Electrical Circuits 1

Dr. Magdy A. Abdelhay

Pyramids Higher Institute for Engineering and Technology

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Chapter 1
Voltage and Current

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Atoms and Their Structure
The simplest of all atoms is the hydrogen atom, made up of two basic
particles, the proton and the electron.
The nucleus of the hydrogen atom is the proton, a positively charged
particle.
The orbiting electron carries a negative charge equal in magnitude to
the positive charge of the proton.

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Atoms and Their Structure

In all other elements, the nucleus also contains neutrons, which are
slightly heavier than protons and have no electrical charge.
The helium atom, for example, has two neutrons in addition to two
electrons and two protons.
The atomic structure of any stable atom has an equal number of
electrons and protons.

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Atoms and Their Structure
Different atoms have various numbers of electrons in concentric orbits
called shells around the nucleus.
The number of electrons in each shell is determined by 2n2 where n is
the shell number.
Copper is the most commonly used metal in the electrical/electronics
industry.
It has 29 electrons in orbits around the nucleus, with the 29th
electron appearing all by itself in the 4th shell.

The atomic structure of copper.

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Atoms and Their Structure

Opposite charges are attracted to each other, but the farther apart
they are, the less the attraction.
The force of attraction between the nucleus and the 29th electron of
copper can be determined by Coulomb’s law
Q1 Q2
F =k (newtons, N)
r2
F is in newtons (N ), k = a constant = 9.0 × 109 N.m2 /C2 , Q1 and
Q2 are the charges in coulombs, and r is the distance between the
two charges in meters.
The result is that the 29th electron is loosely bound to the atomic
structure and with a little bit of pressure from outside sources could
be encouraged to leave the parent atom.
If this 29th electron gains sufficient energy from the surrounding
medium to leave the parent atom, it is called a free electron.
In 1 cubic in. of copper at room temperature, there are approximately
1.4 × 1024 free electrons.
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Voltage
If we separate the 29th electron from the rest of the atomic structure
of copper, we create regions that have a net positive and negative
charge.

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Voltage

This separation of charge to establish regions of positive and negative

charge is the action that occurs in every battery.

In general, every source of voltage is established by simply creating a

separation of positive and negative charges.

It would be inconsequential to talk about the voltage established by

the separation of a single electron.

A package of electrons called a coulomb (C) of charge was defined

as follows: One coulomb of charge is the total charge associated with
6.242 × 1018 electrons.

A coulomb of positive charge would have the same magnitude but

opposite polarity.

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Voltage

If a total of 1 joule (J) of energy is used to move the negative charge

of 1 coulomb (C), there is a difference of 1 volt (V) between the two
points.
The defining equation is
W
V =
Q
V = volts (V), W = joules (J) and Q = coulombs (C).

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Voltage

Through algebraic manipulations, we can define an equation to

determine the energy required to move charge through a difference in
voltage:
W = QV

Finally, if we want to know how much charge was involved:

W
Q=
V

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Voltage

Example 1 Find the voltage between two points if 60 J of energy are

required to move a charge of 20 C between the two points.
Solution:
W 60 J
V = = =3V
Q 20 C

Example 2 Determine the energy expended moving a charge of 50 µC

between two points if the voltage between the points is 6 V.
Solution:

W = QV = (50 × 10−6 C)(6 V) = 300 × 10−6 J = 300 µJ

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Voltage

There are a variety of ways to separate charge to establish the desired

voltage.
The most common is the chemical action used in car batteries,
flashlight batteries, and, in fact, all portable batteries.
Other sources use mechanical methods such as car generators and
steam power plants or alternative sources such as solar cells and
windmills.
In total, however, the sole purpose of the system is to create a
separation of charge.
In the future, therefore, when you see a positive and a negative
terminal on any type of battery, you can think of it as a point where a
large concentration of charge has gathered to create a voltage
between the two points.

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Current

In the shown figure, a copper wire sits isolated on a laboratory bench.

If we cut the wire with an imaginary perpendicular plane, we would be
amazed to find that there are free electrons crossing the surface in
both directions.
Those free electrons generated at room temperature are in constant
motion in random directions.
However, at any instant of time, the number of electrons crossing the
imaginary plane in one direction is exactly equal to that crossing in
the opposite direction, so the net flow in any one direction is zero.

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Current
Now, to make this electron flow do work for us, we need to give it a
direction and be able to control its magnitude.
This is accomplished by simply applying a voltage across the wire to
force the electrons to move toward the positive terminal of the
battery.
The positive ions in the copper wire simply oscillate in a mean fixed
position.
As the electrons pass through the wire, the negative terminal of the
battery acts as a supply of additional electrons to keep the process
moving.

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Current
If 6.242 × 1018 electrons (1 coulomb) pass through the imaginary
plane in the figure in 1 second, the flow of charge, or current, is said
to be 1 ampere (A).
Using the coulomb as the unit of charge, the current in amperes can
be determined using the following equation:
Q
I=
t
I = amperes (A), Q = coulombs (C), and t = time (s).

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Current

Through algebraic manipulations, the other two quantities can be

determined as follows:

Q = It (coulombs, C)

and
Q
t= (seconds, s)
I

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Current

Example 3 The charge flowing through the imaginary surface is 0.16 C

every 64 ms. Determine the current in amperes.
Solution:
Q 0.16 C 160 × 10−3 C
I= = = = 2.50 A
t 64 × 10−3 s 64 × 10−3 s

Example 4 Determine how long it will take 4 × 1016 electrons to pass

through the imaginary surface if the current is 5 mA.
Solution: Determine the charge in coulombs:
 
1 C
4 × 1016 (
electrons = 0.641 × 10−2 C = 6.41 mC
((( (
18
6.242 × 10 ( electrons
( ( (
(

Q 6.41 × 10−3 C
t= = = 1.28 s
I 5 × 10−3 A

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Voltage Sources

The term dc, used throughout this text, is an abbreviation for direct
current, which encompasses all systems where there is a
unidirectional (one direction) flow of charge.
This section reviews dc voltage supplies that apply a fixed voltage to
electrical/electronics systems.
In general, dc voltage sources can be divided into three basic types:
(1) batteries (chemical action or solar energy), (2) generators
(electromechanical), and (3) power supplies (rectification—a
conversion process to be described in your electronics courses).

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Ampere-Hour Rating

The most important piece of data for any battery (other than its
voltage rating) is its ampere-hour (Ah) rating.
The ampere-hour (Ah) rating provides an indication of how long a
battery of fixed voltage will be able to supply a particular current.
A battery with an ampere-hour rating of 100 will theoretically provide
a current of 1 A for 100 hours, 10 A for 10 hours, or 100 A for 1 hour.
Quite obviously, the greater the current, the shorter the time.
An equation for determining the length of time a battery will supply a
particular current is the following:

ampere-hour (Ah) rating

Life (hours) =
amperes drawn (A)

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Ampere-Hour Rating

Example 5 How long will a 9 V transistor battery with an amperehour

rating of 520 mAh provide a current of 20 mA?
Solution:
520 mAh 520
Life (hours) = = h = 26 h
20 mA 20

Example 6 How long can a 1.5 V flashlight battery provide a current of

250 mA to light the bulb if the ampere-hour rating is 16 Ah?
Solution:
16 Ah 16
Life (hours) = = h = 64 h
250 mA 250 × 10−3

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