IT1810

Introduction to Electrical Circuits

Electric Circuits are an interconnection of electrical elements where a collection of components are connected
via metal wires. These electrical components include resistors, inductors, capacitors, generators (or sources),
transformers, diodes, transistors, and many more. These series of electrical components and circuits can make
up into the smallest device that we have or into a larger scale like system of power plants delivering power to
every household. In order to proceed with the creation of these devices, we must understand the basic
knowledge, its history, and how people discovered and created these technological advancements.

Notable Moments in Circuits

Here are some of the prominent technologies, and the people behind these creations, that how electrical
circuits has been in history. From these notable moments has transpired the development of electrical circuits.
It is because of these people and machines that made our lives better until today.

1752 1776 1786 1792 1827 1882 1885

1752
• Electricity – Benjamin Franklin helped in the discovery of electricity using a kite, string,
and iron key.
1776
• Steam Electricity – Scottish inventor James Watt installed the first engines in commercial
enterprises. In later years, his name was attributed to the unit of power.
1786
• Bioelectricity – Luigi Galvani experimented that muscles of the frog in which in his
discovery it has electric current. When a series of tissue muscles is soaked in brine, it
produces the twitching movement.
1792
• Battery – Alessandro Volta showed that when moisture comes in between two (2)
different metals, it creates electric power. In later years, his name was attributed to the
unit of electric potential difference.
1827
• Electrodynamics – French mathematician André-Marie Ampère’s experiments and work
led to the discovery of electrodynamics. In later years, his name was attributed to the unit
of electric current.
• Ohm’s Law – Georg Simon Ohm, a German mathematician and physicist, formulated the
law which states that voltage is equivalent to the product of the current and resistance.
In later years, his name was attributed to the unit of electric resistance.
1882
• Direct Current (DC) Generators – Thomas Edison used his DC generator to provide
electricity and illuminate the first New York street to be lit by electric lamps.
1885
• Alternating Current (AC) Generators – George Westinghouse purchased and developed
Nikola Tesla’s patented motor for generating AC.

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In order to start learning electrical circuits, we must first learn how to measure data and how to measure data.
Learning these again would help us understand the following lessons since this subject is math heavy.

Scientific Notation
It is a special way of expressing very large or very small numbers. It is scientifically used to represent accuracy
and precision of data in decimal form.

The International System of Units (SI) is an international measurement language and a basis of standard of
measurement that some countries follow for quantity and counting purposes. This particular system of units
can be derived into other measurable units through combination and/or formulation.
Quantity Basic Symbol Quantity Basic Unit Symbol Equivalent
Unit Force Newton

Derived Units
𝑁𝑁 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 • 𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠²
Length Meter 𝑚𝑚 Work or
Basic Units

Mass Kilogram 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 Joule 𝐽𝐽 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 • 𝑚𝑚²/𝑠𝑠²

Energy
Time Second 𝑠𝑠 Electric
Charge Coulomb 𝐶𝐶 Ampere 𝐴𝐴 𝐶𝐶 / 𝑚𝑚
Current
Temperature Kelvin 𝐾𝐾 Power watt 𝑊𝑊 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 • 𝑚𝑚²/𝑠𝑠³
Luminous
Candela 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 Table 2. SI derived units
Intensity
Table 1. SI basic units
Multiplier Prefix Symbol Value
1012 Tera 𝑇𝑇 1,000,000,000,000
Notation Prefixes

109 Giga 𝐺𝐺 1,000,000,000

106 Mega 𝑀𝑀 1,000,000
103 kilo 𝑘𝑘 1,000
10 deka 𝑑𝑑 10
10−3 mili 𝑚𝑚 0.001
10−6 micro 𝜇𝜇 0.000,001
10−9 nano 𝑛𝑛 0.000,000,001
10−12 pico 𝑝𝑝 0.000,000,000,001
Table 3. SI prefix notations

Examples of SI as expressed in liters (volume of liquids), meters (length and distance), and grams (weight and
intensity):
THROUGH CONVERSION THROUGH FORMULATION
1) 600,000 𝑚𝑚 = 600 × 𝑚𝑚 103 1) How much force is needed to move a 7 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 mass by 9.8 𝑚𝑚/
= 600 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑠𝑠2?
= 600,000 × 103 𝑚𝑚 𝑭𝑭 = 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎
𝑚𝑚
= 600,000,000 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐹𝐹 = 7 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 × 9.8 2 = 68.6
𝑠𝑠
1000 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
2) 0.279 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 × = 279 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 2) What is the equivalent power if 25 𝐽𝐽 of work is done for
1 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿
10 𝑠𝑠?
0.279 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 ×
1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
= 279𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝑬𝑬
0.001 𝐿𝐿 𝑷𝑷 =
𝒕𝒕
25 𝐽𝐽
3) 126.8 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 = 126.38 × 103 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔 𝑃𝑃 = = 2.5 𝑊𝑊
10 𝑠𝑠
= 126,380 𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔𝑔

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Before proceeding with the proper topic, we must first understand how electricity works by identifying the
parts of an atom.

Elements of an Atom
• Atom – basic unit of matter; can be built up into elements
• Proton – positively charged particle
• Neutron – neutral charged particle
• Electron – negatively charged particle
When an electron is transferred from a point to the other, it produces a charge. Electron is basically the reason
why electricity exists. With electrons moving freely, charge exists.
Charge
• Electric charge is a fundamental property of matter to describe force interactions among particles.
• It is an electrical property of the atomic particles measured in coulombs (C).
• There are two kinds of charge: positive and negative.
• Like charges repel (negative to negative), Unlike charges attract (positive to negative).
• The formula for the charge of an electron is 𝒆𝒆 = −𝟏𝟏. 𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔𝟔 × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 𝑪𝑪.
• The law of conservation of charge states that charge can neither be created nor destroyed, only
transferred.
• We can also equate Charge as the current in movement in corresponding to time.
• This formula is used to find the charge whenever current is present: 𝑸𝑸 = 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 (𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 = 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 ×
𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻𝑻 𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊 𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺)

Relationship Between Charge and Current

• Electric charge can be transferred from one (1) place to another, where it can
be converted to another form of energy.
• It is conventional to take the current flow as the movement of positive charges,
i.e., opposite to the flow of negative charges. Remember positive and negative
charge attract.
• Whenever there are unlike charges transferred into a conductive medium,
there is movement of charge. Thus, it creates electric current.
Figure 1. Electron flow in a
Electric Current circuit
• It is the time rate of change of charge measured in amperes (𝐴𝐴).
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
• Mathematically, it is equivalent to 𝒊𝒊 ≜ , in which 1 𝐴𝐴 = 1 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶/𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠.
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
• The types of electric current are alternating current and direct current.
Examples (Electric Current):
1) What current must flow if 2) If a current of 10 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 flows for
0.24 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 is to be transferred four (4) minutes, find the quantity
in 15 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚? of electricity transferred.
𝑸𝑸 0.24 𝐶𝐶 𝑸𝑸 = 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰
𝑰𝑰 = = = 16 𝐴𝐴
𝒕𝒕 15 × 10−3 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 60 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
= 10 𝐴𝐴 × �4 min× �
1 𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
𝑄𝑄 = 2400 𝐶𝐶

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Since there must be current to move the electron, one must also learn how to measure the distance of the
flow in which energy transfer is exerted. This energy transfer, or work, is performed by an external
electromotive force (emf).

Voltage
• Voltage (or potential difference) is the energy
required to move a unit charge from a reference
point (−) to another point (+), measured in volts 𝑣𝑣𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 9 𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣
(V). 𝑣𝑣𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = −9 𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣
• Moving the electron in a conductor in a
particular direction requires some work or
energy transfer which is performed by an
external electromotive force (emf).
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 Figure 2. Voltage flow and reading orientation
• Mathematically, it is equivalent to 𝐯𝐯 ≜ .
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
𝐽𝐽
• In simple terms, a volt is equal to the energy exerted (Joules) per charge (Coulomb) or 𝑉𝑉 = .
𝐶𝐶

Examples (Electric Voltage):

1) Moving charge 𝑞𝑞 from point 𝑏𝑏 to 2) An energy source forces a
point 𝑎𝑎 requires 25 𝐽𝐽. Find the constant current of 2 𝐴𝐴 for 10 𝑠𝑠 to
voltage drop 𝑣𝑣𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (the voltage at 𝑎𝑎 flow through a light bulb. If 2.3 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
positive with respect to 𝑏𝑏) if (a) 𝑞𝑞 = is given off in the form of light and
5 𝐶𝐶 and (b) 𝑞𝑞 = −10 𝐶𝐶. heat energy, calculate the voltage
25 𝐽𝐽 drop across the bulb.
(a) 𝑉𝑉 = = 5 𝑣𝑣 𝑸𝑸 = 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰
5 𝐶𝐶

(b) 𝑉𝑉 =
25 𝐽𝐽
= −2.5 𝑣𝑣 𝑄𝑄 = 2𝐴𝐴 × 10𝑠𝑠 = 20 𝐶𝐶
−10 𝐶𝐶 ∆𝒘𝒘
𝑽𝑽 =
∆𝒒𝒒
2.3 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝑉𝑉 = 20 𝐶𝐶
= 115 𝑉𝑉

Energy
• It is the capacity to do work measured in joules (𝐽𝐽).
• This confirms the fact that the total power supplied to the circuit must balance the total power
absorbed.

Power
• Power is the time rate of expending or absorbing energy measured in watts (𝑊𝑊).
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
• Its formula is either 𝒑𝒑 ≜ or 𝒑𝒑 = = × = 𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗.
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅
• If the power has a (+) sign, it is being delivered to or absorbed by the element. On the other hand, if the
power has a (−) sign, it is being supplied by the element.
• The law of conservation of energy, which states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, must be
obeyed in any electric circuit.
Example (Energy and Power): A mass of 1000 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 is raised through a height of 10 𝑚𝑚 in 20 𝑠𝑠. What
is a) the work done and b) the power developed? (Earth’s gravitational acceleration = 9.81 𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠².)

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a) 𝑭𝑭 = 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 b) 𝑷𝑷 =
𝑾𝑾
𝒕𝒕
𝐹𝐹 = 1000 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 × 9.81 𝑚𝑚/𝑠𝑠 2 98.1𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝐹𝐹 = 9,810 𝑁𝑁 𝑃𝑃 =
𝑾𝑾 = 𝒇𝒇𝒇𝒇 20 𝑠𝑠
𝑃𝑃 = 4,905 𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 4.905 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝑊𝑊 = 9,810 𝑁𝑁 × 10 𝑚𝑚
𝑊𝑊 = 98,100 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 98.1 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘

Energy Efficiency
• Efficiency is a measure of how much work or energy is conserved in a process.
• The efficiency is the energy output divided by the energy input and expressed as a percentage.
• A perfect process would have an efficiency of 100%.
𝑾𝑾𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐
• Its formula is (𝜼𝜼) = 𝑾𝑾𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊
× 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏%.

Example (Energy and Power): What would be the efficiency of a power amplifier if the input work
is equal to 512 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 and the output work is 230 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘?
𝑾𝑾𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐
𝜼𝜼 = × 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏%
𝑾𝑾𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒊
230 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝜂𝜂 = × 100% = 44.92%
512 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘

Circuit Diagrams and Basic Symbols

In an electric circuit, there are different elements or components which
make up a device or a system. These elements or components are the basic
building blocks of a circuit. An electric circuit is simply an interconnection
of the elements.
• Circuit Diagram or Schematic is a simplified graphical
representation of components or elements in a system of circuits.
Figure 3. Example of a circuit
diagram
• Switches
Open circuit – switch opened Closed circuit – switch closed
Switch: OFF Switch: ON

- Battery + Bulb - Battery + Bulb

• Battery Symbols / Power Source

Single cell Multi cell DC battery source AC power source

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• Wirings

No contact / No connection Connected / Full contact Terminal Ground

• Resistors

Fixed Variable (adjustable)

• Diodes

Diode/Rectifier Light emitting diode (LED)

• Transistors (Bipolar Junction Transistor or BJT)

NPN PNP

Figure 4. A sample circuit diagram/schematic

References:
Bird, J. (2017). Electrical circuit theory and technology (6th Ed.). New York: Routledge.
Alexander, C. & Sadiku, M. (2017). Fundamentals of electric circuits (5th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Salam, Md. & Rahman, Q. (2018). Fundamentals of electrical circuit analysis. Singapore: Springer Nature.
Ergül, Özgür (2017). Introduction to electrical circuit analysis (1st Ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons
Boylestad, R. & Nashelsky, L. (2013). Electronic devices and circuit theory (11th Ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
Hayt, W. Jr. & Kemmerly, J. (2012). Engineering circuit analysis (8th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

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