Electric Current and Related Variables

in Engineering

cold

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Coulomb’s law

 The flow of electric charge is called current

 The electric force exerted by one point charge on another is proportional to the
magnitude of each charge and is inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between the point charges.
 the electric force is attractive if the charges have opposite signs, and it is
repulsive if the charges have the same sign.
 The electric force between two point charges is given by Coulomb’s law

𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝑞2
𝐹 12 = 2
𝑟

𝑁𝑚 9
2 𝑟
𝑘=8.99 ×10
𝐶
2
𝑞1

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 Two point charges, Q1 and Q2, are placed 3 meters apart in a vacuum.
Q1 has a charge of +4 μC, and Q2 has a charge of -2 μC. Calculate
the magnitude of the electrostatic force between them.

𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝐹 12 = 2
𝑟
𝑞1 =4 𝜇 𝐶=4 × 10− 6 𝐶
𝑞 2=2 𝜇 𝐶 =2× 10− 6 𝐶
2
𝑁𝑚 9
𝑘=8.99 ×10 2
𝐶
m

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 Two point charges, ​and ​, exert an electrostatic force of 10 Newtons on
each other. The magnitude of ​is 5 μC, and the magnitude of ​is 2 μC.
Find the distance between the two charges.

𝑘 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝐹 12 = 2
𝑟
2
𝑁𝑚 9
𝑘=8.99 ×10 2
𝐶
m

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Voltage and Current
 Voltage represents the amount of work required to move charge
between two points, and the amount of charge that moves between the
two points per unit time is called current.

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Direct and Alternating Current

Direct current: flow of electric charge that occurs in one direction

Alternating current: the flow of electric charge that periodically reverses

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Kirchhoff’s Current Law

 The law states that at any given time, the sum of the currents entering
a node must be equal to the sum of the currents leaving the node.

𝑖1 +𝑖2 =𝑖3 +𝑖 4

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Example

Find the value of

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Example
You have a simple electrical circuit with three wires coming together at a
junction. The currents in the wires are as follows:
 Wire 1 has a current of 2 A entering the junction.
 Wire 2 has a current of 1 A leaving the junction.
 Wire 3 has an unknown current.
Using KCL, determine the unknown current in Wire 3.

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Resistance
 resistance to electric current depends on the material from which the
wire is made and its length, diameter, and temperature.
 Different materials show varying amounts of resistance to the flow of
electric current.
 The resistance (unit is ohm, Ω) of the sample is then given by

𝜌=Resistivity
𝐿=Length of the sample
𝐴=Cross sectional area

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 A copper wire has a length of 10 meters and a cross-sectional area of
square meters. Calculate the resistance of the copper wire given that
copper has a resistivity of approximately ohm-meter.

𝜌𝐿
𝑅=
𝐴

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 A wire with a resistance of 4 ohms, a length of 5 meters, and a cross-
sectional area of square meters is made of an unknown material.
Calculate the resistivity of this material.

𝜌𝐿
𝑅=
𝐴
= 1.6e-06

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Ohm’s Law
 It describes the relationship among voltage, V, resistance, R, and
current, I, according to
𝑉 =𝐼𝑅

 current is directly proportional to voltage and inversely proportional to

resistance.

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 The electrical resistance of a device is 145 Ω. Determine the value of
current flowing through the device when it is connected to a 120-volt
source.

𝑉 =𝐼𝑅
𝑉
⇒ 𝐼=
𝑅
⇒ 𝐼 =0.83 𝐴

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Electric Power

 The electric power consumption of various electrical components can

be determined using the following power formula:

𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼

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Example
 Assuming that your electric power company is charging you 10
cents for each kWh usage, estimate the cost of leaving five 10 W
light bulbs on from 6 p.m until 11 p.m. every night for 30 nights.

One light is on for t = hours in a month

Energy consumption per light bulb for 30 nights

10
¿ × 5 ×30 KWh
1000

Energy consumption for five light bulb for 30 nights=

Total cost

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Series Circuit

 A resistor is an electrical component that resists

the flow of either direct or alternating current.

𝑅𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝑅1 + 𝑅2 + 𝑅 3 + 𝑅 4

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 Example

Determine the total resistance and the current flowing in the circuit shown in Figure

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obtain the voltage drop across each lamp using Ohm’s law

1 2

3
4

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Resistors in parallel

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Example
The light bulbs in the circuit shown in figure are placed in a parallel arrangement,
as shown.
(a) Determine the current flow through each branch.
(b) Also compute the total resistance offered by all light bulbs to current flow.

𝐼1 𝐼2 𝐼3

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Example
Determine the total current drawn by the circuit shown in Figure

𝑅1

𝑅equivalent
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Electric Power

 The electric power consumption of various electrical components can

be determined using the following power formula:

𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼

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12.8

 What is the current that flows through each of the following light bulbs:
40 W, 60 W, 75 W, and 100 W? Each light is connected to a 120 V line.

Bulb 1: 𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼

• 40 W bulb: 0.333 A
• 60 W bulb: 0.5 A
• 75 W bulb: 0.625 A
• 100 W bulb: 0.833 A

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Example

¿ current=out current
𝐼 1+ 𝐼 2 = 𝐼 3+ 𝐼 4
⇒ 𝐼 4 ¿ 𝐼 1 + 𝐼 2 − 𝐼 3 =1.5 A

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Example

 If a 1500 W hair dryer is connected to a 120 V line,

what is the maximum current drawn?

𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼
𝑃 1500
⇒𝐼= = ⇒ 𝐼=12.5 A
𝑉 120

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Capacitors

 Capacitors are electrical components that store electrical energy.

 A capacitor has two oppositely charged electrodes with a dielectric
material inserted between the electrodes.
 Dielectric material is a poor conductor of electricity.
 serve as filters to protect sensitive components in electrical circuits
against power surges
 used in large computer memories to store information during a
temporary loss of electric power to the computer
 farad (F) is the basic unit used to designate the size of a capacitor.

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