IT1810

Electrical Components
Circuit elements make up a circuit or a system. There are two (2) types of elements found in electric circuits:
passive and active. An active element is capable of generating energy (voltage and current), while a passive
element is not.
Passive Elements
• Resistor – capable of managing voltage level by producing voltage drops
• Diode – capable of letting a current flow into one (1) direction
• Capacitor – capable of storing and releasing electric charge
• Inductor (or “coil”) – capable of producing a magnetic field to restrict the flow of alternating current
(AC) while allowing the direct current (DC) to pass
• Transformer – capable of transferring electrical energy into other circuits through electromagnetic
inductions

Active Elements
• Voltage-controlled – elements capable of controlling voltages
• Current-controlled – elements capable of controlling currents or voltages or both
• It can be Single In-Line or Dual In-Line IC packaged.
o Transistors (BJT & FET)
o Vacuum Tubes, Triacs, Rectifiers, ICs (digital and analog)

Kinds of Current
There are two (2) ways that current can flow:
• It can always flow in the same direction where it does not reverse direction, in which case it is a direct
current. A direct current (DC) flows only in one (1) direction and can be constant or time-varying. (See
Figure 1.)
• These currents can be constant or time-varying. If the current flows in both directions, then it is an
alternating current. An alternating current (AC) is a current that changes direction with respect to time.
This is also referred to as a sinusoidal wave. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 1. Direct wave Figure 2. Sinusoidal wave

Conductors
A conductor is a material having a low resistance, which allows electric current to flow in it. Examples: copper,
aluminum, brass, platinum, silver, gold, and carbon.

Insulators
An insulator is a material having a high resistance, which does not allow electric current to flow in it. Examples:
plastic, rubber, glass, porcelain, air, paper, cork, mica, ceramics, and certain oils.

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Resistors
• Materials in general have a characteristic behavior
of resisting the flow of electric charge.
• This physical property, or ability to resist current,
is known as resistance and is represented by the
symbol 𝑅𝑅.
• Bad Beer Rots Out Your Guts But Vodka Goes Well.

Examples (Resistors)
a) Brown – Red – Red – Gold
12 × 100 = 120Ω ± 5%
120 × 0.05 = 6
120 + 6 = 126Ω
120 − 6 = 114Ω
Resistor Value Range: 126Ω − 114Ω

b) Orange – White – Black – Gold

39 × 1 = 39Ω ± 5%
39 × 0.05 = 1.95
39 + 1.95 = 40.95Ω
39 − 1.95 = 37.05Ω
Resistor Value Range: 40.95Ω − 37.05Ω

c) Green – Blue – Orange – Gold

56 × 1000 = 56 𝑘𝑘Ω ± 5%
56 𝑘𝑘Ω × 0.05 = 2.8 𝑘𝑘Ω
56 𝑘𝑘Ω + 2.8 𝑘𝑘Ω = 58.8 𝑘𝑘Ω
56 𝑘𝑘Ω − 2.8 𝑘𝑘Ω = 53.2 𝑘𝑘Ω
Resistor Value Range: 58.8 𝑘𝑘Ω − 53.2 𝑘𝑘Ω

d) Green – Blue – Green – Silver

Figure 3. Resistor color code diagram
56 × 100𝑘𝑘 = 5.6 MΩ ± 10%
5.6 MΩ × 0.10 = 560 𝑘𝑘Ω
5.6 MΩ + 560 𝑘𝑘Ω = 6.16 MΩ
5.6 MΩ − 560 𝑘𝑘Ω = 5.04 MΩ
Resistor Value Range: 6.16 MΩ − 5.04 MΩ

Ohm’s Law
• This law states that the current 𝐼𝐼 flowing in a circuit is directly
proportional to the applied voltage 𝑉𝑉 and is inversely
proportional to the resistance 𝑅𝑅, provided the temperature
remains constant.

𝑉𝑉 𝑉𝑉
𝐼𝐼 = 𝑅𝑅 or 𝑉𝑉 = 𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 or 𝑅𝑅 = 𝐼𝐼 Figure 4. Water analogy of Ohm’s Law

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Examples (Ohm’s Law)

1) The essential component of a toaster is an electrical 4) What is the resistance of a coil which draws a
element (resistor) that converts electrical energy to current of (a) 50 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 and (b) 200𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇 from a 120 𝑉𝑉
heat energy. How much current is drawn by a toaster supply?
with resistance 15 𝛺𝛺 at 110 𝑉𝑉? 𝑉𝑉
𝑉𝑉 110 𝑣𝑣 𝑅𝑅 =
𝐼𝐼
𝐼𝐼 = = = 7.33 𝐴𝐴 120 𝑣𝑣
𝑅𝑅 15 Ω 𝑅𝑅1 =
5 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
2) The current flowing through a resistor is 0.8 𝐴𝐴 when 120𝑣𝑣
=
a potential difference of 20 𝑉𝑉 is applied. Determine 5 × 10−3 𝐴𝐴
the value of the resistance. = 20,000 Ω 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 20 𝑘𝑘Ω
120 𝑣𝑣
𝑉𝑉 20 𝑣𝑣 𝑅𝑅2 =
𝑅𝑅 = = = 25 Ω 200 𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇
𝐼𝐼 0.8 𝐴𝐴 120𝑣𝑣
=
200 × 10−6 𝐴𝐴
3) A 100 𝑉𝑉 battery is connected across a resistor and = 600,000 Ω 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 600𝑘𝑘Ω
causes a current of 5 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 to flow. Determine the
resistance of the resistor. If the voltage is now reduced 5) What is the current of the network?
to 25 𝑉𝑉, what will be the new value of the current
flowing?
𝑉𝑉
𝑅𝑅 =
𝐼𝐼
100𝑣𝑣 100𝑣𝑣
𝑅𝑅1 = = = 20,000 Ω 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 20 𝑘𝑘Ω
5𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 5 × 10−3 𝐴𝐴
25𝑣𝑣 25𝑣𝑣
𝑅𝑅2 = = = 5,000 Ω 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 5 𝑘𝑘Ω 𝑉𝑉 15 𝑣𝑣
5𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 5 × 10−3 𝐴𝐴
𝐼𝐼 = = = 1.5 𝐴𝐴
𝑅𝑅 10 Ω

References:
Alexander, C. & Sadiku, M. (2017). Fundamentals of electric circuits (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bird, J. (2017). Electrical circuit theory and technology (6th ed.). New York: Routledge.
Boylestad, R. & Nashelsky, L. (2013). Electronic devices and circuit theory (11th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson.
Ergül, Özgür (2017). Introduction to electrical circuit analysis (1st ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons
Hayt, W. Jr. & Kemmerly, J. (2012). Engineering circuit analysis (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Salam, Md. & Rahman, Q. (2018). Fundamentals of electrical circuit analysis. Singapore: Springer Nature.
SparkFun Electronics. (2003). Tutorials. Retrieved from https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/

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