Lecture 1: Voltage and Current

An electron is the smallest particle that exhibits negative electrical charge. When an excess of
electrons exists in a material, there is a net negative electrical charge. When a deficiency of
electrons exists, there is a net positive electrical charge. The charge of an electron and that of a
proton are equal in magnitude.

Electrical charge is an electrical property of matter that exists because of an excess or deficiency
of electrons. Charge is symbolized by the letter Q. Static electricity is the presence of a net positive
or negative charge in a material. Everyone has experienced the effects of static electricity from
time to time, for example, when attempting to touch a metal surface or another person or when
the clothes in a dryer cling together. Electrical charge (Q) is measured in coulombs, symbolized
by C. One coulomb is the total charge possessed by 6.25 x 1018 electrons.

The most common analogy to describe voltage, current and resistance is a water tank. In this
analogy, charge is represented by the water amount, voltage is represented by the water pressure,
and current is represented by the water flow. Consider a water tank at a height with a hose
towards the end as shown in Fig.1. The pressure at the end of the hose can represent voltage. The
water in the tank represents charge. The flow through the hose represents the current and the
hose diameter is related with the resistance. The more water in the tank, the higher the charge,
the more pressure is measured at the end of the hose. Additionally, if the hose diameter is larger,
more water can escape through the hose. Therefore, water appears at the exit with a higher speed
for either the height of water level or the bigger hose diameter. This implies, if a node in electric
circuit contains more charge or if the resistance between the two nodes is lesser, more current
flows through the electrical circuits.

Fig.1: Water tank analogy for voltage, current and resistance

Water = Charge
Pressure = Voltage
Flow = Current

We can think of this tank as a battery, a place where we store a certain amount of energy and then
release it. If we drain our tank a certain amount, the pressure created at the end of the hose goes
down. We can think of this as decreasing voltage, like when a flashlight gets dimmer as the
batteries run down. There is also a decrease in the amount of water that will flow through the
hose. Less pressure means less water is flowing, which brings us to current.
1. Voltage:

Voltage is defined as the amount of potential energy between two points (nodes) in any electrical
circuit. If one node contains more electric charge than the other node, it is at higher electrical
potential compared to the other node. This difference of potential defines the voltage and it is
measured in volts. The unit “volt” is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta and is
represented in equations and schematics by the letter “V”. Voltage is defined as energy or work
per unit charge.

𝑊 (1)
𝑉=
𝑄
where V is voltage in volts (V), W is energy in joules (J), and Q is charge in coulombs (C). Some
sources use E instead of V to symbolize voltage.
One volt is the potential difference (voltage) between two points when one joule of energy is used
to move one coulomb of charge from one point to the other.
2. Current:

Voltage provides energy to electrons, allowing them to move through a circuit. This movement
of electrons is the current, which results in work being done in an electrical circuit. Free electrons
are available in all conductive and semi-conductive materials. These outer-shell electrons drift
randomly in all directions, from atom to atom, within the structure of the material. These
electrons are loosely bound to the positive metal ions in the material, but because of thermal
energy, they are free to move about the crystalline structure of the metal.

If a voltage is placed across a conductive or semi-conductive material, one end becomes positive
and the other negative. The repulsive force produced by the negative voltage at the left end causes
the free electrons (negative charges) to move toward the right. The attractive force produced by
the positive voltage at the right end pulls the free electrons to the right. The result is a net
movement of the free electrons from the negative end of the material to the positive end.

The movement of these free electrons from the negative end of the material to the positive end is
the electrical current, symbolized by I. Electrical current is the rate of flow of charge. Current in
a conductive material is determined by the number of electrons (amount of charge) that flow past
a point in a unit of time.
𝑄
𝐼= (2)
𝑡

where I is current in amperes (A), Q is charge in coulombs (C), and t is time in seconds (s).

One ampere (1 A) is the amount of current that exists when a number of electrons having a total
charge of one coulomb (1 C) move through a given cross-sectional area in one second (1 s).

3. Resistance:

When there is current through a material, the free electrons move through the material and
occasionally collide with atoms. These collisions cause the electrons to lose some of their energy,
and thus their movement is restricted. The more collisions, the more the flow of electrons is
restricted. This restriction varies and is determined by the type of material. The property of a
material that restricts the flow of electrons is called resistance, designated with an R.

Resistance is the opposition to current. Resistance is expressed in ohms, symbolized by the Greek
letter omega (Ω).

One ohm (1Ω) of resistance exists if there is one ampere (1A) of current in a material when one
volt (1V) is applied across the material.

Conductance The reciprocal of resistance is conductance, symbolized by G. It is a measure of the

ease with which current is established. The unit of conductance is the siemens, abbreviated S.

4. Voltage Source:

A voltage source provides electrical energy, more commonly known as voltage. Voltage is
produced by means of chemical energy, light energy, and magnetic energy combined with
mechanical motion. When this voltage source is applied to a resistive load, electricity flows in
two ways: either in an alternating current (AC) or in a direct current (DC). Electricity or "current"
is nothing but the movement of electrons through a conductor, like a wire. The difference between
AC and DC lies in the direction in which the electrons flow. The term DC is used to refer to power
systems that use only one polarity of voltage or current, and to refer to the constant, zero-
frequency, or slowly varying local mean value of a voltage or current. An AC voltage is
continually changing between positive (+) and negative (-) values as shown in the figure.

Fig.2: Time curves of AC and DC voltage

4.1. Batteries: A battery is a type of voltage source that converts chemical energy directly into
electrical energy. All batteries use a specific type of chemical reaction called an oxidation-
reduction reaction. In this type of reaction, electrons are transferred from one reactant to
the other. If the chemicals used in the reaction are separated, it is possible to cause the
electrons to travel in the external circuit, creating current. As long as there is an external
path for the electrons, the reaction can proceed, and stored chemical energy is converted
to electrical current. If the path is broken, the reaction stops and the battery is said to be
in equilibrium. In a battery, the terminal that supplies electrons has a surplus of electrons
and is the negative electrode or anode. The electrode that acquires electrons has a positive
potential and is the cathode.
4.2. Fuel Cells: A fuel cell is a device that converts electrochemical energy into dc voltage
directly. Fuel cells combine a fuel (usually hydrogen) with an oxidizing agent (usually
oxygen). In the hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen react to form water, which is
the only by-product. The process is clean, quiet, and more efficient than burning. Fuel
 cells and batteries are similar in that they both are electrochemical devices that produce
electricity using an oxidation-reduction reaction. However, a battery is a closed system
with all its chemicals stored inside, whereas in a fuel cell, the chemicals (hydrogen and
oxygen) constantly flow into the cell where they combine and produce electricity.

4.3. Solar Cells: The operation of solar cells is based on the photovoltaic effect, which is the
process whereby light energy is converted directly into electrical energy. A basic solar
cell consists of two layers of different types of semi conductive materials joined together
to form a junction. When one layer is exposed to light, many electrons acquire enough
energy to break away from their parent atoms and cross the junction. This process forms
negative ions on one side of the junction and positive ions on the other, and thus a
potential difference (voltage) is developed. Figure 13 shows the construction of a basic
solar cell.

4.4. Generators: Electrical generators convert mechanical energy into electrical energy using
a principle called electromagnetic induction. A conductor is rotated through a magnetic
field, and a voltage is produced across the conductor. A typical generator is pictured in
Figure 3.

Fig.3: Generator cut-out

Around 95% of the electronic equipment are powered from low voltage DC supplies. The source
will be either a battery or a power supply converting AC mains into one or more voltage DC
supplies. Electronic components require a DC supply that is well regulated, has low noise
characteristics and provides a fast response to load changes. The AC voltage, typically 220 V RMS,
is connected to a transformer, which steps that ac voltage down to the level for the desired dc
output with the help of rectification (that will be covered in the upcoming lectures)

Fig.4: DC power sources

5. DC Electrical Power:

When there is current through resistance, the collisions of the electrons produce heat as a result
of the conversion of electrical energy, as indicated in Figure 1. The amount of power dissipated
in an electric circuit is dependent on the amount of resistance and on the amount of current,
expressed as follows:

𝑉2
𝑃 = 𝐼 2 𝑅 = 𝑉𝐼 = (3)
𝑅

where P is power in watts (W), I is current in amperes (A), and R is resistance in ohms (Ω).

The relationships between power and current, voltage, and resistance expressed in the preceding
formulas are known as Watt’s law.

Questions:

1. What is benchtop DC power supply? Find one model online and write down its
specifications.
2. A power supply’s part no. is CPX400DP. Write down its specifications with the help of its
datasheet.
3. What is the frequency and amplitude of an AC power?
4. A voltage source provides 5 V for 2 sec, 7 V for 1 sec, -3 V for 4 sec and 12V for 4 sec and -
10V for 3 sec. Plot the curve of the voltage source w.r.t. time. What kind of source is this AC
or DC, comment!
5. The plot of an ideal and practical voltage source is given below, briefly explain the reason of
the difference between the two.

Important Links:

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/alternating-current-ac-vs-direct-current-dc/all