
Algebra uses letters (like x or y) or other symbols in place of values; it is used to find unknown
values, with rules for manipulating these symbols. For example, in electrical principles we can
calculate the current flowing in a circuit if we know the applied voltage and the resistance of the
circuit, using the formula:
V
I=
R
Where: I = Current in amperes
V = Voltage in volts
R = Resistance in ohms
Example
Calculate the current that will flow in a circuit of resistance of 460 ohms when a voltage of 230 volts
is applied.
V
I =
R
230
=
460
= 0.5 ohms
But what if we know, say, the current and resistance but not the voltage? We can still solve the
equation by using transposition; this is explained in the next paragraph.
Transposition
This is also known as changing the subject of the formulae.
In the example on the left, I is the subject of
the formula. By inserting the values for V and
R, the value of the subject I can be calculated.
If we need to find V, for example, we must
transpose the formula to make V the subject.
There is one fundamental rule for transposing
a formula, as found below.

Whatever you do to one side of the formula, you must do the same to the other side.

In other words:
 add the same quantity to both sides of the formula
 subtract the same quantity from both sides of the formula
 multiply both sides of the formula by the same quantity
 divide both sides of the formula by the same quantity
 take ‘functions’ of both sides of the formula; for example, square both sides or find the
reciprocal of both sides.

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

Example 1
I = V/R – make V the subject of the formula.
V
I = (I is currently the subject of the formula.)
R
The question is: ‘Make V the subject of the formula’. This means that ‘V’ must be put on its own on
one side of the equals sign, with the other terms on the other side.
In order to do this, first V×R
multiply both sides by R. I×R =
R
V×R
Now cancel through: I×R =
R
I×R = V
Now rearrange the formula: V = I×R
Example 2
I = V/R – make R the subject of the formula.
V
I = (I is currently the subject of the formula.)
R
The question is: ‘Make R the subject of the formula’. This means that ‘R’ must be put on its own on
one side of the equals sign, with the other terms on the other side.
In order to do this, first V×R
multiply both sides by R. I×R =
R
V×R
Now cancel through: I×R =
R
I×R = V
I×R V
Now divide both sides by I: =
I I
I×R V
Now cancel through : =
I I
V
R =
I
The formula used in examples 1 and 2 is the Ohm’s law formula and
is used to calculate the relationship between resistance (R),
current (I) and voltage (V).
In formulae (the plural of formula) where there are three values, with
two divided or multiplied by each other, the values can be put into a
triangle that will allow you to determine easily which variation of the
formula should be used.
If we need to find a value, simply cover it and what’s left gives the formula. If the two values are
side by side, multiply them; if the two values are one on top of the other then divide the bottom one
into the top one to give the following:
V V
V=I×R I= R=
R I

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

Example 3
E = B x l x v – make v the subject of the formula.
(E is currently the subject of the
E = B×l×v formula.)
The question is: ‘Make v the subject of the formula’. This means that ‘v’ must be put on its own on
one side of the equals sign, with the other terms on the other side.
In order to do this, first divide both sides by B x l:
E B×l×v
=
B×l B×l
E B×l×v
Now cancel through: =
B×l B×l
E
= v
B×l
E
Rearrange the formula: v =
B×l
Indices
A knowledge of powers, or indices as they are often called, is essential for an understanding of
most algebraic processes.
Basically, they are a shorthand way of writing multiplications of the same number.
So, suppose we have 4 × 4 × 4
We write this as “4 to the power 3”:
43
So:
4 × 4 × 4 = 43
The superscripted number 3 is called the power, or index. Note that the plural of index is indices.
Indices can be positive or negative and we generally use them in electrical science to express very
large or very small numbers easily.
For example, a typical microwave motion detector uses a frequency of 2,420,000,000Hz. If you
were to have to write numbers of this magnitude or input them into a calculator regularly it would
be quite a chore. By using indices, the number could be written as:
2.42 x 109 Hz
Effectively, the 109 means that the decimal place, which is initially at the extreme right of the
number, is moved nine places to the left.
Another example is that the resistivity of copper is 0.0000000172 ohm/metre3. Again, to write and
input these numbers would be quite a chore. By using negative indices, the number could be
written as:
17.2 10-9 ohm/metre3
Effectively, the 10-9 means that the decimal place, which is initially at the left end of the number, is
moved nine places to the right.

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

Standard form or scientific notation

A number written with one digit to the left of the decimal point and multiplied by 10 raised to some
power is written in standard form or with scientific notation. For example:
43,712 = 4.3712 x 104
0.036 = 3.6 x 10-2
Engineering notation
This is like scientific notation, except that the power of 10 is always a multiple of three. For
example:
43712 = 43.712x 103 = 0.043712 x 106
0.036 = 36 x 10-3 = 36000 x 10-6
In electrical installation, we generally use engineering notation.
Triangles
When carrying out various calculations in electrical science we regularly make use of triangles, for
example, to calculate impedance, power and power factor. To enable us to do these calculations
we need to have a good understanding of Pythagoras’ theorem and trigonometry.
Pythagoras' theorem states that for all right-angled triangles,
the square on the hypotenuse is equal in area to the sum of
the squares on the other two sides.
The hypotenuse is the longest side and it’s always opposite
the right angle.
If we draw a square on each side of a right-angled triangle,
Pythagoras found that the combined areas of sides A and B
(see the diagram to the right) will equal the area of the
square on the hypotenuse, side C in this case.
This gives the relationship:
C 2 = A2 + B2
To calculate side C (the hypotenuse) the relationship would become the following equation:

C = √A2 + B2
To use Pythagoras’ theorem we need to know the lengths of two of the sides to find the length of
the third. The above equation can be transposed to enable us to find the other two sides as
follows:

A = √C2 − B2
B = √C2 − A2
We use Pythagoras’ theorem to calculate power and impedance in AC circuits (you will be shown
how to apply the theorem later in your studies).
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies relationships involving lengths and angles of
triangles. Again, relating to right-angled triangles, if we know the length of one side and one angle
we can calculate all the others.
The ratios of the sides of a right-angled triangle are called trigonometric ratios. Three common
trigonometric ratios are the sine (sin), cosine (cos) and tangent (tan).

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

These are defined for acute angle A below:

Opposite
sin(A) =
Hypotenuse
Adjacent
cos(A) =
Hypotenuse
Opposite
tan(A) =
Adjacent
We use trigonometry to calculate power factor in AC circuits (you will be shown how to apply this
later in your studies).
Statistics
This is a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation,
and organisation of data. We would normally start with data collection which could be, for example,
the number of people with red cars, blue cars, silver cars or white cars; this is referred to as the
population.
Once the data has been collected it can then be analysed using simple statistical tools including
range, average (mean), median and mode.
The range is the difference between the lowest and highest values. For example:
Data set: 8, 11, 5, 9 , 7, 6, 8, 10, 6
 The lowest value is 5
 The highest value is 11
So the range = Highest value − Lowest value = 11 − 5 = 6
This appears very simple, but the result can be very misleading if there is an extraordinarily high or
low value in the data set compared to the rest.
The average or mean value is defined as the number that measures the central tendency of a
given set of numbers. You calculate this by adding up all the numbers in the data set and dividing
this answer by the number of items in the data set. For example, using the numbers above:
(8 + 11 + 5 + 9 + 7 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 6) 70
Average or mean = = = 7.78
9 9
The median is the middle value of a data set. To find the median, list the values of the data set in
numerical order and identify which value appears in the middle of the list. For example, again using
the data set above:

The mode is the value that occurs the most; there can be more than one mode. For example, using
the data set above it can be seen that the values that occur the most are 6 and 8, with two of each;
both are the mode values.

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

Useful formulae
Voltage = I.R = P/I = P.R
Current = V/R = P/V = P/R
Resistance = V/I = V2/P = P/I2
Power = V.I = I2.R = V2/R

Resistors In series: R t = R1 + R 2 + R 3 etc

1 1 1 1
in parallel: = + + etc
R t R1 R 2 R 3
Kirchhoff’s laws
Voltage: VT = V1 + V2 + V3 + etc in a series circuit
Current: IT = I1 + I2 + I3 + etc in a parallel circuit

Resistivity l RL R  1/a

R=ρ×
a
Charge (Quantity) Q = It or Q = VC

Capacitors in parallel: Ct = C1 + C2 + C3 etc

1 1 1 1
in series: = + + etc
Ct C1 C2 C3

Electro-magnetism  = B.A BH

mmf = NxI
H = n×l
L

Induced EMF E = B × l × v (v = velocity)

E = 2 − 1
t
E = (I2 − I1)
−L ×
t

Force on a conductor F = B × I × l Newtons

Energy in a magnetic field: ½.L.I2 Joules

Stored in a capacitor: ½.C.V2 Joules

Efficiency Efficiency = Output power

Input power

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Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installations (Buildings and Structures) Unit 202 Handout 2

Mechanics Force = Mass x Newtons

Torque = Force x Distance
Work Done (WD) = Force x Distance
Energy = Joules
Joules = Watts x Seconds
Joules = Newton Metre

Pythagoras Z = √R2 + X 2

Power factor pf = R
Z

Power factor pf = P
VA

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