BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING FORMULAS

This section describes basic electrical engineering formulas for creating design calculations.
List of Symbols
V - Voltage (volts)
I - Current (amps)
R - Resistance (ohms)
X - Reactance (ohms)
Z - Impedance (ohms)
W Real Power (watts)
θ - Phase angle whose cosine is the power factor
eff - Efficiency
Direct Current (DC) Formulas
Basic Formulas
Volts V = I x R
Power in watts PVIPIR=×=×2
Alternating Current (AC) Single Phase
V denotes line to neutral voltage.
Basic Formulas
Volts VIZ=×
Power Factor θcos = pf
Apparent Power = Reactive Power = VAVxIVARSVxIxsinθ
Real Power W = V x I x pf
Phase Angle θ = arctan(W/VARS)
Power Factor pf = W/(V x I) = W/VA
Voltage Drop ()VdIRIX=×××+××2cossinθθ
where:
Vd = voltage drop in circuit
sinθ = load reactive factor
X = reactance
Alternating Current (AC), Three-Phase
V denotes line to line voltage.
Basic Formulas

()
Apparent Power =kVA 3××IV
22kVARkWkVA+=
Real Power θcos×=kVAkW
Reactive Power kVARkVA=×sinθ
Phase Angle θ= arctankWkVAR
Power Factor kVAkWpf==θcos
Voltage Drop ()VdIRIX=×××+××3cossinθθ
where:
Vd = voltage drop in circuit
sinθ = load reactive factor
X = reactance