BASIC ELECTRICAL IDEAS

AND UNITS
EE -424
MODULE 1 PART 1
ENGR. JEFREY JAY S. CLAUS, RME
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the basic electrical engineering principle, concepts, laws
and theorems.
2. Distinguish the general aspects of direct current system.
3. Define Ohm’s Law and apply mathematical formulas in solving basic
electrical problems.
4. Determine the temperature-resistance effect.
5. Understand electrical circuits and apply the power, current, resistance
and voltage equations.
 Introduction

Electricity plays an important role in our day-to-day life, and hence, we

should be aware of the various functions that electricity can perform.Nowadays, all
our basic needs are completely dependent upon electricity. The study of an electrical
engineering involves the analysis of the energy transfer from one form to another. So
before beginning the actual study of an electrical engineering, it is necessary to
discuss the fundamental ideas about the basic elements of an electrical engineering.
In this module, you will study about the basic electrical engineering
principles, concepts, laws and theories which enables you to understand the various
applications of electricity in the future.
 ELECTRICITY

The invisible energy that constitutes the flow of electrons in a closed

circuit to do work is called ‘electricity’. It is a form of energy that can be easily
converted to any other form. Previously, it was thought that electricity is a
matter which flows through the circuit to do work. However, now it has been
established that electricity constitutes the flow of electrons in the circuit, and in
this process, a work is done. It is form of energy. The Greatest discoveries of
man that come from the Greek word “electron” which means amber.
Electricity is all about electrons, which are the fundamental cause of electricity.
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 THE SHOCKING HISTORY OF ELECTRICITY

Around 600 BC Greeks found that by rubbing a hard fossilized resin

(Amber) against a fur cloth, it would attract particles of straw. This strange effect
remained a mystery for over 2000 years.
Two Thousand Years Later
Around 1600, William Gilbert, a physician who lived in London at the
time of Queen Elizabeth I and Shakespeare, studied magnetic phenomena and
demonstrated that the Earth itself was a huge magnet, by means of his "terrella"
experiment. He also studied the attraction produced when materials were rubbed,
and named it the "electric" attraction. From that came the word "electricity" and
all others derived from it.
FAMOUS DISCOVERIES
MODULE 1 PART 1
WILLIAM GILBERT

Father of electricity

The word “electricity” was

coined by Gilbert, who based it on
the
• Greek word for amber.
BENJAMIN • In 1752, Franklin proved that lightning and
FRANKLIN the spark from amber were one and the same
thing. This story is a familiar one, in which
Franklin fastened an iron spike to a silken
kite, which he flew during a thunderstorm,
while holding the end of the kite string by
an iron key. When lightning flashed, a tiny
spark jumped from the key to his wrist. The
experiment proved Franklin's theory, but
was extremely dangerous - he could easily
have been killed.
 • In 1786, Luigi Galvani, an Italian professor of medicine, found that
GALVANI AND when the leg of a dead frog was touched by a metal knife, the leg
twitched violently. Galvani thought that the muscles of the frog must
VOLTA contain electricity.
• By 1792, another Italian scientist, Alessandro Volta, disagreed: he
realized that the main factors in Galvani's discovery were the two
different metals - the steel knife and the tin plate - upon which the frog
was lying. Volta showed that when moisture comes between two
different metals, electricity is created.
• This led him to invent the first electric battery, the voltaic pile, which he
made from thin sheets of copper and zinc separated by moist pasteboard.
• In this way, a new kind of electricity was discovered, electricity that
flowed steadily like a current of water instead of discharging itself in a
single spark or shock.
• Volta showed that electricity could be made to travel from one place to
another by wire, thereby making an important contribution to the science
of electricity. The unit of electrical potential, the Volt, is named after
him.
 • The credit for generating electric current on a practical
scale goes to the famous English scientist, Michael
MICHAEL Faraday. Faraday was greatly interested in the invention
of the electromagnet, but his brilliant mind took earlier
FARADAY experiments still further. If electricity could produce
magnetism, why couldn't magnetism produce electricity?
• In 1831, Faraday found the solution. Electricity could be
produced through magnetism by motion. He discovered
that when a magnet was moved inside a coil of copper
wire, a tiny electric current flows through the wire. Of
course, by today's standards, Faraday's electric
generator was crude (and provided only a small electric
current), but he had discovered the first method of
generating electricity by means of motion in a magnetic
field.
• Faraday also realized that the electric force is
transmitted by an electric field.
 • When Edison's generator was coupled with
JAMES WATT Watt's steam engine, large scale electricity
generation became a practical proposition.
James Watt, the Scottish inventor of the
steam condensing engine, was born in 1736.
His improvements to steam engines were
patented over a period of 15 years, starting
in 1769 and his name was given to the
electric unit of power, the Watt.
ANDRE MARIE
AMPERE • Andre Marie Ampere, a French
mathematician who devoted himself to the
study of electricity and magnetism, was the
first to explain the electro-dynamic theory. A
permanent memorial to Ampere is the use of
his name for the unit of electric current.
GEORGE OHM • George Simon Ohm, a German
mathematician and physicist, was a college
teacher in Cologne when in 1827 he
published, "The Galvanic Circuit
Investigated Mathematically". His theories
were coldly received by German scientists,
but his research was recognized in Britain
and he was awarded the Copley Medal in
1841. His name has been given to the unit of
electrical resistance.
DIFFERENT METHODS IN
PRODUCING ELECTRICITY
MODULE 1 PART 1
 TWO MAIN TYPES OF ELECTRICITY
• Static Electricity - involves electrons that are moved from one place to
another, usually by rubbing or brushing. Static Electricity is nothing but the
contact between equal amount of protons and electrons (positively and
negatively charged subatomic particles). In order to make this friction work
the particles are supposed to be of opposite nature (+,-). If two same-kind
particles i.e. positive-positive or negative-negative, it would then be called as
a ‘Non-friction.
 TWO MAIN TYPES OF ELECTRICITY
• Current Electricity - involves the flow of electrons in a conductor. Current
Electricity is a flow of electric charge across an electrical field. This current
is lead through a conductor. The conductors are generally of two types, Good
and Bad conductors. Good conductors are the ones which let the electric
charge flow through them (Copper wires) and the bad conductors are the
ones which resists the electric charge (Wood). The constant flow of electric
charge causes the conductor to heat up very often.
 HOW IS ELECTRICITY PRODUCED?
A. Electricity Produced from Frictional Energy (Static
Electricity)
• Frictional Electricity is the least important of all methods
for the production of electricity. It can be produced by
rubbing certain dissimilar materials together. One
application of static electricity is in a device used in atomic
research called Van de Graaff generator .
 B. ELECTRICITY PRODUCED FROM
PRESSURE
• Electricity produced from pressure is called
piezoelectricity, which is produced by certain
crystalline materials such as quartz and barium
titanate.
• If a crystal made of this material is placed between
two metal plates and pressure is exerted on the plates,
an electric charge will be develop but the amount of
charge will depend on the amount of pressure exerted.

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C. ELECTRICITY PRODUCED FROM HEAT

• The amount of charge produced depends on the

difference in temperature between junction and the
opposite ends of two wires. A greater temperature
difference results in a greater charge. Electricity is
produced by heating the junction of a thermocouple.
D. ELECTRICITY PRODUCED FROM
CHEMICAL REACTION

• Electric cells are electricity

produced by chemical reactions.
E. ELECTRICITY PRODUCED FROM LIGHT
• The electricity is produced by light
striking photosensitive materials.
These materials release electrons
when excited by light under the
right conditions. These releases of
electrons are called photoelectric
effect.
F. ELECTRICITY PRODUCED FROM
MAGNETISM
• Electricity produced by relative movement
of a magnet and a wire that result in the
cutting of lines of force. The amount of
electricity produced will depend on:
a. the number of turns in coil
b. the speed with which relative motions
of the coil and the magnet take place
c. the strength of the magnet
QUICK REVIEW OF THE ATOM
MODULE 1 PART 1
QUICK REVIEW OF THE ATOM
• Matter is made up of atoms
• Atoms are made of nucleons (called protons and neutrons) and
electrons
• Protons have a positive charge, neutrons have no charge, electrons
have a negative charge
• The charges of protons and electrons are equal and opposite
• ATOMS ARE EVERYWHERE
• Electrons move in and out of fixed pathways around the nucleus
• Changing the number of electrons in a particular type of atom
creates an ion of that atom
 QUICK REVIEW OF THE ATOM
On the Move
• Electrons in the outer rings or shells of atoms are bound more loosely to the nucleus
• Such electrons tend to break free from the nucleus and wander around amongst other nearby atoms
• Such electrons are called free electrons
MATTER
• Anything that occupy space and has weight
ELEMENT
• A substance that cannot be decomposed any farther by chemical reaction
ATOM
• Smallest part that an element can be reduced to and still keeping the chemical properties of the element. It is
the smallest building block of matter.

COMPOUND
• A combination of two or more elements.
MOLECULE
• It is the smallest particle that a compound can be reduced to before it breaks down to its elements.
QUICK REVIEW OF THE ATOM
• ELECTRONS

Negatively charged particles that revolve around the nucleus of an

atom. Electron is one of the lightest particles with a known mass.
The mass of electron is about 9.11 x 10-31 kg.
• PROTONS
Positively charged particles that stays in the nucleus of an atom.
Proton is very small, but it is fairly massive compared to the other
particles that make up matter. The mass of one proton is 1.675 x 10-27 kg.
• NEUTRONS
Particles having no charge.
Neutrons are about the same size as protons but their mass is
slightly greater, 1.675 x 10-27 kg
QUICK REVIEW OF THE ATOM
• NUCLEUS
The central part of the atom where the protons and
neutrons are located.
• ATOMIC NUMBER
Represents the number of electrons or protons of an
atom.
• ATOMIC MASS
Represents the sum of protons and neutrons of an atom.
• VALENCE ELECTRONS
Electrons found in the outermost shell or orbit of an
atom.
QUESTION

• The number of electrons, protons and neutrons in an atoms whose atomic

number is 11 and atomic mass is 23 will be:

ANSWER: 11 electrons, 11 protons and 12 neutrons

 QUICK REVIEW OF THE ATOM
CONDUCTORS Other Types of Conductors
• In conductors, electric charges are free to • Electrolytes
move through the material. In insulators, they
Both negative and positive charges can
are not.
move.
• In conductors:
• Semiconductors
• The charge carriers are called free electrons
In-between conductors and insulators in
• Only negative charges are free to move
their ability to conduct electricity
• When isolated atoms are combined to form a
Conductivity can be greatly enhanced
metal, outer electrons of the atoms do not
by adding small amounts of other elements
remain attached to individual atoms but
become free to move throughout the volume Requires quantum physics to truly
of the material understand how they work.
 INSULATORS

• Insulators on the other hand are the exact opposite of conductors. They are made of materials,
generally non- metals, that have very few or no “free electrons” float about within their basic atom
structure because the electrons in the outer valence shell are strongly attached by the positively
charge inner nucleus. So if a potential voltage is applied to the material no current will flow as there
are no electrons to move which gives these materials their insulating properties.
• Examples of good insulators are marble, p.v.c plastics, rubber, glass ,oil, asphalt, fiberglass,
porcelain, ceramic, dry cotton, dry copper, dry wood, air, diamond, mica, textile fiber, and wax.
• Insulators play an important tool within electrical and electronics because without them electrical
circuit would short together and not work. For example, insulators made of glass or porcelain are
used for insulating and supporting overhead transmission cables while epoxy glass resin materials
are used to make printed circuit boards, PCB’s etc.
SYSTEM OF UNITS
MODULE 1 PART 1
 SYSTEM’S OF UNITS
• In representing a circuit and its elements, we must define a
consistent system of units for the quantities occurring in the circuit. At the
1960 meeting of the General Conference of Weights and Measures, the
representatives modernized the metric system and created the Systeme
International d’Unites, commonly called SI units.

Table 1.1 SI Basic Units

 SYSTEM’S OF UNITS
Table 1.2 Examples of SI Derived Units
 SYSTEM’S OF UNITS
Table 1.3 SI Derived Units with Special Names and Symbols
SYSTEM’S OF UNITS
Table 1.4 Metric
Prefixes
 SYSTEM’S OF UNITS
Table 1.6. Units Outside the SI That Are Accepted for
Use with the SI System
ELECTRIC CIRCUIT
THEORY
MODULE 1 PART 1
 ELECTRIC CIRCUIT THEORY
• Fundamental theory upon which all branches of electrical engineering are
built.
• Many branches of electrical engineering, such as power, electric machines,
control, electronics, communications, and instrumentation, are based on
electric circuit theory.
 ELECTRIC CIRCUIT
• An electric circuit is an interconnection of
electrical elements and each component
of the circuit is known as an element.
• A simple electric circuit in the figure
above consists of basic elements such as
battery, a light bulb, connecting wires and
a switch.
• A electric circuit is always a closed path.
A closed circuit is one that is complete,
with good continuity throughout.
 DIRECT CURRENT SYSTEM

• Direct current (DC) is an electric

current that is uni-directional, so the
flow of charge is always in the same
direction. As opposed to alternating
current, the direction and amperage of
direct currents do not change. It is used
in many household electronics and in all
devices that use batteries. Anything that
works with a battery works on DC.
 TYPES OF ELECTRIC CIRCUIT
• Open Circuit- implies that the two terminals
are points are externally disconnected,
which is equivalent to a resistance R=∞ .
This means that zero current can flow
between the two terminals, regardless of
any voltage difference.
• Short Circuit- implies that the two
terminals are externally connected with
resistance R=0 , the same as an ideal wire.
This means there is zero voltage difference
for any current value.
 ELECTRICAL SYMBOLS
Electrical Symbols are used for components in electrical circuit
BASIC ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERING
INSTRUMENTS

MODULE 1
 AMMETER
• An ammeter is an instrument used
to measure current and must be
connected in series with the circuit.
Figure shows an ammeter
connected in series with the lamp to
measure the current flowing through
it. Since all the current in the circuit
passes through the ammeter it must
have a very low resistance.
 VOLTMETER
• A voltmeter is an instrument used for
measuring electric potential difference
between two points in an electric circuit.
and must be connected in parallel with
the part of the circuit whose potential
difference is required. In the Figure , a
voltmeter is connected in parallel with
the lamp to measure the potential
difference across it. To avoid a
significant current flowing through it a
voltmeter must have a very high
resistance.
 WATTMETER OHMMETER
• A wattmeter is an instrument for the • An ohmmeter is an instrument for
measurement of power in an measuring resistance.
electrical circuit.
 MULTIMETER
•A multimeter, or universal
instrument, may be used to measure
voltage, current and resistance.
CIRCUIT VARIABLES

MODULE 1
1. ELECTRIC CHARGE
Charge is an electrical property of the atomics particles of which
matter consists, measured in Coulombs(C ).
 Like charges repel while unlike charges attract.
C
C
 1 coulomb (C )= 6.24 x 1018 electrons or protons

Where:
Q = Charge in Coulumbs(C)
I = Current in Amperes (A)
t = time in seconds (s)
EXAMPLE:
If a current of 10A flows for four minutes, find the quantity of
electricity transferred.
Given: I = 10A, t= 4mins x = 240 seconds,
Solution:
Quantity of electricity, Q =It
Q= 10A(240sec)= 2400 Coulombs(C)
Problem:
1. How much charge is represented by 4,600 electrons?
2. Calculate the amount of charge represented by six million protons.
3. In what time would a current of 10A transfer a charge of 50 C?
ELECTRIC CURRENT
Such movement of free electrons creates an electric current
Materials with large numbers of free electrons are called electrical conductors. They
conduct electrical current.

rate of flow of electron or electric charge through a conductor or circuit elements

measured in amperes (A) or Coulombs/sec
Where:
I Q = Charge in Coulombs(C)
I = Current in Amperes (A)
t = time in seconds (s)
TYPES OF CURRENT
1. Direct Current (DC) – is a current that remains constant with time.
2. Alternating Current(AC)- is a current that varies sinusoidally with
time.

A time-varying current is represented by

If the current does not change the symbol i. A common form of time-
with time, but remains varying current is the sinusoidal current
constant, we call it a direct or alternating current (AC).
current (DC).
Conventional current flow: (a) positive current flow, (b)
negative current flow
MAIN EFFECTS OF ELECTRIC CURRENT
The three main effects of an electric current are:
(a) magnetic effect (b) chemical effect (c) heating effect
Some practical applications of the effects of an electric current include:
Magnetic effect: bells, relays, motors, generators, transformers, telephones,
car-ignition and lifting magnets
Chemical effect: primary and secondary cells and electroplating
Heating effect: cookers, water heaters, electric fires, irons, furnaces, kettles
and soldering irons
EXAMPLE:
What current must flow if 0.24 coulombs is to be transferred in
15 ms?
Given: I = ?, Q= 0.24 C, t= 15ms x = 0.015 seconds,
Solution:
I

= 16C/sec or 16 A
Problem:
1. The current in an electric lamp is 5 amperes. What quantity of
electricity flows towards the filament in 6 minutes?
2. A constant current of 4 A charges a capacitor. How long will it take
to accumulate a total charge of 8 coulombs on the plates?
3. VOLTAGE
We know that like charges repel each other whereas unlike charges attract each
other. To overcome this force of attraction or repulsion, a certain amount of work or
energy is required. When the charges are moved, it is said that a potential difference
exists and the work or energy per unit charge utilized in this process is known as
voltage or potential difference.
 Also known as electromotive force (emf); electric pressure; potential difference.
The energy required to move a unit charge through an element, measured in volts
(V)

Where:
W= WORK DONE ( joule)
Q= CHARGE (coulomb)
TYPES OF VOLTAGE
DC Voltage
- commonly produce by batteries
AC Voltage
- produced by electric generator

A constant voltage is called dc voltage and is represented by V,

Whereas a sinusoidal time varying voltage is called an ac voltage represented
by v.
A polarity (+. -) is used to indicate a voltage across an element.
Voltages , like currents, can be positive or negative.
 The potential at point a with respect to point b is Vab.
• The Vab can be interpreted in two ways: (1) Point a is at a potential of Vab volts
higher than point b, or (2) and point b
-Vab volts above point a. It follows logically that in general
EXAMPLE:
A battery can deliver 10 Joules of energy to move 5 coulombs of

charge. What is the potential difference between the terminals of the battery?
Given: V = ?, W= 10 Joule, Q= 5 Coulombs
Solution:

V
V= 2 J/C or 2 V
Problem:
1. Work equal to 136.0 joules is expended in moving electrons between two points in an electric
circuit. What potential difference does this establish between the two points?