CHAPTER 2 PRINCIPLES OF ELECTRIC CIRCUITS.

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A. Voltage, current and resistance.

B. Factors that determine the resistance of a conductor.
C. Ohm’s law
D. Power law
E. Series circuit
F. Parallel circuit
G. Complex circuit

Voltage/ Volts
 It is the force that is applied to a conductor to free electrons, which causes electrical current to flow. It is
measured in volts or “V”. Current will flow in a conductor as long as voltage, the electrical pressure, is applied to
the conductor.
 There are two methods that voltage forces current to flow:
1. Direct Current ·
With this method, the voltage forces the electrons to flow continuously in one direction through a closed circuit.
This type of voltage is called Direct Current (DC) voltage. Batteries and DC generators produce DC voltage.
2. Alternating Current
With this method, voltage forces electrons to flow first in one direction, then in the opposite direction, alternating
very quickly. This type of voltage is called Alternating Current (AC) voltage. A generator is used to produce AC
voltage. The voltage generated by utility companies for our home, factories and offices is AC voltage.

The Ampere
 When specifying an amount of current flow, you cannot count the actual electron as they travel from point to
point in the circuit. This unit of measure for current is the ampere, named after andre Marie Ampere, an early
pioneer on the study of electricity

Resistance
 As its name implies, is the opposition to current flow.
 It is a lot like friction, they both act to oppose motion and generate heat.

Factors that determine resistance

1. The materials itself determines the resistance of a conductor
Silver- best conductor
Glass – insulator
2. Cross-sectional areas
The resistance is inversely proportional to the cross sectional area. This means that if the cross sectional area
of the conductor is increased, its resistance will decrease.
Small cross sectional area: Higher Resistance
Large Cross-sectional Area: lower resistance
3. Length
Resistance is directly proportional to the length of a conductor; that is a longer conductor has a greater
resistance.
4. Temperature
The higher the temperature, the higher the resistance.
Hot wire- higher resistance
Cool wire – lower resistance.
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Ohm’s Law

I=V/R
I = Current (Amperes) (amps)
V = Voltage (Volts)
R = Resistance (ohms)

Georg Simon Ohm (1787-1854)

Voltage: a force that pushes the current through the circuit (in this
picture it would be equivalent to gravity)

Resistance: friction that impedes flow of current

through the circuit (rocks in the river)
Current: the actual “substance” that is flowing through the wires of
the circuit (electrons!)

Would This Work?

1. 2. 3.

The Central Concept: Closed Circuit

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Circuit diagram

Scientists usually draw electric circuits using symbols;

Cell lamp switch wires

Statement of Ohm’s Law

Ohm’s law, in is most basic from states that in simple materials, the amount of current through the
material varies directly with the applied voltage, and varies inversely with the resistance of the material.

A. Current varies directly with applied voltage

This means that a change in the voltage applied to a circuit will likewise cause the current flowing in the
circuit to change. If the resistance is held constant, the current change will follow the pattern of the
voltage change. Doubling the voltage will double the current: halving the voltage will have the current.

B. Current varies inversely with resistance

Changing the resistance in a circuit will also cause a change in current flow. If the voltage applied to a
circuit is held constant, and the resistance in the circuit, the circuit current will decrease. On the other
hand, if the resistance is decreased the amount of current flow in the circuit will be increased.

OHM’S LAW IN EQUATION FORM

 E=IXR------------------------------Eq. 1

 Voltage=Current x Resistance

 I=E/R-------------------------------Eq. 2 E
 Current= Voltage/ Resistance
I R
 R=E/I-------------------------------Eq. 3

 Resistance= Voltage/Current
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Power

 The word power has specific meaning, when you use electricity, you usually want it to do some sort of work, either
to move something or often to generate heat.
 The power is specifically the rate at which work is done, or rate at which heat is generated.
 The unit commonly used to specify electric power is watt in the equation you’ll find power is abbreviated in the letter
W.
 The power rating is indicating how fast it works, or the rate at which it generates heat.
Formula
P=IXE P=I2/R E2=PXR
I=P/E I2=P/R P=E2/R
E=P/I R=P/I2 R=E2/P
Kilowatt
For your electric company to determine how much to charge each customer each month, they simply read from
the meter the amount of power that was consumed over that period of time. Since electricity is consumed at a rather
high rate, it is impractical to talk or calculate in terms of watts. You probably are familiar with the
terms kilowatt and kilowatt-hour from looking at an electric bill. A kilowatt, abbreviated kW, is equal to 1,000 watts.
A kilowatt-hour, abbreviated kWh, is equivalent to 1,000 watts consumed in one hour.
One kilowatt = 1kW = 1000 watts
One megawatt = 1MW = 1,000,000 watts

Horsepower
 Large electric motor is often rated in horsepower in the same way that automobile engines are rated.
 Horsepower=746 watts

SERIES CIRCUIT
 All in a row
 1 path for electricity
 1 light goes out and the circuit is broken
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Law of series circuit

1. the individual resistance in a series circuit add up to the total circuit resistance.
Rt = R1 + R2 + R3 + R4 ……...
2. the current has the same value at any point within a series circuit
IT = ET/RT
3. the individual voltage across the resistor in a series circuit add up to the total voltage applied to the circuit.
Voltage calculation:
Et = ER1 + ER2 + ER3+ ER4 ………

Sample
To determine the current, use the following formula.

FORMULA FOR CURRENT
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Calculation for Resistance Total and Voltage Total

PARALLEL CIRCUIT
 Many paths for electricity
 1 light goes out and the others stay on
 Place two bulbs in parallel. What do you notice about the brightness of
the bulbs?
 Add a third light bulb in the circuit. What do you notice about the
brightness of the bulbs?
 Remove the middle bulb from the circuit. What happened?

Law of parallel circuit

1. The total voltage of a parallel circuit is the same across each branch of the circuit.
ET = E1 = E2 = E3 = …..
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2. the total current in a parallel circuit is equal to the sum of the individual branch currents.
IT = I1 + I2 + I3 + I4 …….
3. the total resistance in a parallel circuit is always less or approximately equal to the values of the smallest resistive
branch.

1
RT = 1 1 1
+ +
R1 R2 R3

Sample
Computation for RT

Computation for current

Computation for Voltage

Series-Parallel Circuit
Circuit consists of a number of minor circuits that are connected in series while other parts of the circuit are connected in
parallel or a series-parallel circuit which comprise a series connection of a number of multiple circuits.

Series - Parallel Circuits

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However, if circuit components are series-connected in some parts and parallel in others, we won’t be able to apply
a single  set of rules to every part of that circuit. Instead, we will have to identify which parts of that circuit are series and
which parts are parallel, then selectively apply series and parallel rules as necessary to determine what is happening.
Take the following circuit, for instance:

Computation for finding R1 and R2

1 1 1
R1 = 1 + 1 R1 = 1 + 1 R1 = .0 + .00
2 2 2 1 4
R1 R2 10 25
1
R12 = .014 R12 = 71.428

Computation for finding R3 and R4

1 1 1
R3 = 1 + 1 R1 = 1 + 1 R1 = .002 + .00
4 2 2 8 5
R3 R4 35 20
1
R34 = .0078 R34 = 128.205

Computation for finding RT

Rt = R12 + R34
Rt = 71.428 + 128.205
Rt = 199.633 ohm

This circuit is neither simple series nor simple parallel. Rather, it contains elements of both. The current exits the bottom
of the battery splits up to travel through R 3 and R4, rejoins, then splits up again to travel through R 1 and R 2, then rejoin
again to return to the top of the battery. There exists more than one path for current to travel (not series), yet there are
more than two sets of electrically common points in the circuit (not parallel).
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Activity 1.

Answer the following questions without referring to the material just presented.

1. Draw the Ohm’s Law Triangle.

2. Using Ohm’s Law, calculate the voltage of the battery in the simple circuit shown. E = _____ volts

3. A circuit in which all the loads are connected by one continuous flow of electrical current is called a _______

circuit.
4. The current flow in a parallel circuit divides between all the open branches (paths) in the circuit.
TRUE FALSE
5. The resistance of resistor R2 in the following DC series circuit is _________ ohms when the total circuit resistance
(RT) is 18 ohms.

6. Ammeter 2 (A2) will read ___________ amperes in the following DC series circuit.

7. The voltage of the source battery (ET) in the following DC series circuit is __________ volts.

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8. If there is a break in any part of a series circuit, the entire circuit will be dead.
TRUE FALSE
9. One advantage of a parallel circuit over a series circuit is that the parallel circuit provides more paths for current
to flow.
TRUE FALSE
10. The total current in a parallel circuit equals the sum of all branch currents.
TRUE FALSE

Activity 2

Series Computation
Find for the following
ER1=
ER2 =
ER4 =
It =
Rt =
PT =

Parallel Computation

Compute for the following:

IT=
Rt =
Pt =
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Series Parallel circuit computation

Find for:
IT
RT
PT

Given:
R1= 10
R2= 20
R3 = 9
R4 = 25