MODULE 1 – Engineering Utilities 1

BASICS OF ELECTRICITY
September 24, 2021

What is ELECTRICITY?
It is the presence of electric flow and charge. Its best-known form is the flow of
electrons through conductors such as copper wires, thereby producing light energy,
heat energy, motion, force, etc…and many other uses.

ELECTRICAL THEORY –
All matter is made up of atoms.
 All atoms are made up of a central positively charged
nucleus surrounded by negatively charged electrons
 The electrical properties of materials depends largely upon
how tightly these electrons are bound to the nucleus.
 A conductor is a material in which the electrons are loosely
bound to the central nucleus and, in fact, can be easily
become free electrons drift around randomly inside a
conductor
 Good conductors are gold, silver, copper, aluminum, brass, etc..
 An insulator is a material in which the electrons are very tightly
Or strongly bound to the central nucleus.
 Good insulators are pvc, rubber, glass, wood, porcelain, etc…

ELECTRON FLOW OR ELECTRIC CURRENT

 If battery is attached to a “good conductors” material, the free electrons drift

towards the positive terminal.
 The drift of electrons within a conductor is what we know as an electric current
flow
 Current flow is given the symbol I and is measured in amperes.
ELECTRICAL CABLES

Electrical cables are used to carry electric currents. Most cables are constructed in
three parts;
1. The conductor, that carries the current and may have a stranded or solid core.

2. The insulation, that contains the current and is colour coded for identification.
3. The outer sheath that may contain some means of providing protection from
mechanical damage.

THREE EFFECTS OF AN ELECTRIC CURRENT

1. Heating Effect
2. Magnetic Effect
3. Chemical Effect

1. Heating Effect
 The electrons moving in the conductor causes to heat up.
 The amount of heat generated depends upon the:
1. Amount of current flowing
2. Dimensions of the conductor
3. Type of conductor material used
 Practical applications of the heating effect of an electric current are:
1. Radiant heaters which heat rooms
2. Current protection fuses and MCB’s which cut off the supply when
overcurrent flows.
2. Magnetic Effect
 Whenever a current flows in a conductor a magnetic field is set up around the
conductor like an extension of the insulator -more about this layer.
 Increasing the current increases the magnetic field.
 Switching the current off causes the magnetic field to collapse.
 Practical Application of the Magnetic Effect are:
1. Electric motors which rotate because of the magnetic flux generated by
the electrical supply.
2. door chimes and buzzers which ‘dingdong’ or buzz because of the
magnetic flux generated by the electrical supply.

3. Chemical Effect
 When an electric current flows through a conducting liquid, the liquid separates
into its chemical parts, a process called ‘Electrolysis’.
 Alternatively, if two metals are placed in a conducting liquid they react chemically
and produce a voltage.
 Practical Applications of the chemical effect are:
1. Industrial processes such as electroplating which is used to siver plate
sports trophies and cutlery.
2. Motor car batteries which store electrical energy.

In Electrical Engineering, there are basically two types of voltage or current (Electrical
Energy) source which defines the kind of circuit and they are; Alternating Current (or
voltage) and Direct Current.

AC Circuits

AC circuits as the name (Alternating Current) implies are simply circuits powered by an
Alternating Source, either voltage or current. An Alternating Current or Voltage, is one in
which the value of either the voltage or the current varies about a particular mean value
and reverses direction periodically.

DC Circuits
In direct current (DC), the electric charge (current) only flows in one direction. Electric
charge in alternating current (AC), on the other hand, changes direction periodically.
The voltage in AC circuits also periodically reverses because the current changes
direction.
 Alternating Current Vs. Direct Current

Alternating Current Direct Current

Amount of energy that can Safe to transfer over Voltage of DC cannot
be carried. longer city distances and travel very far until it
can provide more power. begins to lose energy.
Cause of the direction of Rotating magnet along the Steady magnetism along
flow of electrons. wire. the wire.
Frequency The frequency of The frequency of direct
alternating current is 50 Hz current is zero.
or 60 Hz defending upon
the country.
Direction Its reverses its direction It flows in one direction in
while flowing in the circuit. the circuit.
Current It is the current of It is the current of constant
magnitude varying with magnitude.
time.
Flow of electrons Electrons keep switching Electrons move steadily in
directions – forward and one direction or ‘forward’.
backward.
Obtained from A.C Generators and mains Cell or Battery.
Passive Parameters Impedance Resistance only.
Power Factor Lies between 0 & 1 It is always 1.
Types Sinusoidal, trapezoidal, Pure & pulsating.
 square

AC WAVEFORMS
When an alternator produces AC voltage, the voltage switches polarity over time, but
does so in a very particular manner. When graphed over time, the “wave” traced by this
voltage of alternating polarity from an alternator takes on a distinct shape, known as
a sine wave: Figure below

Graph of AC voltage over time (the sine wave).

In the voltage plot from an electromechanical alternator, the change from one polarity to
the other is a smooth one, the voltage level changing most rapidly at the zero
(“crossover”) point and most slowly at its peak. If we were to graph the trigonometric
function of “sine” over a horizontal range of 0 to 360 degrees, we would find the exact
same pattern as in the Table below. Trigonometric “sine” function.

Angle (°) Sin (angle) Wave Angle (°) Sin (angle) Wave

0 0.0000 zero 180 0.0000 zero

15 0.2588 + 195 -0.2588 -

30 0.5000 + 210 -0.5000 -

 45 0.7071 + 225 -0.7071 -

60 0.8660 + 240 -0.8660 -

75 0.9659 + 255 -0.9659 -

90 1.0000 +peak 270 -1.0000 -peak

105 0.9659 + 285 -0.9659 -

120 0.8660 + 300 -0.8660 -

135 0.7071 + 315 -0.7071 -

150 0.5000 + 330 -0.5000 -

165 0.2588 + 345 -0.2588 -

180 0.0000 zero 360 0.0000 zero

What is FREQUENCY as defined in Electrical Engineering?

Frequency refers to the number of occurrences of a repeating event taking place per unit of
time. This number of occurrences is certainly an essential property of a wave. The waves
surround people every day. Furthermore, light happens to be an electromagnetic wave and
the sound of the fan is a sound wave. A wave is certainly a vibration and carries energy with
it. Most noteworthy, the number of waves passing by each second refers to the frequency
of the wave. Moreover, its measurement takes place in Hertz (Hz).

Frequency is the inverse of time for repeating events. If a single cycle of your mains is
1/50 of a second in duration (0.02 seconds), then there will be 50 cycles in a second (1 /
0.02). We say the frequency is 50 Hz.
The unit for frequency is the Hertz (Hz). 1 Hz is equal to 1 cycle per second, an older
name for it (cps). It's a convenient unit, even for very short cycles we use, with a prefix:
MHz, GHz. For longer cycles (near or longer than 1 Hz) we sometimes use the minute as
unit: a heart rate of 70 beats per minute (BPM), a metronome setting of 100 BPM.

Frequency Formula

The SI unit which is hertz was named after Heinrich Rudolf. Furthermore, 1 hz refers to one
cycle per second.

Frequency = 1/period = number of cycles/time

f = 1/T = N/t
T = period, the time which is required for one cycle
N = a particular number of cycles
t = a particular amount of time

OTHER FORMS OF ALTERNATING WAVES

While electromechanical alternators and many other physical phenomena naturally

produce sine waves, this is not the only kind of alternating wave in existence. Other
“waveforms” of AC are commonly produced within electronic circuitry. Here are but a
few sample waveforms and their common designations in the figure below.