BASIC

ELECTRICAL
CIRCUITS
ELECTRICITY

The flow of electric charge.

ELECTRIC CIRCUIT

► An interconnection of
electrical elements.
• Battery
• Lamp
• Connecting wires
CHARGE

► An electrical property of the atomic particles of which matter consist,

measured in coulombs
► e (electron) – 1.6 x 10-19 C
OHMS LAW

Ohm's Law states that the

current flowing in a circuit is
directly proportional to the
applied potential difference and
inversely proportional to the
resistance in the circuit.
ELECTRIC CURRENT

► The time rate of change of

charge, measured in amperes
(A)
► i = dq/dt (1C/s = 1 A)

Andre – Marie Ampere

VOLTAGE (or POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE)

► The energy required to move a unit

charge from a reference point (-) to
another point (+), measured in volts
(V)
► Vab = dW/dq
► 1 volt = 1 joule/coulomb = 1 N.m/C

Alessandro Antonio Volta

RESISTANCE

► The property of a substance which

opposes (or restricts) the flow of an
electric current (or electrons)
through it.

R = ρL / A (Ω)
Resistance Varies with Temperature
POWER

► The time of rate of expending or

absorbing energy, measured in watts (
W)
► P = dW/dt = dW/dq . dq/dt = vi
 SAMPLE PROBLEM

1. Atelephone wire has a current of 29µA flowing through it. How

long does it take for a charge of 15 C to pass through the wire?
2. A
lightning bolt carried a current of 2kA and lasted for 3ms. How
many coulombs of charge were contained in the lightning bolt?
3. A conductor of radius r, length l and resistivity ρ has resistance R =
4Ω . It is melted down and formed into a new conductor, also
cylindrical, with four times the length of the original conductor. The
resistance of the new conductor is
SAMPLE PROBLEM

4. When 80 meters long copper wire of diameter 5 mm is connected to a

power source draws 100W. (resistivity of copper = 1.7 x 10 -8 Ω.m )
► a. What is the resistance of the wire?
► b. What current flows in the wire?
► c. How many electrons passes through the wire per second?
► d. What is the potential difference (voltage) draws on the wire?
► e. If copper wire was heated and its temperature was increased by
10oC what was the final resistance of the copper wire? (temp.
resistance coefficient of copper = 0.00393/ oC)
SAMPLE PROBLEM

5. An electric stove with four burners and an oven is used in preparing a meal as
follows:
► Burner 1: 20 minutes
► Burner 2: 40 minutes
► Burner 3 : 15 minutes
► Burner 4 : 45 minutes
► Oven : 30 minutes
If each burner is rated at 1.2kW and the oven at 1.8kW and the electric cost 12 cents
per kWH, calculate he cost of the electricity used in preparing the meal.
Calculate the equivalent resistance of the given circuit.
Calculate the equivalent resistance of the given circuit.
Determine the equivalent resistance between terminals a and b
Determine the equivalent resistance between terminals a and b
DELTA TO WYE
TRANSFORMATION
The Delta-Wye transformation is an extra technique
for transforming certain resistor combinations that cannot
be handled by the series and parallel equations.
Determine the equivalent resistance if cach resistance has a value 3 ohms.
Sample 2
Sample 1
KIRCHHOFF’S LAW
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
• State two Kirchhoff’s Law
• Analyze a complex circuit using Kirchhoff’s rules, using the
conventions for determining the correct signs of various
terms.
Kirchhoff's circuit laws are
two equalities that deal with
the current and potential
difference (commonly known as
voltage) in the electrical circuits.
They were first described in 1845
by German physicist Gustav
Kirchhoff. This generalized the
work of Georg Ohm and preceded
the work of James Clerk Maxwell.
they are also called Kirchhoff's
rules or simply Kirchhoff's laws.
The algebraic sum of all the voltages in a close loop circuit is equal to zero.
Determine the currents I1, I2, I3, I4, and I5 in the circuit shown below:
Determine the currents in the circuit shown below:
Determine the indicated currents in the given circuit below.
Calculate I1 to I9
Determine E if Vab is 6V
Determine E if Vab is equal to10V.
Determine E if Vab is equal to 6V.
THE BATTERY
Battery
Batteries are a collection of one or more cells whose chemical reactions create a
flow of electrons in a circuit. All batteries are made up of three basic
components: an anode (the '-' side), a cathode (the '+' side), and some kind of
electrolyte (a substance that chemically reacts with the anode and cathode)
When the anode and cathode of a battery is connected to a circuit, a chemical
reaction takes place between the anode and the electrolyte. This reaction causes
electrons to flow through the circuit and back into the cathode where another
chemical reaction takes place. When the material in the cathode or anode is
consumed or no longer able to be used in the reaction, the battery is unable to
produce electricity. At that point, your battery is "dead."
Batteries that must be thrown away after use are known as primary batteries.
Batteries that can be recharged are called secondary batteries.
 Cell

A cell refers to a single anode and cathode

separated by electrolyte used to produce a
voltage and current. A battery can be made up
of one or more cells. A single AA battery, for
example, is one cell.
 Batteries in Series
When in a battery, positive terminal of one cell is connected with the negative terminal of
succeeding cell, then the cells are said to be series connected or simply series battery. Here,
overall emf of the battery is algebraic sum of all individual cells connected in series. But overall
discharged current of the battery does not exceed the discharged current of individual cells.
Parallel Batteries

When positive terminals of all cells are connected together and similarly negative
terminals of these cells are connected together in a battery, then the cells are said to be
connected in parallel. These combinations are also referred as parallel batteries. If
emf of each cell is identical, then the emf of the battery combined by n numbers of
cells connected in parallel, is equal to the emf of each cell.

The current delivered by the battery is sum of currents

delivered by individual cells.
 Sample Problems
Determine the total emf and the total internal resistance of each of the battery systems
shown below
Determine the total emf and the total internal resistance of the battery system shown.
Each cell is of 3V and internal resistance of 0.1 ohm.
Determine the currents, I1, I2, and IT
Determine the current supplied by the battery shown below to the 4 ohms resistor
Determine the current supplied by the battery shown below to the 5 ohms resistor
Mesh Circuit Analysis
Mesh Current Analysis is a technique used to find
the currents circulating around a loop or mesh with
in any closed path of a circuit.
• An easier method of solving the above circuit is by using Mesh
Current Analysis or Loop Analysis which is also sometimes called
Maxwell´s Circulating Currents method. Instead of labelling the
branch currents we need to label each “closed loop” with a circulating
current.

• As a general rule of thumb, only label inside loops in a clockwise

direction with circulating currents as the aim is to cover all the
elements of the circuit at least once. Any required branch current may
be found from the appropriate loop or mesh currents as before using
Kirchhoff´s method.
SUPERMESH
NODAL ANALYSIS
• is a method that provides a general procedure for analyzing
circuits using node voltages as the circuit variables.
• It relies on the application of Kirchhoff's current law to create a
series of node equations that can be solved for node voltages.
Nodal analysis is a formalized procedure based on KCL equations.
Steps:

1. Identify all nodes.

2. Choose a reference node. Identify it with reference (ground) symbol. A
good choice is the node with the most branches, or a node which can
immediately give you another node voltage.
3. Assign voltage variables to the other nodes (these are node voltages.)
4. Write a KCL equation for each node (sum the currents leaving the node
and set equal to zero). Rearrange these equations into the form
A*V1+B*V2=C (or similar for equations with more voltage variables.)
5.Solve the system of equations from step 4. There are a number of
techniques that can be used: simple substitution, Cramer's rule, the adjoint
matrix method, etc.
Superposition Theorem
Superposition theorem states the following: “In any linear and
bilateral network or circuit having multiple independent
sources, the response of an element will be equal to the
algebraic sum of the responses of that element by considering
one source at a time.”
 Steps to Follow for Superposition Theorem
Step-1 Find out a number of independent sources available in the network.
Step-2 Choose any one source and eliminate all other sources.

Step-3 Now, in a circuit, only one independent energy source is present. You need to
find a response with only one energy source in the circuit.

Step-4 Repeat step-2 and 3 for all energy sources available in the network. If there
are three independent sources, you need to repeat these steps three times. And every
time you get some value of the response.

Step-5 Combine all responses by algebraic summation obtained by individual

sources. Get a final value of response for a particular element of a network. If need to
find a response for other elements, follows the same steps for that element.
Find the current (I ) passes through the 8Ω resistor in the given network using the superposition theorem.
L

IL2 = 12A

IL = 12A – 2 = 10A (upward)

Calculate I1 and I2 using:
a. Kirchhoff’s Law
b. Mesh Circuit Analysis
c. Nodal Circuit Analysis
d. Superposition Theorem
THEVENIN’S THEOREM
- French engineer, M.L Thevenin (1893).
- Thevenin’s Theorem (also known as Helmholtz–Thévenin
Theorem) is not by itself an analysis tool, but the basis for a very
useful method of simplifying active circuits and complex
networks.
Thévenin's theorem states that any linear circuit containing
several voltage sources and resistors can be simplified to a
Thévenin-equivalent circuit with a single voltage source (VTH)
and resistance connected in series with a load (RTH).
• VTH = Thevenin’s Voltage
• RTH = Thevenin’s Resistance
 THEVENIN’S THEOREM
1.Open the load resistor.
2.Open current sources and short voltage sources.
3.Calculate /measure the Open Circuit Resistance. This is the Thevenin
Resistance (RTH).
4.Calculate / measure the open circuit voltage. This is the Thevenin
Voltage (VTH).
5.Redraw the circuit with measured open circuit Voltage (VTH) i as
voltage source and measured open circuit resistance (RTH) as a
series resistance and connect the load resistor which we had removed
This is the equivalent Thevenin circuit of that linear electric
network or complex circuit which had to be simplified and analyzed
by Thevenin’s Theorem.
6.Now find the Total current flowing through the load resistor by using
the Ohm’s Law: IT = VTH / (RTH + RL).
THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Determine the Thevenin equivalent circuit
external to the resistor RL for the circuit

the open-circuit voltage between

terminals a and b is found as
Vab = 20 V – (24 Ω)(2 A) = – 28.0 V
Find the Thévenin equivalent circuit of the given circuit. Using the
equivalent circuit, determine the current through the load resistor
when RL = 0, RL = 2 kΩ, and RL 5 kΩ.
 NORTON THEOREM
Norton's theorem for linear electrical networks, known in
Europe as the Mayer–Norton theorem, states that any collection
of voltage sources, current sources, and resistors with two
terminals is electrically equivalent to an ideal current source, I,
in parallel with a single resistor, R.
 STEPS:
1.Remove the load resistor and replace it with a short circuit.
2.Find INorton by calculating the current through the short circuit where the
load was.
3.Find RNorton by creating an open circuit where the load resistor is, shorting
all voltage sources and by open circuiting all the current sources. Once
this is done, calculate the resistance seen by the open circuit.
4.Replace load and find the current flowing through the load or voltage
across the load with these new values.
MAXIMUM POWER TRANSFER THEOREM
Maximum Power Transfer
Theorem explains that to
generate maximum external
power through a finite
internal resistance (DC
network), the resistance of
the given load must be equal
to the resistance of the
available source.
1. Calculate current in RL using :
a. Thevenin’s Theorem
b. Nortons’s Theorem
2. Calculate the Maximum Power