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Chapter 1

Basic Concepts

KK 2021
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Learning goals
 By the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:
 Use appropriate SI units and standard prefixes when
calculating voltages, currents, resistances, and powers.
 Explain the relationships between basic electrical quantities:
voltage, current, and power.
 Use the appropriate symbols for independent and
dependent voltage and current sources.
 Calculate the value of the dependent sources when
analyzing a circuit that contain independent and dependent
sources.
 Calculate the power absorbed by a circuit element using the
passive sign convention.
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System of Units
 The system of units employed is the international
system of units, the Système International des Unités,
which is normally referred to as the SI standard
system.
 This system is composed of the basic units including
meter (m), kilogram (kg), second (s), ampere (A),
kelvin (K), candela (cd) etc. These units are well
defined in all physics textbooks.
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System of Units
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Standard SI prefixes

• Circuit technology has changed drastically over the

years.
• For example, in the early 1960s the space on a circuit
board occupied by the base of a single vacuum tube
was about the size of a quarter (25-cent coin).
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Basic Quantities
 Electric Circuit and Electric Charge
 An electric circuit as an interconnection of electrical
components, each of which is described by a
mathematical model. The most elementary quantity in
an analysis of electric circuits is the electric charge.
 An electric circuit is essentially a pipeline that
facilitates the transfer of charge from one point to
another. The time rate of change of charge constitutes
an electric current. Mathematically, the relationship is
expressed as
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Basic Quantities
 Electric Circuit and Electric Charge
𝑑𝑞(𝑡) 𝑡
 𝑖 𝑡 = 𝑜𝑟 𝑞 𝑡 = −∞
𝑖 𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑡
 i is the current (ampere, A) and q is the charge (Coulomb). 1
Ampere is 1 coulomb per second.

Figure a, I1=2A, indicating that 2 C of charge pass from left to

right each second.
In Figure. b, I2=-3A indicating that at any point in the wire
shown, 3 C of charge pass from right to left each second.
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Basic Quantities
 Electric Circuit and Electric Charge
 Types of current
 The two types of current that we encounter often in
our daily lives are alternating current (ac) and direct
current (dc). Alternating current is the common current
found in every household and is used to run the
refrigerator, stove, washing machine, and so on.
Batteries, which are used in automobiles and
flashlights, are one source of direct current.
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Basic Quantities

Two common types of current: (a) alternating

current (ac); (b) direct current (dc).
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Basic Quantities
 Voltage (also called the electromotive force, or
potential) between two points in a circuit is defined as
the difference in energy level of a unit charge located
at each of the two points.
 Work or energy, w(t) or W, is measured in joules (J); 1
joule is 1 newton meter (N.m). Hence, voltage [v(t) or
V] is measured in volts (V) and 1 volt is 1 joule per
coulomb; that is, 1 volt=1 joule per coulomb=1 newton
meter per coulomb. If a unit positive charge is moved
between two points, the energy required to move it is
the difference in energy level between the two points
and is the defined voltage.
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Basic Quantities
𝑑𝑤
𝑣=
𝑑𝑞
 Power is the time rate of change of energy in Joules
per second or Watts, W.
𝑑𝑤 𝑑𝑤 𝑑𝑞
𝑝= = = 𝑣𝑖
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑞 𝑑𝑡
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Sign convention for power.

 The passive sign convention shown in figure below is used to
determine whether power is being absorbed or supplied.

• The variable for the voltage v(t) is defined as the voltage

across the element with the positive reference at the same
terminal that the current variable i(t) is entering. This
convention is called the passive sign convention.
• If the sign of the power is positive, power is being absorbed
by the element; if the sign is negative, power is being
supplied by the element.
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Sign convention for power.

 Example
 Given the two diagrams shown in Fig. below,
determine whether the element is absorbing or
supplying power and how much.
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Sign convention for power.

 Solution
 In Figure (a) the power is P=(2 V)(–4 A) = –8 W.
Therefore, the element is supplying power.
 In Figure (a) the power is P=(2 V)(–2 A) = –4 W.
Therefore, the element is supplying power.
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Sign convention for power.

 Questions
 Determine the amount of power absorbed or supplied
by the elements in Fig. 1.6.

(P=-48 W, 8W).
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Sign convention for power.

 Determine the unknown variables in figure below:

(V1=-20 V, I=-5A)
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Tellegen’s Theorem
 The sum of the powers absorbed by all elements in an
electrical network is zero.
 Another statement of this theorem is that the power
supplied in a network is exactly equal to the power
absorbed.
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Circuit Elements
 Passive Circuit Elements
 Passive elements do not generate any energy. They
may either consume energy (i.e. convert from electrical
form to a non-electrical form such as heat or light), or
store energy (in electrostatic and electromagnetic fields).
Examples are:
 Resistance (unit: ohm, Ω; letter symbol: R , r )
 The basic equation governing the resistor is Ohm’s Law.
 v(t) = R.i(t)
 𝑖 𝑡 = 𝐺. 𝑣(𝑡)
1
𝐺= 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡: 𝑆𝑖𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛, 𝑆)
𝑅
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Circuit Elements
 Inductance (unit: henry, H; letter symbol: L , l )
𝑑𝑖
𝑣=𝐿
𝑑𝑡
 Capacitance (unit: farad, F; letter symbol: C , c )
 The charge stored is directly proportional to the
applied voltage.
 𝑄 = 𝐶. 𝑣
 Since 𝑞 = 𝑖. 𝑑𝑡 the basic equation for the capacitor
may be re-written in circuit terms as
1 𝑑𝑣
𝑣= 𝑖. 𝑑𝑡 𝑜𝑟 𝑖= 𝐶
𝐶 𝑑𝑡
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Circuit Elements
 Impedance and Admittance
 These may all be written in the form
𝑣=𝑍 𝑝 𝑖 𝑜𝑟 𝑖=𝑌 𝑝 𝑣
 Where 𝑍 𝑝 is the impedance operator, and 𝑌 𝑝 is
the admittance operator.
 Impedances and Admittances may be either linear or
non-linear. This is defined based on whether the
values of R, L and C (slope of characteristic) are
constants or not.
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Circuit Elements
 Active Circuit Elements
 An Active Circuit Element is a component in a circuit
which is capable of producing or generating energy.
[Producing energy actually means converting non-
electrical form of energy to an electrical form].
 Active circuit elements are thus sources of energy (or
simply sources) and can be categorised into voltage
sources and the current sources.
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Circuit Elements
 Independent sources
 An independent voltage source is a two-terminal
element that maintains a specified voltage between its
terminals regardless of the current through it as shown
by the v-i plot in Fig. a.
 The independent current source is a two terminal
element that maintains a specified current regardless
of the voltage across its terminals, as illustrated by the
v-i plot in Fig. b.
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Circuit Elements

Symbols for (a) independent voltage source, (b) independent current source.

• In their normal mode of operation, independent sources

supply power to the remainder of the circuit.
• However, they may also be connected into a circuit in such a
way that they absorb power e.g charging battery with another
battery.
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Examples
 Determine the power absorbed or supplied by the
elements in the network in Fig. below.

Solution: The current flow is out of the positive terminal of the

24-V source, and therefore this element is supplying
(2)(24)=48 W of power. The current is into the positive
terminals of elements 1 and 2, and therefore elements 1 and 2
are absorbing (2)(6)=12 W and (2)(18)=36 W, respectively.
Note that the power supplied is equal to the power absorbed.
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Examples
 Find the power that is absorbed or supplied by the
elements in Fig. below.

Solution
Current source supplies 36 W, element 1 absorbs 54 W,
and element 2 supplies 18 W.
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Dependent sources
 Dependent sources generate a voltage or current that
is determined by a voltage or current at a specified
location in the circuit. There are four possibilities:
 Voltage dependent (controlled) voltage source
 Current dependent (controlled) voltage source
 Voltage dependent (controlled) current source
 Current dependent (controlled) current source
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Dependent sources

Dependent sources
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Tutorial Questions

Determine the power supplied by the dependent sources in

Fig. below

(a) Power supplied = 80 W;

(b) power supplied = 160 W.
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Tutorial Questions

Use Tellegen’s theorem to find the current Io in the

network in Fig below:
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Tutorial Questions
 Solution
 First, determine the power absorbed by each element in the
network. Using the sign convention for power, we obtain:
 𝑃2𝐴 = 6 −2 = −12 𝑊
 𝑃1 = 6 𝐼0 = 6𝐼0
 𝑃2 = 12 −9 = −108 𝑊
 𝑃3 = 10 −3 = −30 𝑊
 𝑃4𝑉 = 4 −8 = −32𝑊
 𝑃𝐷5 = 8𝐼𝑥 11 = 16 11 = 176 𝑊
 Applying Tellegen’s theorem
 −12 + 6𝐼0 − 108 − 30 − 32 + 176 = 0, 𝐼0 = 1𝐴
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Tutorial Questions
 Determine the power
Find Vx in the network in Fig.
absorbed by element 1 in
below using Tellegen’s
Fig. below:
theorem.