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M1Lesson1 - Overview and Current - Rev2

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8 views5 pages

M1Lesson1 - Overview and Current - Rev2

Revision of Current.

Uploaded by

haris thapa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1/6/2016

Linear Circuits
DR. JOY HARRIS, ACADEMIC FACULTY
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Overview
By the end of this module you should be
able to analyze simple electronic circuits

+
𝑉𝑠 𝑅 𝑖 𝐼𝑠 𝑅 𝑣
-

1
1/6/2016

Current and Charge


Objective: By the end of this lesson,
you should be able to describe and
quantify electric charge and current.

Electric Current
• Electric current is the rate at
which electric charge flows
through a substance.

• Therefore, to understand electric current,


examine electric charge.
• What is electric charge?
• Why does electric charge flow?

2
1/6/2016

What is electric charge?


• A physical property of all matter
• Quantized into integer multiples
of 𝑒
• Two types:

𝑝+ 𝑒−
+ −

1.602 10−19 𝐶 −1.602 10−19 𝐶

• Unit: Coulombs (𝐶)


• Variable: 𝑞, 𝑄

Why does electric charge flow?


• Charged particles exert a force on
other charged particles.
• This force per unit charge is called an
electric field.
• The electric field points away from a
positive charge and towards a negative
charge

• Therefore, charges flow because their


electric fields exert forces that push each
other.

3
1/6/2016

Define electric current


• Electric current (𝐼) is the quantity of
charge (𝑄) that passes through a
given area in a specified time (𝑡).

• The current as a function of time is


𝑑𝑄(𝑡)
𝑖 𝑡 =
𝑑𝑡

• For constant current,


𝑄
𝐼=
𝑡
• Variable: 𝑖, 𝐼
𝐶
• Units: , 𝐴𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠
𝑠

Calculate electric current

Quiz: A 1𝑚𝑚 cross section of copper wire is isolated and 50𝐶 of charge flow through it
in 2 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠. How much current flowed through the wire during that time?

Quiz: A 1𝑚𝑚 cross section of copper wire is isolated. The charge that flows through
the cross section is
𝑄 𝑡 = 4𝑡 2 + 5
How much current flows through the wire in 6 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠?

4
1/6/2016

What are the reference directions


for the flow of electric current?
• Positive current flows from high (+)
to low (−).

• Negative current flows from low (−)


to high (+).

+ +

𝑖1 = 1𝐴 𝑖2 = −1𝐴

− −

Key Concepts
Electric current (𝐼) is the quantity of
charge (𝑄) that passes through a
given area in a specified time (𝑡).

𝑑𝑄(𝑡) 𝑄
𝑖 𝑡 = 𝐼=
𝑑𝑡 𝑡
+ +

𝑖1 = 1𝐴 𝑖2 = −1𝐴

− −

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