Basic Electrical Engineering

DCS-102

Unit-I

Syllabus:
1. Application of Electrical Engineering in different fields.
2. Basic terminology: Resistor, capacitor, current, voltage and EMF.
3. Series and parallel combination of resistors.
4. Series and parallel combination of capacitors.
5. Concept of constant voltage sources and current source, symbols and graphical
representation.
6. Characteristics of ideal and practical sources.
7. Conversion of voltage sources into current sources and vice versa.

Application of Electrical Engineering in different fields:

YOUR DATA/INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT & An Electrical Engineer KNOWS IT.

It majorly deals with technology related to electricity and its production.
Electrical Engineers work on a wide range of electrical components, devices, which include
microchips or even power station generators.

Some Important Application of Electrical Engineering:

1. Design, Develop, Test of complex electrical equipments (motors, radar, TVs, etc).
2. Develop GPS systems and other portable systems that are counted in the broadcast and
the communication systems category.
3. Perform Writing.
4. Production and Control of Electricity.

Basic terminology:
Resistor:
Resistor is an electrical component that reduces (opposes) the electric current.
Resistance: Property of Resistor.
The resistor's ability to reduce (oppose) the current is called Resistance and is measured in units
of ohms (symbol: Ω).

Types:
1. Fixed resistors: Fixed resistors most widely used type of resistor. They are used in
electronics circuits to set the right conditions in a circuit. Their values are determined

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during the design phase of the circuit, and they should never need to be changed to
"adjust" the circuit.
2. Variable resistors: These resistors consist of a fixed resistor element and a slider which
taps onto the main resistor element. This gives three connections to the component: two
connected to the fixed element, and the third is the slider. In this way the component acts
as a variable potential divider if all three connections are used. It is possible to connect to
the slider and one end to provide a resistor with variable resistance.
Symbol of variable resistor:

Laws of Resistance:
1. The resistance of an electrical conductor depends upon the following factors:
(a) The length of the conductor,
(b) The cross-sectional area of the conductor,
(c) The type of material and
(d) The temperature of the material.

2. Resistance (R) is directly proportional to length (L), and inversely proportional to the
cross-sectional area (A). i.e., R α L/A i.e. R= ρ
Where, „ρ‟ is the resistivity of the material

3. Resistivity varies with temperature. It is represented by the symbol „ρ‟ (Greek rho) and
the unit of „ρ‟ is ohm metre (Ω-m)

Conductance:
1. Conductance may be defined as the ability of the conductor to allow the current freely
through it.
2. Conductance is reciprocal of resistance.
3. It is represented by the letter „G‟.
4. The unit for the conductance is “Siemen”.

Capacitor:
1. A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy
electrostatically in an electric field.
2. Unlike a resistor, a capacitor does not dissipate energy.
3. Capacitor contain at least two electrical conductors (plates) separated by
a dielectric (i.e., insulator). The conductors can be thin films of metal, aluminum foil
or disks, etc. The 'non-conducting' dielectric acts to increase the capacitor's charge
capacity. A dielectric can be glass, ceramic, plastic film, air, paper, mica, etc.
Symbol of Capacitor:

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Capacitance: Property of Capacitor.

1. Capacitance is expressed as the ratio of the electric charge (Q) on each conductor to
the potential difference (V) between them.
2. The SI unit of capacitance is the farad (F), which is equal to one coulomb per volt
(1C/V).
3. Typical capacitance values range from about 1 pF (10 −12 F) to about 1 mF (10 −3 F).

Electric current:
1. Any movement of electric charge carriers.
Or
2. The rate of flow of electric charges is called, “electric current”.
Or
3. The rate of flow of electrons is called, “electric current”.
Or
4. Electric current in a wire, where the charge carriers are electrons, is a measure of the
quantity of charge passing any point of the wire per unit of time.
5. It is denoted by the letter „I‟
6. Current= Charges/Time
I= Q/T
Where,
Q = electric charge; coulomb (C)
T = time; second (S)
7. SI Unit of electric current is the ampere, which is defined as a flow of one coulomb of
charge per second, or 6.2 × 1018 electrons per second.

Example:
 Commercial Power Lines-100 amps
 60 watt Light Bulb-0.5 amps
 Air-Conditioner-15 amps.
 Washing Machine-5 amps

Electric Charges:
1. Electrons: having negative charge.
2. Protons: having positive charge.
3. Ions: atoms that have lost or gained one or more electrons.

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4. Holes: electron deficiencies that may be thought of as positive particles.

Types of Current:
1. Alternating Current: In alternating current the motion of the electric charges is
periodically reversed.
Symbol:

2. Direct Current: In direct current the motion of the electric charges is not reversed.
Symbol:

Voltage:
1. 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.
2. In brief, voltage = pressure
3. Voltage is measured in volts (V).
4. In electricity's early days, voltage was known as electromotive force (emf).

Example of voltage in a simple direct current (dc) circuit:

1. In this dc circuit, the switch is closed (turned ON).

2. Voltage in the power source—the "potential difference" between the battery's two
poles—is activated, creating pressure that forces electrons to flow as current out the
battery's negative terminal.
3. Current reaches the light, causing it to glow.
4. Current returns to the power source.

Voltage is either:
 Alternating current (ac) voltage (represented on a digital Multimeter by )
Reverses direction at regular intervals.
 Direct current (dc) voltage. (represented on a digital Multimeter by and )
Travels in a straight line and in one direction only.

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Potential Difference:
1. Voltage and the term "potential difference" are often used interchangeably.
2. Potential difference might be better defined as the potential energy difference between
two points in a circuit.
3. The amount of difference (expressed in volts) determines how much potential energy
exists to move electrons from one specific point to another. The quantity identifies how
much work, potentially, can be done through the circuit.
4. Voltage/potential difference can be compared to water stored in a tank. The larger the
tank, and the greater its height (and thus its potential velocity), the greater the water's
capacity to create an impact when a valve is opened and the water (like electrons) can
flow.

Example:
A household AA alkaline battery, for example, offers 1.5 V. Typical household electrical outlets
offer 120 V. The greater the voltage in a circuit, the greater its ability to "push" more electrons
and do work.

Series and Parallel combination of Resistors:

Resistance can be joined to each other by two ways:
1. Series combination
2. Parallel combination

Series Combination

Series Combination Characteristics:

 If different resistances are joined with each other such that there is only one path for the
flow of electric current.
 In series combination current through each resistor is “same”.
 In series combination Voltage (Potential difference) across each resistor is different
depending upon the value of resistance.
 Equivalent resistance of circuit is equal to the sum of individual resistances.

Disadvantage:
 If one component is fused, then the other components of circuit will not function.

Identifying Series Connection:

If you can move your finger along the wires from A to B without passing a junction, i.e., without
ever having a choice of which wire to follow, the components are connected in series.

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Equivalent Resistance in Series Combination:

Consider three resistances R1, R2, & R3 connected in series combination with a power supply of
voltage.
Potential difference of each resistor is V1, V2, & V3 respectively. Let electric current I is passing
through the circuit.

Now, V = V1 + V2 + V3
According to Ohm‟s law V=IR
Thus,
IRequivalent = IR1 + IR2 + IR3,
IRequivalent = I (R1 + R2 + R3),
I Cancelled out,
Requivalent = R1 + R2 + R3

Equivalent Resistance is more than individual Resistance.

Parallel Combination

Parallel Combination Characteristics:

 If there is more than one path for the flow of current in a circuit then the combination of
resistances is called Parallel Combination.
 In parallel combination current through each resistor is different.
 Potential difference across each resistor is same.
 Equivalent resistance of circuit is always less than either of the resistances included in the
circuit.

Identifying Parallel Connection:

If you ever have a choice of which wire to follow when moving from A to B, the circuit elements
are in parallel.

Advantage:
In parallel combination of resistors, if one component of circuit (resistor) is damaged then rest of
the component of the circuit will perform their work without any disturbance. It is due to the
presence of more than paths for the flow of electric current.

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Equivalent Resistance in Parallel Combination:

Consider three resistances R1, R2 & R3 connected in parallel combination with a power supply of
voltage V.
Now, I = I1 + I2 + I3
According to Ohm‟s law V=IR
Therefore, V/Requivalent = V/R1 + V/R2 + V/R3,
V/ Requivalent = V (1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3)
1/ Requivalent = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3

Problem:
Calculate equivalent resistance

Solution:

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Series and parallel combination of capacitors:

There are two simple and common types of connections:
1. series
2. parallel

Capacitance in Series:

Capacitance in Parallel:

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Concept of constant voltage sources and current source, symbols and graphical
representation: (Characteristics of ideal and practical sources :)

1. A Source is a device which converts mechanical, chemical, thermal or some other form
of energy into electrical energy.
Or
2. In other words, the source is an active network element meant for generating electrical
energy.

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Ideal Voltage Source:

1. A voltage source is a two-terminal device whose voltage at any instant of time is constant
and is independent of the current drawn from it. Such a voltage source is called an Ideal
Voltage Source and has zero internal resistance.
2. Practically an ideal voltage source cannot be obtained.

Practical Voltage Source:

1. Sources having some amount of internal resistances are known as Practical Voltage
Source. Due to this internal resistance; voltage drop takes place, and it causes the
terminal voltage to reduce.
2. The smaller is the internal resistance (r) of a voltage source, the more closely it is to an
Ideal Source.
The symbolic representation of the ideal and practical voltage source is shown below (Same
for both):

Figure shown below shows the circuit diagram and characteristics of an Ideal Voltage
source:

Figure shown below gives the circuit diagram and characteristics of Practical Voltage
Source:

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Example: of voltage sources is batteries and alternators.

Current Source:
The current sources are further categorized as Ideal and Practical current source.
Ideal current source:
1. An ideal current source is a two-terminal circuit element which supplies the same current
to any load resistance connected across its terminals.
2. It is important to keep in mind that the current supplied by the current source is
independent of the voltage of source terminals. It has infinite resistance.
Practical current source:
1. A practical current source is represented as an ideal current source connected with the
resistance in parallel.
The symbolic representation is shown below (Same for both):

Figure shown below shows the circuit diagram and characteristics of an Ideal Current
source:

Figure shown below gives the circuit diagram and characteristics of Practical Current
Source:

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Example: of current sources are photoelectric cells, collector currents of transistors.

Conversion of voltage source into current source and vice versa:

Source transformation is a technique to replace a voltage source with a current source for circuit
simplification and vice versa.
Voltage to Current Conversion:
Suppose we have the following voltage source shown (on the left side) in the diagram, and we
want to transform it to a current source (on the right side). Where Vs is the terminal voltage of
the source and Rs is the internal resistance of the voltage source. With the ease of Ohm‟s Law,
the source is converted with the following formula:
Is=Vs / Rs
In source transformation, the Voltage source Vs is converted into Current Source Is by the above
formula. Source internal resistance Rs is placed in parallel of current source IS.

Current to Voltage Conversion:

In contrast to the above conversion, if we have a current source (on the right side), we can
transform it to a voltage source (on the left side) using the following formula.

The above process can be reversed, if we have a current source (on the right side), we can
transform it to a voltage source (on the left side) by the following formula.

The above two circuits are equivalents such that they have an identical voltage-current
relationship at terminal a-b. If the sources are switched off, both sources have same resistance
Rs at terminal a-b. If the terminal a-b is short-circuited, both the same current will flow the same
amount of current in Rs resistor.
Vs=Is * Rs
Note: Source transformation is not limited to resistive circuits but is also valid for capacitive and
inductive circuits. The technique can be used for AC circuits as well as for dependent sources
too.

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