[ BASIC ELECTRICAL

THEORY 1 ]
ACE 11 (Engineering Utilities 1)
[ TOPICS ]
• SI Units
• Electrical terminologies
• Ohm’s Law
• Power and Energy
• Circuit Theory
• Components of an Electrical Circuit
• Series and Parallel Circuits
• Voltmeter and Ammeter
[ SI UNITS ]

1
[ TERMINOLOGIES ]
• Charge is an electrical property of the atomic particles of which
matter exists, measured in coulombs (C) ; 1 C = 6.24 x 1018
electrons
• Electric Current is the time rate of change of charge, measured
in amperes (A) ; 1 A = 1 coulomb/second
• Voltage or Potential Difference is the energy (or work) required
to move a unit charge through an element, measured in volts (V) ;
1 V = 1 joule/coulomb = 1 newton-meter/coulomb
• Resistance of an element denotes
its ability to resist the flow of
electric current , measured in ohms
(Ω )

2
[ OHM’S LAW ]
• Ohm’s Law states that the voltage v across a resistor is directly
proportional to the current i flowing through the resistor

3
[ EXAMPLE ]
1. How much charge is represented by 4,600 electrons?
• SOLN: Each electron has -1.602 x 10-19 C. Hence 4,600 electrons will
have..
= (-1.602 x 10-19 C/electron)(4600 electrons)
= -7.369 x 10-16 C

2. The total charge entering a terminal is given by q = 5t sin 4πt mC.

Calculate the current at t = 0.5 s.
• SOLN: i = dq/dt = d/dt(5t sin 4πt) mC/s
= (5t sin 4πt + 20πt sin 4πt) mA
@ t = 0.5, i = 5 sin2π + 10 π cos2π = 0 + 10 π
= 31.42 mA
4
[ EXAMPLE ]
3. Small- and medium-gauge electrical conductors used as wiring in
buildings are typically categorized by the American Wire Gauge (AWG). The
AWG number (No.) of a conductor is inversely proportional to the cross-
section diameter of the wire—that is, a smaller gauge number identifies a
thicker wire. Approximate the resistance in 100 ft length conductor.
• GIVEN: #12 AWG copper conductor with a resistance of 1.62 Ω / 1000 ft
#1 AWG copper conductor with a resistance of 1.02 Ω / 1000 ft
• SOLN: a. for AWG #12: (1.62 Ω / 1000 ft)(100 ft) = 0.162 Ω
b. for AWG #10: (1.02 Ω / 1000 ft)(100 ft) = 0.102 Ω

5
[ POWER AND ENERGY ]
• Power is the time rate of expanding or absorbing energy, measured in
watts (W)

• Energy is the capacity to do work, measured in joules (J) ; electric

power utilities measures energy in watt-hours where, 1 Wh = 3,600 J

6
[ EXAMPLE ]
4. A lamp is designed for use at 120 V and has a current draw of 0.5
A. Determine the power consumed.
• SOLN:
P = iv = (120 V)(0.5 A) = 60 W

5. Determine the power supplied/absorbed by the ff circuit

SOLN:
a. P1 = (20 V)(-5 A) = -100 W : supplied
b. P2 = (12 V)(5 A) = 60 W : absorbed
c. P3 = (8 V)(6 A) = 48 W : absorbed
d. P4 = (8 V)(-1 A) = -8 W : supplied

7
[ EXAMPLE ]
6. How much energy does a 100-W electric bulb consume in two hours?
• SOLN: w = pt = (100 W)[(2 hrs)(60 min/hr)(60 sec/min)]
= (100 W)(7,200 secs)
= 720,000 W-s = 720,000 J
OR: w = pt = (100 W)(2 hrs) = 200 Wh = 0.2 kWh
CHECK: 200 Wh (3600 J/ 1 Wh) = 720,000 J

8
[ ELECTRICAL THEORY ]
• Electricity is a physical phenomenon tied to the behavior of positively and
negatively charged elementary particles of an atom. Two theories exist:
classical & modern.

Classical Theory:
• In classical theory, electric current is electron flow.
• The law of charges state that opposite charges attract and like charges
repel
• Charged atoms are called ions where positively-charged ion is called cation
and negatively-charged ion is called anion
• Electrons reside in a balanced orbit around the nucleus and move in
spherical paths called orbital shells, the outermost orbital shell of an
atom is the valence shell which contains valence electrons
• The number of valence electrons determines the electrical properties of a
material

9
[ ELECTRICAL THEORY ]
Modern Theory:
• In modern theory, electricity is tied to even smaller subatomic
particles.
• A flow of electric charge through a conductor is an electrical current.
When opposite charges are placed around a conductor, negatively charged
subatomic particles move from the negative charge to the positive
charge.

10
[ ELECTRICAL THEORY ]
Modern Theory:
• A conductor carries electrical current without
much resistance to current flow.
• An insulator is a material that resist the
flow of electrons.
• Semiconductors are materials that are neither
good conductor nor good insulators. Good
conductor @ high temp, good insulator @ low
temp

11
[ ELECTRICAL THEORY ]
Six primary ways that current can be forced to move through a
conductor:
• Static electricity – from friction
• Thermoelectricity – from heat
• Piezoelectricity – from pressure
• Electrochemistry – from chemical reaction
• Photoelectricity – from light
• Magnetoelectricity – from magnetism

12
[ ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS ]
• An electric circuit is a continuous path along which an electric
current can flow and is a mathematical model that approximates the
behavior of an actual electrical system.
• Power Source
• Load
• Conductors

13
[ ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS ]
• A branch represents a
single element
• A node is a point of
connection of two or more
branches
• A loop is any closed path
in a circuit that does not
encounter the same node
more than once

14
[ SERIES AND PARALLEL CIRCUITS ]
• Two or more elements are in series if they exclusively share a
single node and consequently carry the same current
• Two or more elements are in parallel if they are connected to the
same two nodes and consequently have the same voltage across them

15
[ SERIES AND PARALLEL CIRCUITS ]
• Kirchhoff’s Current Law states that the algebraic sum of currents
entering a node (or closed boundary) is zero

• Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law states that the algebraic sum of voltages

around a closed path (or loop) is zero

16
[ EXAMPLE ]

7. Determine Vo and i in the circuit shown

• SOLN: apply KVL around the loop
-12 + 4i + 2Vo – 4 + 6i = 0
apply Ohm’s Law to 6-Ω resistor
Vo = -6i
substituting..
-12 + 4i + 2(-6i) – 4 + 6i = 0
THUS: i = -8 A ; Vo = 48 V 17
[ EXAMPLE ]

8. Find currents and voltages in the circuit shown

• SOLN: apply Ohm’s Law and Kirchhoff’s Law express V2 and V3 as i2 and i3
V1 = 8i1 V2 = 3i2 V3=6i3 6i3 = 3i2
at node a, KCL gives so,
i1 = i2 + i3 30 −3i2
i1= ; i3 = ½i2
8
i1 - i2 - i3 = 0
apply KVL to loop 1 30 − 3i2 i2
− i2 − =0
-30 + V1 + V2 = 0 8 2
Thus: i2 = 2A , i1 = 3A , i3 = 1A
express in terms of i1 and i2
V1 = 24V , V2 = 6V , V3 = 6V
-30 + 8i1 + 3i2 = 0
apply KVL to loop 2
18
-V2 + V3 = 0
[ SERIES AND PARALLEL CIRCUITS ]
• Series Circuit Principles
a. Itotal = I1 + I2 + . . . + In
b. Vtotal = V1 + V2 + . . . + Vn
c. Rtotal = R1 + R2 + . . . + Rn

• Parallel Circuit Principles

a. Itotal = I1 + I2 + . . . + In
b. Vtotal = V1 = V2 = . . . = Vn
c. Rtotal = 1/[(1/R1) + (1/R2) + . . . + (1/Rn)]

19
[ EXAMPLE ]
9. Find the equivalent resistance of the ff
circuit shown
SOLN:
1
= [1 1 +2∥5+1]+4+8
+
6 3

= [ (2 + 2) ∥ 6 ] + 4 + 8
1
= 1 1 +4+8
+
4 6

= 2.4 + 4 + 8 = 𝟏𝟒. 𝟒Ω

20
[ VOLTMETER AND AMMETER ]
• An Ammeter is a measuring device that is used to measure
the flow of electricity in the form of current in a
circuit. Electrical currents are then measured in the form
of amperes, hence the name, "ammeter"

21
[ VOLTMETER AND AMMETER ]
•A Voltmeter provides a method to accurately
measure voltage, which is the difference in electric
potential, between two points in a circuit while not
changing the voltage in that circuit. It is an instrument
used for measuring voltage drop.

22
[ NEXT MEETING ]
• Basic Electrical Theory 2
• Electromagnetism
• DC and AC
• Power
• Cost of Electrical Energy