ELECTRONICS

• By Sagidolla Batay
• PhD. Assistant Professor
Current,
resistance
and voltage
What is current?

• Current is the rate at

which electrons flow past
a point in a complete
electrical circuit. At its
most basic, current =
flow.
An ampere (AM-pir), or amp, is the international unit
used for measuring current.

Amps are named for French mathematician/physicist Andrè-

Marie Ampére (1775-1836)
 What is voltage?
Voltage is the pressure from an electrical circuit’s power
source that pushes charged electrons (current) through
a conducting loop, enabling them to do work such as
illuminating a light.
In brief, voltage = pressure, and
it is measured in volts (V). The
term recognizes Italian physicist
Alessandro Volta (1745-1827),
inventor of the voltaic pile—the
forerunner of today’s household
battery.
 TYPES OF VOLTAGE
1. Alternating current voltage

Commonly produced by utilities

via generators, where mechanical
energy—rotating motion powered
by flowing water, steam, wind or
heat—is converted to electrical
energy
 2. Direct current voltage
■ Travels in a straight line, and in one direction only.
■ Commonly produced by sources of stored energy
such as batteries.
■ Sources of dc voltage have positive and negative
terminals. Terminals establish polarity in a circuit,
and polarity can be used to determine if a circuit is
dc or ac.
■ Commonly used in battery-powered portable
equipment (autos, flashlights, cameras).
What is resistance?
Resistance is a measure of the opposition to current flow in an
electrical circuit.

Resistance is measured in ohms, symbolized by the Greek letter

omega (Ω). Ohms are named after Georg Simon Ohm (1784-
1854), a German physicist who studied the relationship between
voltage, current and resistance. He is credited for formulating
Ohm’s Law.
 DEGREE OF RESISTANCE
Conductors: Materials that offer very
little resistance where electrons can
move easily. Examples: silver, copper,
gold and aluminum.

Insulators: Materials that present

high resistance and restrict the flow
of electrons. Examples: Rubber,
paper, glass, wood and plastic.
Structure of Matter
All matter is composed of atoms.

Atoms are the basic building blocks of nature. Regardless of their physical
characteristics, glass, chalk, rock, and wood are all made from atoms. Rock is
different from wood because of the type of atoms of which it is composed.

The smallest particle of a substance that still has all of its characteristics is called a
molecule.

A molecule consists of two or more atoms.

Matter composed of a single type of atom is called an element.

Different kinds of atoms combine chemically to form materials called compounds.

Electrons rotate, or orbit, around the
nucleus of the atom in much the same
manner as the earth rotates around the sun .

Each electron has its own orbit. With

proper coordination of the orbiting
electrons, it is possible for two or more
atoms to share common space.

Structure of an atom of helium.

The figure represents the aluminum atom in a
two-dimensional form. Remember that each
electron is actually orbiting around the
nucleus in its own elliptical path.

The two electrons closest to the nucleus do

not actually follow the same orbital path.
Their orbital paths are merely the same
average distance from the nucleus. Simplified presentation of an aluminum
atom showing its 13 electrons (−),
13 protons (+), and 14 neutrons (N).
The two electrons closest to the nucleus are
said to occupy the first shell, or orbit, of the
atom.
This first shell of the atom can accommodate only two
electrons.

Atoms that have more than two electrons, such as the

aluminum atom, must have a second shell, or orbit.

The second shell of the aluminum atom contains 8 electrons.

This is the maximum number of electrons that the second shell
of any atom can contain.

The third shell can contain a maximum of 18 electrons, and the

fourth shell a maximum of 32 electrons. Since the aluminum
atom has only 13 electrons, its third shell has 3 electrons.
The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom determines an element’s
atomic number.

In other words, each element has a unique number that identifies how many
protons are in one atom of that element. For example, a copper atom has 29
protons and, in turn, an atomic number of 29.
Electric Charge
• Both electrons and protons possess electric
charges, but these charges are of opposite polarity.

• Polarity refers to the type (negative or positive) of

charge.

• The electron possesses a negative (−) charge, and

the proton possesses a positive (+) charge.

• An atom in its natural state always has a net electric

charge of zero; that is, it always has as many electrons
as it has protons.
 Valence Electrons

The electrons in the outermost shell of an atom are called valence

electrons. Valence electrons are atomic particles that are involved in
chemical reactions and electric currents.

One of the forces that helps to hold electrons in orbit is the force of
attraction between unlike charges.

The closer together two particles of opposite electric charges are, the
greater the electrical attraction between them.

Therefore, the attraction between the proton of the nucleus and the
electron decreases as the electron gets farther from the nucleus.

Thus, the valence electrons are held to the nucleus with less attraction
than the electrons in the inner shells. The valence electrons can be
more easily removed from the parent atom than the electrons in the Simplified silver atom
inner shells can.
Free Electrons
Free electrons are valence electrons that have been temporarily separated
from an atom.

They are free to wander about in the space around the atom. They are
unattached to any particular atom.

Only the valence electrons are capable of becoming free electrons.

Electrons in the inner shells are very tightly held to the nucleus. They cannot be
separated from the parent atom.

A valence electron is freed from its atom when energy is added to the atom.

The additional energy allows the valence electron to escape the force of
attraction between the electron and the nucleus.
 Ions
When a valence electron leaves an atom to become a
free electron, it takes with it one negative electric charge.

This absence of one negative electric charge from the

parent atom leaves that parent atom with a net positive
charge.

Atoms that have more than or less than their normal

complement of electrons are called ions.

When an atom loses electrons, it becomes a positive

ion.

Conversely, atoms with an excess of electrons

contain a net negative charge and become negative
ions.
A positive static charge is created when a transfer
of electrons leaves an object with a deficiency of
electrons.

A negative static charge results when an object is

left with an excess of electrons.
 Charge

Charge: the electrical property

possessed by electrons and
protons.

The proton has a positive charge and the

electron a negative charge.
Unit of Charge

The base unit of charge is the

Coulomb (C )
coulomb.

A Coulomb of charge is the amount of

charge possessed by
6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons
(6.25×𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟖 electrons).

We do not use the charge on a single

electron as the base unit because it is
a very small charge — too small for
most practical applications.
The symbol for the charge is Q. The abbreviation for coulomb is C.

Instead of writing “the charge is 5 coulombs,” we can just write, “Q = 5 C.”

Current and Current Carriers

Electric current is the movement of charged particles in a specified

direction.

The charged particle may be an electron, a positive ion, or a negative

ion.
The charged particle is often referred to as a current carrier.

The movement of the charged particle may be through a solid, a gas, a

liquid, or a vacuum.
In a solid, such as copper wire, the charged particle (current carrier)
is the electron.

The ions in a copper wire, and in other solids, are rigidly held in
place by the atomic (crystalline) structure of the material.

Thus, ions cannot be current carriers in solid materials. However, in

both liquids and gases, the ions are free to move about and become
current carriers.

The symbol for current is I.

The symbol I was chosen because early scientists talked about the
intensity of the electricity in a wire.
Current in Solids

• The effect of current is almost

instantaneous.

• Current in a wire travels at nearly the speed

of light.

• An individual electron moves much more

• slowly than the effect of the current.

• It may take minutes for an individual electron

to
• travel a few feet in the wire.
Assume you could look inside an aluminum wire and see the atoms and their particles (Fig. 2-3). The
aluminum atom actually has 13 electrons and 13 protons, but, for simplicity, only 3 of each are shown.

Now, suppose the ends of the wire are connected to a flashlight cell. The cell provides an electric field through
the wire.

The electric field frees some of the valence electrons of the aluminum atoms, as shown in Fig. 2-3, by giving
them additional energy.
At the moment that an individual
electron is freed, it may be traveling in a
direction opposite that of the main
current.

However, in the presence of the electric

field, it soon changes its direction of
movement. For every electron that is
freed, a positive ion is created. This
positive ion has an attraction for an
electron.

Eventually, one of the free electrons will

migrate close to the positive ion. The
electron will be captured by that
positive ion, which then, of course, will
become a neutral atom.
Current that travels in the same direction all the
time is called direct current, which is abbreviated
dc.

It is the type of current you get from cells and

batteries such as those used in flashlights.
Alternating current (abbreviated ac) is the type of current you
have in your home and your school.

It is the type of current that periodically reverses the direction

in which it is moving.
The current in all the electric wires in your home reverses its
direction every 1 ⁄120 of a second.

Currents that reverse direction often are easier to visualize if you

think of the individual electrons as “swinging” back and forth
between several atoms.
 Current in Liquids and Gases

• In gases, both positive ions and electrons are involved in current flow.

• When a gas is subjected to a strong electric field, the gas ionizes.

• Once ionized, the gas allows current to flow through it.

• Figure 2-4 illustrates the current flow in an ionized neon gas.

• The negative and positive signs indicate that the neon bulb is connected to
a source of electric force, such as a battery.

• A neon atom has eight electrons in its outermost (valence) shell. When the
atom is ionized, one electron is freed.

• The resulting positive neon ion travels toward the negative

• plate (Fig. 2-4).
Current flow in a liquid consists of both negative and
positive ions moving through the liquid.

A simplified diagram of current flow in a sodium chloride

(table salt) solution is shown in Fig. 2-5. The abbreviation
Na is the chemical symbol for sodium, and the plus sign
(+) in the circle means a positive ion.

Likewise, Cl is the chemical symbol for chlorine and the

minus
sign (−) in the circle means a negative ion.

When an electric field is created between the plates, the

positive sodium ions move to the negative plate and the
negative chlorine ions move to the positive plate.
That is, negative ions give up electrons at the
positive plate, and positive ions pick up
electrons from the negative plate.

A liquid solution that is capable of carrying

current is called an electrolyte. A solution of
seawater is an electrolyte; it is a solution
containing ionized substances.
One industrial use of current flow in
electrolytes
is electroplating.

Electroplating is a process by which a

thin layer of one type of metal can be
plated (surface-covered) over another
material.

The other material may be another metal

or a piece of plastic coated with a
conductive material.
Figure 2-6 illustrates the electroplating of copper onto iron.
The electrolyte
is copper sulfate, which ionizes into a copper ion ( Cu++ )
with two positive charges and a sulfate ion (SO4−− ) with
two negative charges.

The copper ions are attracted to the iron plate, where they
pick up two electrons and adhere (stick to) to the iron plate
as copper atoms.

The sulfate ions move to the copper plate, where they

chemically react with the copper to create more copper
sulfate.

The copper sulfate goes back into solution. The reaction

that created the copper sulfate leaves two electrons on the
copper plate.
Current in a Vacuum
• Figure 2-7 shows how current flows in a vacuum.

• The cathode in Fig. 2-7 is a metal plate coated with a material that
will emit electrons from its surface when heated to a temperature just
below its melting point.

• The process of emitting electrons from a heated surface is

• called thermionic emission.

• Thermionic emission occurs when the valence electrons in the heated

atoms gain sufficient energy to escape both the parent atoms and the
surface barrier of the plate.

• When no positive or negative charges are connected to the plates, the

surface of the cathode becomes positive as thermionic emission occurs.

• Thus, some of the emitted electrons are pulled back to the surface as
they cool off and lose energy.
After a cloud of electrons forms around the heated surface, an
equilibrium exists in which as many electrons are returning as
are being emitted.

Now, when the plates are connected to a source of positive

and negative charges, such as the terminals of a battery,
electrons are pulled from the electron cloud to the anode (+
plate).

Of course, the same number of electrons attracted to the

anode are supplied to the cathode by the negative charge
connected to the cathode. The current in the vacuum is
continuous as long as the batteries continue to supply energy
to the heater and charges to the plates.
Thermionic emission and current in a vacuum are at the heart of electronic vacuum tubes and
cathode ray tubes (CRTs).

These tubes were used extensively in electronic equipment such as oscilloscopes, radar, TV
receivers, and computer monitors.

However, these tubes have been largely replaced by liquid

crystal displays (LCDs) and solid-state devices such as transistors, integrated circuits (ICs), and
microprocessors.
 Unit of Current—The Ampere

The abbreviation for the ampere is A.

The relationship between time, charge, and current is:

Expressed in the base units of the above quantities, the relationship is:
 Voltage

Voltage is the electric pressure that causes current to flow.

Voltage is also known as electromotive force, or potential difference.

Potential difference is the most descriptive term because a voltage is

actually a potential energy difference that exists between two points.

The symbol for voltage is V.

All energy is either potential energy or
kinetic energy.

Kinetic energy refers to energy in motion,

energy doing work, or energy being
converted into another form.

Potential energy is energy at rest. It is

energy that can be stored for long
periods of time in its present form.
Potential energy is dependent on mass.

If we replace the book with an object that

weighs more, then the potential energy
increases.

The potential energy difference is independent

of the amount of mass.

It is a function of the distance between the two

surfaces and of the gravitational force.
Voltage is a potential
energy difference
similar to the potential
energy difference in the
mechanical case
discussed above
2-9 Unit of Voltage
— The Volt
• The logical unit of voltage is
the joule per coulomb.

• The joule per coulomb is

called the volt.

• The volt is the base unit of

voltage. It is abbreviated V.
Sources of Voltage

Voltage can be created by a number of techniques. The electric chemical cell is the
next most common source of
All involve the conversion of some other form of energy voltage.
into electric energy.

All of them create a voltage by producing an excess of

electrons at one terminal and a deficiency of electrons
at another terminal.

The most common way of producing a voltage is by an

electric generator.

Generators convert mechanical energy into electric energy.

The thermocouple converts heat energy into
electric energy.

This process is known as the Seebeck effect.

Crystals produce voltage by the piezoelectric effect.

A voltage is produced when a varying pressure is applied to the surface of the crystal.

Crystals are used in microphones. In a microphone, the sound energy of the voice is
first converted to mechanical energy by a diaphragm that applies pressure to the crystal.

Solar cells are semiconductor devices. They convert light energy into electric energy.
Photovoltaic is the term used to describe this conversion process.
Resistance

• The opposition a material offers to

current is called resistance.

• The symbol for resistance is R.

• All materials offer some resistance to

current. However, there is extreme
variation in the amount of resistance
offered by various materials.
Conductors

• Materials that offer very little resistance (opposition) to

current are called conductors.

• Copper, aluminum, and silver are good conductors.

• They have very low resistance. In general, those elements

that have three or fewer electrons in the valence shell can
be classified as conductors.

• However, even within those elements classified as

conductors, there is wide variation in the ability to conduct
current.

• For example, iron has nearly six times the resistance of

copper, though they are both considered conductors.
Although silver is a slightly better conductor than copper, it is too expensive
for common use. Aluminum is not as good a conductor as copper, but it is
cheaper and lighter.

Large aluminum conductors are used to bring electric energy into homes.

Superconductivity is the condition in which a material has no resistance.

For many years, superconductivity could be demonstrated only

at temperatures close to absolute zero, which is about −273°C (degrees
Celsius) or −460°F (degrees Fahrenheit).

Further research led to the development of new materials that exhibit

superconductivity at temperatures well above
absolute zero.
Insulators

Materials that offer a high resistance to

current are called insulators.

Even the best insulators do release an

occasional free electron to serve as a
current carrier.
 2-15
Semiconductors
• Between the extremes of conductors and insulators are a group
of elements known as semiconductors.

• Semiconductor elements have four valence electrons.

• Two of the best- known semiconductors are silicon and

germanium.

• Semiconductors are neither good conductors nor good insulators.

• They allow some current to flow, yet they have a considerable

amount of resistance.

• Semiconductors are extremely important industrial materials.

• They are the materials from which electronic devices such as transistors,
integrated circuits (ICs), and solar cells are manufactured.
Unit of Resistance— The Ohm

The ohm is the base unit of resistance.

The symbol used as an abbreviation for ohm is Ω.

First, it is the amount of resistance that allows 1 A of

current to flow when the voltage is 1 V.

Second, it is the amount of resistance of a column of

mercury 106.3 centimeters (cm) in length, 1 millimeter
square (mm2 ), and at a temperature of 0 °C.
The amount of resistance of an object is
determined by four factors:

(1) the type of material

(2) the length of the object

(3) the cross-sectional area

(height × width) of the object

(4) the temperature of the object.

The amount of resistance of an object is directly proportional to its length
and inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area.

For example, if the length of a piece of copper wire is doubled, then its
resistance is also doubled.

If the cross-sectional area of the copper wire is made twice as great, then its
resistance is one-half its former value.
 Power and Energy

Power is the rate of using energy or doing work.

The symbol for power is P.

The base unit of power, therefore, is the watt.

One watt is equal to 1 J/s.

The abbreviation for the watt is W.
Efficiency
Calculating
Electrical
Quantities
Electrical Circuit
 NODES CURRENT FLOWS
the electrical junction between Current flows from a
two or more components high voltage to a lower voltage in
a circuit.
SERIES CIRCUITS

• There’s only one way for the current to flow in the

above circuit
• Series components all have equal currents running
through them
PARALLEL CIRCUITS

• Components share two common nodes

• Parallel components all have the same voltage
drop across them
SERIES-
PARALLEL
CIRCUIT

Circuit is neither simple series

nor simple parallel. Rather, it
contains elements of both
 Basic Ohm's Law
Ohm’s Law is a formula used to calculate the relationship between
voltage, current and resistance in an electrical circuit.

To students of electronics, Ohm’s Law (E =

IR) E = I x R

When spelled out, it means voltage =

current x resistance, or volts = amps x
ohms, or V = A x Ω.
 To find the Current, ( I )
To find the Voltage, ( V )
[ I = V ÷ R ] I (amps) = V (volts) ÷ R (Ω)
[V=IxR]
To find the Resistance, ( R )
V (volts) = I (amps) x R (Ω)
[ R = V ÷ I ] R (Ω) = V (volts) ÷ I (amps)
Example 1: Voltage (E) and resistance
(R) are known
Example 2: Voltage (E) and current (I) are
known
Example 3: Current (I) and resistance (R) are
known. What is the voltage?
Most electric energy is distributed in the form of alternating current and voltage.

Our homes and our factories are both powered by AC electricity.

AC Terminology

Alternating current periodically changes the direction in which it is flowing.

It also changes magnitude (amount), either continuously or periodically.

 Waveforms

An electrical waveform is represented by a line on a graph, as shown in Fig.

8-1(a).
The line is produced by plotting points on a graph and then connecting the
points.

The points represent the value of some electrical quantity at different

times.

The magnitude and direction of the electrical quantity (voltage or current)

are indicated on the vertical axis of the graph. Time is marked on the
horizontal axis.

The waveform shown in Fig. 8-1(a) could represent the voltage across the
resistor in Fig. 8-1(b).
The fluctuating direct current in Fig. 8-2(a) is the type of current
produced in an amplifying transistor.

The pulsating waveform of Fig. 8-2(b) represents the type of current

(or voltage) produced by a battery charger.

pulsating direct current periodically reduces to zero while

fluctuating direct current does not.

Figure 8-2(c) shows one type of alternating current.

Notice that the ac waveform goes below the zero reference line.
This means that the polarity of the voltage reverses and that the
direction of the current changes.
 Types of AC Waveforms

The most common type of ac waveform is the sine wave, shown in Fig.
8-3(a).

An alternating current with this type of waveform is referred to as

sinusoidal alternating current.

The alternating current (and voltage) supplied to homes and factories is

sinusoidal.
 Quantifying Alternating Current

Cycle

A cycle is a part of a waveform that does not

repeat or duplicate itself.

By definition, one cycle includes the variations

between two successive points having the same
value and varying in the same direction.

The part of the cycle above the horizontal line in

Fig. 8-4 is called the positive half cycle.

A half-cycle is also called an alternation.

The positive half-cycle could be

called the positive alternation.
Period
The time required to complete one cycle is the period (T) of
a waveform.

In Fig. 8-4 it takes 0.25 s to complete one cycle.

The period T of that waveform is 0.25 s.

Frequency

The number of complete cycles per second is the frequency (f ) of an ac current or ac voltage.

Frequency, then, refers to how rapidly the current reverses or how often the voltage changes polarity.

Unit of Frequency—The Hertz (Hz)

Oscilloscope

An oscilloscope is a test instrument that is used to measure the amplitude, period, and frequency of a
repetitive waveform such as a sine wave, square wave, or sawtooth wave.

The oscilloscope graphs or draws a picture of the measured waveform, which allows us to see its
amplitude variations over time.

Peak value

Peak-to-peak value

V p-p = 2 V p

Average value ( V av )

Vav = 0.637 Vp
The most common way of specifying the amount of alternating current is by Effective, or rms, value
stating its effective, or rms, value.

The effective value of an alternating current is that value that produces the same
heat in a resistive circuit as a direct current of the same value.
•Calculate the total resistance RT at terminals a-b

Figure 1. Circuit for question 1

•Calculate the total resistance RT at terminals a-b

Figure 2. Circuit for question 2