Lecture 1

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Units used in electronics and electrical engineering
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The system of units used in engineering and science is the Système

Internationale d’Unités (International system of units, SI system), and
is based on the metric system.
The basic units in the SI system are listed below with their symbols:

Within the metric system, unit conversions revolve around prefixes.

Prefixes are added to the base units (liters, meters, grams, etc.) in
order to change the value of the unit.

The same prefixes are used whether you are measuring length, area,
volume, or anything else. In order to convert between the modified units
and the base units or between modified units, you only need to multiply
or divide by powers of 10.
 Common metric prefixes

/for example: 1 giga = 10 to the 9th power/

All materials are made up from atoms, and all atoms consist of protons,
neutrons and electrons. Protons, have a positive electrical charge.
Neutrons have no electrical charge (that is they are Neutral), while
Electrons have a negative electrical charge. Atoms are bound together by
powerful forces of attraction existing between the atoms nucleus and the
electrons in its outer shell.

When these protons, neutrons and electrons are together within the atom
they are happy and stable. But if we separate them from each other they
want to reform and start to exert a potential of attraction called a
potential difference.

Now if we create a closed circuit these loose electrons will start to

move and drift back to the protons due to their attraction creating a
flow of electrons.

This flow of electrons is called an electrical current. The electrons do

not flow freely through the circuit as the material they move through
creates a restriction to the electron flow. This restriction is called
resistance.

All the basic electrical or electronic circuits consist of three separate

but very much related electrical quantities called: Voltage (V), Current
(I) and Resistance (R).

In order for an electric current to flow in a circuit, it must have

a way to go, i.e. there must be a path for the current to flow.

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Electrical Voltage
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Voltage, (V) is the potential energy of an electrical supply stored in

the form of an electrical charge. Voltage can be thought of as the force
that pushes electrons through a conductor and the greater the voltage
the greater is its ability to “push” the electrons through a given
circuit.

As energy has the ability to do work this potential energy can be

described as the work required in joules to move electrons in the form
of an electrical current around a circuit from one point or node to
another.
Then the difference in voltage between any two points, connections or
junctions (called nodes) in a circuit is known as the Potential
Difference, (p.d.) commonly called the Voltage Drop.

The Potential difference between two points is measured in Volts with

the circuit symbol V, or lowercase “v“, although Energy, E lowercase “e”
is sometimes used to indicate a generated emf (electromotive force).
Then the greater the voltage, the greater is the pressure (or pushing
force) and the greater is the capacity to do work.

A constant voltage source is called a DC Voltage (DC Direct Current)

with a voltage that varies periodically with time is called an AC Voltage
(AC Alternative Current).

Voltage is measured in volts, with one volt being defined as the

electrical pressure required to force an electrical current of one ampere
through a resistance of one Ohm.

Voltages are generally expressed in Volts with prefixes used to denote

sub-multiples of the voltage such as microvolts ( 1μV=10-6 V), millivolts
( 1mV=10-3 V) or kilovolts ( 1kV=103 V). Voltage can be either positive
or negative.

Batteries or power supplies are mostly used to produce a steady D.C.

(direct current) voltage source such as 5v, 12v, 24v etc in electronic
circuits and systems. While A.C. (alternating current) voltage sources
are available for domestic house and industrial power and lighting as
well as power transmission.

General electronic circuits operate on low voltage DC battery supplies

of between 1.5V and 48V DC. The circuit symbol for a constant voltage
source usually given as a battery symbol with a positive, + and negative,
– sign indicating the direction of the polarity.
The circuit symbol for an alternating voltage source is a circle with
a sine wave inside (AV~, AC~).
Voltage Symbols

Voltage is always measured as the difference between any two points in

a circuit and the voltage between these two points is generally referred
to as the “Voltage drop“.

The voltage can exist across a circuit without current, but current
cannot exist without voltage.

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Electrical Current
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Electrical Current, (I) is the movement or flow of electrical charge and
is measured in Amperes, symbol I, for intensity). It is the continuous
and uniform flow (called a drift) of electrons (the negative particles
of an atom) around a circuit that are being “pushed” by the voltage.

In reality, electrons flow from the negative (–Ve) terminal to the

positive (+Ve) terminal of the supply and for ease of circuit
understanding conventional current flow assumes that the current flows
from the positive to the negative terminal.

The current arrow usually indicates the direction of conventional current

flow and not necessarily the direction of the actual flow.
Conventionally this is the flow of positive charge around a circuit,
being positive to negative. The diagram at the left shows the movement
of the positive charge (holes) around a closed circuit flowing from the
positive terminal of the battery, through the circuit and returns to the
negative terminal of the battery. This flow of current from positive to
negative is generally known as conventional current flow.

The Conventional Current Flow gives the flow of electrical current from
positive to negative and which is the opposite in direction to the actual
flow of electrons.

The flow of electrons around the circuit is opposite to the direction of

the conventional current flow being negative to positive. The actual
current flowing in an electrical circuit is composed of electrons that
flow from the negative pole of the battery (the cathode) and return back
to the positive pole (the anode) of the battery.

This is because the charge on an electron is negative by definition and

so is attracted to the positive terminal. This flow of electrons is
called Electron Current Flow. Therefore, electrons actually flow around
a circuit from the negative terminal to the positive.

In fact, it makes no difference which way the current is flowing around

the circuit as long as the direction is used consistently. The direction
of current flow does not affect what the current does within the circuit.
Generally it is much easier to understand the conventional current flow
– positive to negative.

In electronic circuits, a current source is a circuit element that

provides a specified amount of current for example, 1mA, 5mA or 10 mA
etc., with the circuit symbol for a constant current source given as a
circle with an arrow inside indicating its direction.
Current is measured in Amps and an amp or ampere is defined as the number
of electrons or charge (Q in Coulombs) passing a certain point in the
circuit in one second, (t in Seconds).

The electrical current can be either positive in value or negative in

value depending upon its direction of flow around the circuit.

Current that flows in a single direction is called Direct Current, or

D.C. and current that alternates back and forth through the circuit is
known as Alternating Current, or A.C..

The AC or DC current only flows through a circuit when a voltage source

is connected to it with its “flow” being limited to both the resistance
of the circuit and the voltage source pushing it.

Note that current cannot exist without voltage so any current source
whether DC or AC likes a short or semi-short circuit condition but hates
any open circuit condition as this prevents it from flowing.

Resistance
Resistance, (R) is the capacity of a material to resist or prevent the
flow of current or, more specifically, the flow of electric charge within
a circuit. The circuit element which does this perfectly is called the
“Resistor”.

Resistance is a circuit element measured in Ohms, Greek symbol (Ω, Omega)

with prefixes used to denote kilo-ohms (kΩ=103Ω) and Mega-ohms (MΩ=106Ω).
Note that resistance cannot be negative in value only positive.
Resistor Symbols

The amount of resistance a resistor has is determined by the relationship

of the current through it to the voltage across it which determines
whether the circuit element is a “good conductor” – low resistance, or
a “bad conductor” – high resistance.

Low resistance, for example 1Ω or less implies that the circuit is

a good conductor made from materials such as copper, aluminium or carbon
while a high resistance, 1MΩ or more implies the circuit is a bad
conductor made from insulating materials such as glass, porcelain or
plastic.

A “semiconductor” on the other hand such as silicon or germanium, is

a material whose resistance is half way between that of a good conductor
and a good insulator. Hence the name “semi-conductor”. Semiconductors
are used to make Diodes and Transistors etc.

Resistance can be linear or non-linear in nature, but never negative.

Linear resistance obeys Ohm’s Law as the voltage across the resistor is
linearly proportional to the current through it. Non-linear resistance,
does not obey Ohm’s Law but has a voltage drop across it that is
proportional to some power of the current.

Remember that resistance R is always positive, and never negative.

A resistor is classed as a passive circuit element and as such cannot
deliver power or store energy. Instead resistors absorbed power that
appears as heat and light. Power in a resistance is always positive
regardless of voltage polarity and current direction.
The reciprocal of resistance is called Conductance, symbol (G) and
represents the ability of a conductor or device to conduct electricity.

High values of conductance implies a good conductor such as copper while

low values of conductance implies a bad conductor such as wood. The
standard unit of measurement given for conductance is the Siemen, symbol
(S).

The voltage measuring instrument is a voltmeter. The instrument for

measuring the current is an ammeter.
DC (Direct Current) Circuit
Ohm's law applies in DC circuits (I=), which is a mathematical equation
explaining the relationship between Voltage, Current, and Resistance
within electrical circuits and is the foundation of electronics and
electrical engineering. It is the product of electric current and
electric voltage. Ohm’s Law is defined as: V = I*R.

(Ohm’s Law Triangle)

Example. Find resistance if current flowing is [2 mA] and voltage source

is 4 [V].

Example. Find the voltage source if current flowing is [2 mA] and

resistance is 20 [kΩ].
Example. Find the flowing current if the resistance of the circuit is
200 [Ω] and voltage source is 5.8 [V].

Summary
The electrical Voltage, Current and Resistance are closely related
together. The relationship between Voltage, Current and Resistance forms
the basis of Ohm’s law.

In a linear circuit of fixed resistance, if we increase the voltage, the

current goes up, and similarly, if we decrease the voltage, the current
goes down. This means that if the voltage is high the current is high,
and if the voltage is low the current is low.
Likewise, if we increase the resistance, the current goes down for a
given voltage and if we decrease the resistance the current goes up.
Which means that if resistance is high current is low and if resistance
is low current is high.

Then we can see that current flow around a circuit is directly

proportional to voltage, (V↑ causes I↑) but inversely proportional to
resistance as (R↑ causes I↓).
▪ Voltage or potential difference is the measure of potential energy
between two points in a circuit and is commonly referred to as its
” volt drop “.
▪ When a voltage source is connected to a closed loop circuit the
voltage will produce a current flowing around the circuit.
▪ Current flow is a combination of electron flow and hole flow through
a circuit.
▪ Current is Directly Proportional to Voltage. Resistance is the
opposition to current flowing around a circuit.
▪ Low values of resistance implies a conductor and high values of
resistance implies an insulator.
▪ Resistance is measured in Ohms and has the Greek symbol Ω or the
letter R.

Then by using Ohms Law we can see that a voltage of 1V applied to a

resistor of 1Ω will cause a current of 1A to flow and the greater the
resistance value, the less current that will flow for a given applied
voltage.

Any Electrical device or component that obeys “Ohms Law” that is, the
current flowing through it is proportional to the voltage across it ( I
α V ), such as resistors or cables, are said to be “Ohmic” in nature,
and devices that do not, such as transistors or diodes, are said to be
“Non-ohmic” devices.

Electrical Power in Circuits

Electrical Power, (P) in a circuit is the rate at which energy is absorbed
or produced within a circuit. A source of energy such as a voltage will
produce or deliver power while the connected load absorbs it. Light bulbs
and heaters for example, absorb electrical power and convert it into
either heat, or light, or both. The higher their value or rating in watts
the more electrical power they are likely to consume.
The quantity symbol for power is P and is the product of voltage
multiplied by the current with the unit of measurement being the Watt
(W). Prefixes are used to denote the various multiples or sub-multiples
of a watt, such as: milliwatts (mW = 10-3W) or kilowatts (kW = 103W).

Then by using Ohm’s law and substituting for the values of V, I and R
the formula for electrical power can be found as:

P (watts) = V (volts) x I (amps)

P = V2/R P (watts) = V2(volts) ÷ R (Ω)

P = I2/R P (watts) = I2 (amps) x R (Ω)

The three quantities have been superimposed into a triangle this time
called a Power Triangle with power at the top and current and voltage at
the bottom.

Electrical Power Rating

Electrical components are given a “power rating” in watts that indicates
the maximum rate at which the component converts the electrical power
into other forms of energy such as heat, light or motion. For example,
a 0.25[W] resistor, a 100 [W] light bulb etc.

Electrical devices convert one form of power into another. So for

example, an electrical motor will covert electrical energy into a
mechanical force, while an electrical generator converts mechanical
force into electrical energy. A light bulb converts electrical energy
into both light and heat.
Resistor

Resistors are the most fundamental and commonly used of all the
electronic components, to the point where they are almost taken for
granted but they play a vital role within a circuit. The resistor limits
the current in the circuit.

Resistors in Series and Parallel

Resistors can be connected together in an unlimited number of series and
parallel combinations to form complex resistive circuits.

Series network

Equivalent resistance Re=R1+Rcomb

Example. Find the Re for the given series network of resistors.
Parallel network

Equivalent resistance (1/Re) = (1/R1)+(1/R2)+(1/R3)

(sum of the reciprocal of component resistances)

Example. Find the Re for the given parallel network of resistors.

Example. Find the Re for the given below networks of resistors.

(a)

(b)
Example. Find the RIN (left side) and ROUT (right side) for the given below
network of resistors: R1=Z1=10[𝛺], R2=Z2=20[𝛺], R3=Z3=30[𝛺].

Potential Difference
The voltage difference between any two points in a circuit is known as
Potential Difference and it is this potential difference which makes
current flow.

The unit of potential difference generated between two points is called

the Volt and is generally defined as being the potential difference
dropped across a fixed resistance of one ohm with a current of one ampere
flowing through it.
In other words, 1 Volt equals 1 Ampere times 1 Ohm, or commonly V = I*R.
Voltage Divider Network

The voltage source: Vs

The output voltage signals: V1, V2, V3, V4.
The total resistance: RT = R1+R2+R3+R4

The output signals: V1=Vs*(R1/RT)

V2= Vs*( (R1+R2)/RT )
V3= Vs*( (R1+R2+R3)/RT )
V4=Vs