Basic electrical quantities: current, voltage, power

Build an intuitive understanding of current and voltage, and power. Written by Willy
McAllister.
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Voltage and current are the cornerstone concepts in electricity. When voltage and
current act together, power is transferred. We will create our first mental models for
these basic electrical quantities below.
Charge
The concept of electricity arises from an observation of nature, We observe a force
between objects, that, like gravity, acts at a distance. The source of this force has
been given the name charge. A very noticeable thing about electric force is that it
is large, far greater than the force of gravity. Unlike gravity, however, there are two
types of electric charge. Opposite types of charge attract, and like types of charge
repel. Gravity has only one type: it only attracts, never repels.
Conductors and insulators
Conductors are made of atoms whose outer, or valence, electrons have relatively
weak bonds to their nuclei, as shown in this fanciful image of a copper atom. When
a bunch of metal atoms are together, they gladly share their outer electrons with
each other, creating a "swarm" of electrons not associated with a particular nucleus.
A very small electric force can make the electron swarm move. Copper, gold, silver,
and aluminum are good conductors. So is saltwater.

There are also poor conductors. Tungstena metal used for light bulb filaments
and carbonused in graphite form in pencilsare relatively poor conductors
because their electrons are less prone to move.
Insulators are materials whose outer electrons are tightly bound to their nuclei.
Modest electric forces are not able to pull these electrons free. When an electric
force is applied, the electron clouds around the atom stretch and deform in
response to the force, but the electrons do not depart. Glass, plastic, stone, and air

are insulators. Even for insulators, though, electric force can always be turned up
high enough to rip electrons awaythis is called breakdown. That's what is
happening to air molecules when you see a spark.
Semiconductor materials fall between insulators and conductors. They usually act
like insulators, but we can make them act like conductors under certain
circumstances. The most well-known semiconductor material is Silicon (atomic
number 141414). Our ability to finely control the insulating and conducting
properties of silicon allows us to create modern marvels like computers and mobile
phones. The details of semiconductor operation are governed by our understanding
of quantum mechanics.
Current
Current is the flow of charge.
Charge flows in a current.
[Why did you say that twice?]
Current is reported as the number of charges per unit time passing through a
boundary. Visualize placing a boundary all the way through a wire. Station yourself
near the boundary and count the number of charges passing by. Report how much
charge passed through the boundary in one second. We assign a positive sign to
current corresponding to the direction a positivecharge would be moving.

Since current is the amount of charge passing through a boundary in a fixed amount
of time, it can be expressed mathematically using the following equation:
i = \dfrac{\text dq}{\text dt}i=dtdqi, equals, start fraction, d, q, divided by, d, t,
end fraction
That's current in a nutshell.
A few remarks on current

What carries current in metal? Since electrons are free to move about in
metals, moving electrons are what makes up the current in metals. The positive

nuclei in metal atoms are fixed in place and do not contribute to current. Even
though electrons have a negative charge and do almost all the work in most electric
circuits, we still define a positive current as the direction a positive charge would
move. This is a very old historical convention.

Can current be carried by positive charges? Yes. There are lots of

examples. Current is carried by both positive and negative charges in saltwater: If
we put ordinary table salt in water, it becomes a good conductor. Table salt is
sodium chloride, NaCl. The salt dissolves in water, into free-floating Na^++start
superscript, plus, end superscript and Cl^-start superscript, minus, end
superscript ions. Both ions respond to electric force and move through the saltwater
solution, in opposite directions. In this case, the current is composed of moving
atoms, both positive and negative ions, not just loose electrons. Inside our bodies,
electrical currents are moving ions, both positive and negative. The same definition
of current works: count the number of charges passing by in a fixed amount of time.

What causes current? Charged objects move in response to electric and

magnetic forces. These forces come from electric and magnetic fields, which in turn
come from the position and motion of other charges.

What is the speed of current? We don't talk very often about the speed of
current. Answering the question, "How fast is the current flowing?" requires
understanding of a complex physical phenomenon and is not often relevant. Current
usually isn't about meters per second, it's about charge per second. More often, we
answer the question "How muchcurrent is flowing?" all the time.

How do we talk about current? When discussing current, terms

likethrough and in make a lot of sense. Current flows through a resistor; current
flows in a wire. If you hear, "the current across ...", it should sound odd.
Voltage
To get our initial toehold on the concept of voltage, let's look at an analogy:
Voltage resembles gravity
For a mass mmm, a change of height hhh corresponds to a change in potential
energy, \Delta U = mg\Delta hU=mghdelta, U, equals, m, g, delta, h.

For a charged particle qqq, a voltage VVV corresponds to a change in potential

energy, \Delta U = qVU=qVdelta, U, equals, q, V.
Voltage in an electric circuit is analogous to the product of g\cdot \Delta hghg, dot,
delta, h. Where ggg is the acceleration due to gravity and \Delta hhdelta, h is the
change of height.
A ball at the top of the hill rolls down. When it is halfway down, it has given up half
of its potential energy.
An electron at the top of a voltage "hill" travels "downhill" through wires and
elements of a circuit. It gives up its potential energy, doing work along the way.
When the electron is halfway down the hill, it has given up, or "dropped", half of its
potential energy.

For both the ball and the electron, the trip down the hill happens spontaneously. The
ball and electron move towards a lower energy state all by themselves. On the trip
down, there can be things in the way of the ball, like trees or bears to bounce off.
For electrons, we can guide electrons using wires and make them flow through
electronic components circuit design and do interesting things along the way.
We can express the voltage between two points mathematically as the change of
energy experienced by a charge:
V = \dfrac{\Delta U}{q}V=qUV, equals, start fraction, delta, U, divided by, q, end
fraction
That's an intuitive description of voltage in a nutshell.
Power
Power is defined as the rate energy is transformed or transferred over time,
measured in joules/second, also known as watts. (1 \,\text{watt} =
1\,\text{joule}/\text{second}1watt=1joule/second1, space, w, a, t, t, equals, 1,
space, j, o, u, l, e, slash, s, e, c, o, n, d)

\text{power} = \dfrac{\text dU}{\text dt}power=dtdUp, o, w, e, r, equals, start

fraction, d, U, divided by, d, t, end fraction
An electric circuit is capable of transferring power. Current is the rate of flow of
charge, and voltage measures the energy transferred per unit of charge. We can
insert these definitions into the equation for power:
\text{power} = \dfrac{\text dU}{\text dt} = \dfrac{\text dU}{\text dq} \cdot
\dfrac{\text dq}{\text dt} = v \,ipower=dtdU=dqdUdtdq=vip, o, w, e, r, equals,
start fraction, d, U, divided by, d, t, end fraction, equals, start fraction, d, U, divided
by, d, q, end fraction, dot, start fraction, d, q, divided by, d, t, end fraction, equals,
v, space, i
Electrical power is the product of voltage times current. in units of watts.
Summary
These mental models for current and voltage will get us started on all sorts of
interesting electric circuits.
If you want to reach beyond this intuitive description of voltage you can read this
more formal mathematical description of electric potential and voltage.

Brief Introduction To Circuits

By Electricaleasy Web Basics

This is a brief and simple understanding of what a circuit is and the usage of it.

We all know about electricity. It is the flow electrons. Hence the word electricity is derived
from the word electrons. A battery itself doesnt work, if you hold it up in air, there would be
no passage of electric current. Hence you need a circuit. In Simple terms an electronic
circuit is a closed pathway for electrons to flow.

The Electric Current in a circuit flows from positive to negative while electrons flow from
negative to positive. So when the switch is on the path is complete and electricity passes
through enabling the bulb to light up, while when the switch is not on, there is a break in the
flow

of

electricity

and

the

bulb

does

not

light

up.

You would find circuits in every electrical device you use - from your switch board,
television,

refrigerator

to

your

laptop.

Types Of Circuits
You must have heard two terms Electrical and Electronic. First lets understand the
difference between these two terms. While electrical is the basis of everything, electronic is
a subset of electrical. An electrical circuit deals with just the flow of electrons and has
components like resistors, inductors and capacitors and uses Alternating Current Source;
while electronic circuit deals with the transformation of current and controlling the motion of
the electrons and uses Direct Current Source. An electrical circuit is termed as Passive
because it doesnt have any such component that reacts to the current/voltage that passes
through them and electronic circuit is called active because of the additional components
like diode or atransformer that react to the current/voltage that passes through.

The components of a circuit are arranged in many ways, two of the simplest are Series
and

Series Circuit:

Parallel.

If the components of the circuit are connected in one single path is it termed as series. The
same current would flow through all the components while the voltage would differ from one
component to another. For example you have lit three lamps in series to the same power
source, the first one would receive more voltage than the last.

Parallel Circuit:
If the components are connected in a parallel format they would be termed to be a parallel
series. In this sort of a connection all the components would receive the same voltage, while
the current would be divided amongst the components.

Voltage

and

Electric

Current

An electric current is defined as free flow of electrons and the motivating force behind that
free flow of electrons is called Voltage. Voltage is the measurement of potential energy that
would move the electrons between two points. Voltage is the push that the electrons require
to move within a circuit. Voltage is measured by Volt and Current is measured by Ampere.
Ohms

Law

Ohms law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly
proportional to the potential difference across those two points. It means that more the
resistance lesser current would flow. I=V/R This would apply to any component of a circuit.
For example conductors would increase the current flow and the inductors would decrease
it.
Integrated

Circuits

These are commonly termed as ICs. They are usually in form of chips and microchips. This
is a set of multiple electronic circuits on a small semiconductor device (normally silicon).
With the advancement of technology, these ICs prove to be extremely beneficial. They are
present in any electronic device you can name. From computers, mobiles to other digital
appliances you have multiple ICs present in them. Their main components are a
combination of Diodes, transistors and microprocessors. The microprocessors provide
memory to the device. With the help of the microprocessor the electronic devices can
perform

logical

or

protocol

applications.

Physics has always been an integral part of our lives and curriculum. From students who
study in school to engineering colleges; everyone is quite familiar with the concepts of
physics. Understanding Circuit is one of the main parts. Even if you are not physics major or

have hardly paid attention to this subject in your school years, in layman terms you would
still make sense of a circuit. Like you need the organs of a human body makes it work, in
the same way a circuit makes any electrical or an electronic device work. It provides a path
way for the electric current to reach your light, fans and all the other electrical utilities.
From the smallest digital device to the biggest electrical item you own, each and every
system has a circuit in built in them. You must have used the term short circuit a gazillion
times at your home. That is nothing but a bad connection between the two points of an
electric circuit that has two different voltages that result in excessive current flow and
causes

circuit

damage.

Understanding a circuit is deeply beneficial for anyone. From house hold usage to hi tech
inventions; a circuit is base for any technological advancement.

Electrical Symbols & Electronic Symbols

Electrical symbols and electronic circuit symbols are used for drawing schematic diagram.
The symbols represent electrical and electronic components.

Table of Electrical Symbols

Symbol

Component name

Meaning

Wire Symbols

Electrical Wire

Conductor of electrical current

Connected Wires

Connected crossing

Not Connected Wires

Wires are not connected

Switch Symbols and Relay Symbols

SPST Toggle Switch

Disconnects current when open

SPDT Toggle Switch

Selects between two connections

Pushbutton Switch (N.O)

Momentary switch - normally open

Pushbutton Switch (N.C)

Momentary switch - normally closed

DIP Switch

DIP switch is used for onboard configuration

SPST Relay
Relay open / close connection by an electromagnet
SPDT Relay

Jumper

Close connection by jumper insertion on pins.

Solder Bridge

Solder to close connection

Ground Symbols

Earth Ground

Used for zero potential reference and electrical shock

protection.

Chassis Ground

Connected to the chassis of the circuit

Digital / Common Ground

Resistor Symbols

Resistor (IEEE)
Resistor reduces the current flow.
Resistor (IEC)

Potentiometer (IEEE)
Adjustable resistor - has 3 terminals.
Potentiometer (IEC)

Variable Resistor /
Rheostat (IEEE)
Adjustable resistor - has 2 terminals.
Variable Resistor /
Rheostat (IEC)

Trimmer Resistor

Preset resistor

Thermistor

Thermal resistor - change resistance when temperature

changes

Photoresistor / Light dependent

resistor (LDR)

Photo-resistor - change resistance with light intensity

change

Capacitor Symbols

Capacitor
Capacitor is used to store electric charge. It acts as
short circuit with AC and open circuit with DC.
Capacitor

Polarized Capacitor

Electrolytic capacitor

Polarized Capacitor

Electrolytic capacitor

Variable Capacitor

Adjustable capacitance

Inductor / Coil Symbols

Inductor

Coil / solenoid that generates magnetic field

Iron Core Inductor

Includes iron

Variable Inductor

Power Supply Symbols

Voltage Source

Generates constant voltage

Current Source

Generates constant current.

AC Voltage Source

AC voltage source

Generator

Electrical voltage is generated by mechanical rotation of

the generator

Battery Cell

Generates constant voltage

Battery

Generates constant voltage

Controlled Voltage Source

Generates voltage as a function of voltage or current of

other circuit element.

Controlled Current Source

Generates current as a function of voltage or current of

other circuit element.

Meter Symbols

Voltmeter

Measures voltage. Has very high resistance. Connected

in parallel.

Ammeter

Measures electric current. Has near zero resistance.

Connected serially.

Ohmmeter

Measures resistance

Wattmeter

Measures electric power

Lamp / Light Bulb Symbols

Lamp / light bulb

Lamp / light bulb

Generates light when current flows through

Lamp / light bulb

Diode / LED Symbols

Diode

Diode allows current flow in one direction only - left

(anode) to right (cathode).

Zener Diode

Allows current flow in one direction, but also can flow in

the reverse direction when above breakdown voltage

Schottky Diode

Schottky diode is a diode with low voltage drop

Varactor / Varicap Diode

Variable capacitance diode

Tunnel Diode

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

LED emits light when current flows through

Photodiode

Photodiode allows current flow when exposed to light

Transistor Symbols

NPN Bipolar Transistor

Allows current flow when high potential at base (middle)

PNP Bipolar Transistor

Allows current flow when low potential at base (middle)

Darlington Transistor

Made from 2 bipolar transistors. Has total gain of the

product of each gain.

JFET-N Transistor

N-channel field effect transistor

JFET-P Transistor

P-channel field effect transistor

NMOS Transistor

N-channel MOSFET transistor

PMOS Transistor

P-channel MOSFET transistor

Misc. Symbols

Motor

Electric motor

Transformer

Change AC voltage from high to low or low to high.

Electric bell

Rings when activated

Buzzer

Produce buzzing sound

Fuse
The fuse disconnects when current above threshold.
Used to protect circuit from high currents.
Fuse

Bus

Bus

Contains several wires. Usually for data / address.

Bus

Optocoupler / Opto-isolator

Optocoupler isolates connection to other board

Loudspeaker

Converts electrical signal to sound waves

Microphone

Converts sound waves to electrical signal

Operational Amplifier

Amplify input signal

Schmitt Trigger

Operates with hysteresis to reduce noise.

Analog-to-digital converter
(ADC)

Converts analog signal to digital numbers

Digital-to-Analog converter
(DAC)

Converts digital numbers to analog signal

Crystal Oscillator

Used to generate precise frequency clock signal

Antenna Symbols

Antenna / aerial
Transmits & receives radio waves
Antenna / aerial

Dipole Antenna

Two wires simple antenna

Logic Gates Symbols

NOT Gate (Inverter)

Outputs 1 when input is 0

AND Gate

Outputs 1 when both inputs are 1.

NAND Gate

Outputs 0 when both inputs are 1. (NOT + AND)

OR Gate

Outputs 1 when any input is 1.

NOR Gate

Outputs 0 when any input is 1. (NOT + OR)

XOR Gate

Outputs 1 when inputs are different. (Exclusive OR)

D Flip-Flop

Stores one bit of data

Multiplexer / Mux 2 to 1
Connects the output to selected input line.
Multiplexer / Mux 4 to 1

Demultiplexer / Demux 1 to 4

Connects selected output to the input line.

Electrical Units of Measure

The standard SI units used for the measurement of voltage, current and resistance are
the Volt [ V ], Ampere [ A ] and Ohm [ ] respectively.

Sometimes in electrical or electronic circuits and systems it is necessary to use multiples or submultiples (fractions) of these standard units when the quantities being measured are very large or
very small.
The following table gives a list of some of the standard electrical units of measure used in
electrical formulas and component values.

Standard Electrical Units

Electrical
Parameter

Voltage

Current

Resistance

Conductance

Capacitance

Charge

Inductance

Power

Impedance

Frequency

Multiples and Sub-multiples

There is a huge range of values encountered in electrical and electronic engineering between a
maximum value and a minimum value of a standard electrical unit. For example, resistance can

be lower than 0.01s or higher than 1,000,000s. By using multiples and submultiples of the
standard unit we can avoid having to write too many zeros to define the position of the decimal
point. The table below gives their names and abbreviations.

Prefix

Terra

Giga

Mega

kilo

none

centi

milli

micro

nano

pico

So to display the units or multiples of units for either Resistance, Current or Voltage we would
use as an example:

1kV = 1 kilo-volt which is equal to 1,000 Volts.

1mA = 1 milli-amp which is equal to one thousandths (1/1000) of an Ampere.

47k = 47 kilo-ohms which is equal to 47 thousand Ohms.

100uF = 100 micro-farads which is equal to 100 millionths (1/1,000,000) of a Farad.

1kW = 1 kilo-watt which is equal to 1,000 Watts.

1MHz = 1 mega-hertz which is equal to one million Hertz.

To convert from one prefix to another it is necessary to either multiply or divide by the difference
between the two values. For example, convert 1MHz into kHz.
Well we know from above that 1MHz is equal to one million (1,000,000) hertz and that 1kHz is
equal to one thousand (1,000) hertz, so one 1MHz is one thousand times bigger than 1kHz. Then
to convert Mega-hertz into Kilo-hertz we need to multiply mega-hertz by one thousand, as 1MHz
is equal to 1000 kHz.
Likewise, if we needed to convert kilo-hertz into mega-hertz we would need to divide by one
thousand. A much simpler and quicker method would be to move the decimal point either left or
right depending upon whether you need to multiply or divide.
As well as the Standard electrical units of measure shown above, other units are also used in
electrical engineering to denote other values and quantities such as:

Wh The Watt-Hour, The amount of electrical energy consumed by a circuit over a

period of time. Eg, a light bulb consumes one hundred watts of electrical power for one
hour. It is commonly used in the form of: Wh (watt-hours), kWh (Kilowatt-hour) which
is 1,000 watt-hours or MWh (Megawatt-hour) which is 1,000,000 watt-hours.

dB The Decibel, The decibel is a one tenth unit of the Bel (symbol B) and is used to

represent gain either in voltage, current or power. It is a logarithmic unit expressed

in dB and is commonly used to represent the ratio of input to output in amplifier, audio
circuits or loudspeaker systems.
For example, the dB ratio of an input voltage (Vin) to an output voltage (Vout) is expressed as
20log10 (Vout/Vin). The value in dB can be either positive (20dB) representing gain or negative
(-20dB) representing loss with unity, ie input = output expressed as 0dB.

Phase Angle, The Phase Angle is the difference in degrees between the voltage

waveform and the current waveform having the same periodic time. It is a time
difference or time shift and depending upon the circuit element can have a leading or
lagging value. The phase angle of a waveform is measured in degrees or radians.

Angular Frequency, Another unit which is mainly used in a.c. circuits to

represent the Phasor Relationship between two or more waveforms is called Angular
Frequency, symbol . This is a rotational unit of angular frequency 2with units
in radians per second, rads/s. The complete revolution of one cycle is 360 degrees or
2, therefore, half a revolution is given as 180 degrees or rad.

Time Constant, The Time Constant of an impedance circuit or linear first-order

system is the time it takes for the output to reach 63.7% of its maximum or minimum
output value when subjected to a Step Response input. It is a measure of reaction time.
In the next tutorial about DC circuit theory we will look at Kirchoffs Circuit Law which along
with Ohms Law allows us to calculate the different voltages and currents