Mechanical Department Electricity Laboratory

Experiment No. 1
Electricity Sources

Objective(s):
 To demonstrate direct current sources DC and alternating
current sources AC.
 Identifying the main characteristics of electrical sources.

Equipments:
A. Direct Current sources
1. DC power supply (constant, variable).
2. Chargers.
3. Batteries (12 v, 1.5v, 3.7v, Solar cell, of laptops and cell-phones).

B. Alternating Current sources

4. Power stations (the domestic mains voltage supply).
5. Small generators (of jobsites and homes) big generators (in your
quarters).
6. Function generators (AC).
7. UPS.

Theory:

A. Direct Current (DC)

Direct Current or D.C. is a form of current or voltage that flows around an

electrical circuit in one direction only. Generally, both DC currents and
voltages are produced by power supplies, batteries, dynamos and solar cells.
A DC voltage or current has a fixed magnitude (amplitude) and a definite
direction associated with it. For example, +12V represents 12 volts in the
positive direction, or -5V represents 5 volts in the negative direction.

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DC maintains the same value for all times. An example of a simple DC or

direct current circuit is shown below.

DC Circuit and Waveform

B. Alternating Current
An alternating function or AC Waveform is defined as one that varies in
both magnitude and direction in more or less an even manner with respect to
time. An AC function can represent either a power source or a signal source
with the shape of an AC waveform generally following that of a
mathematical sinusoid as defined by
A(t) = Amax sin(2πƒt).
The term AC or to give it its full description of Alternating Current, also it is
known as a Sinusoidal Waveform. Sinusoidal waveforms are more
generally called by their short description as Sine Waves, which are used in
electrical engineering.
This means then that the AC Waveform is a “time-dependent signal” with the
most common type of time-dependant signal being that of the Periodic
Waveform. The periodic or AC waveform is the resulting product of a
rotating electrical generator.

AC Waveform Characteristics

 The Period, (T) is the length of time in seconds that the

waveform takes to repeat itself from start to finish. This can
also be called the Periodic Time of the waveform for sine
waves, or the Pulse Width for square waves.

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 The Frequency, (ƒ) is the number of times the waveform

repeats itself within a one second time period. Frequency is the
reciprocal of the time period, ( ƒ = 1/T ) with the unit of
frequency being the Hertz, (Hz).
 The Amplitude (A) is the magnitude or intensity of the signal
waveform measured in volts or amps.
In our experiment about DC and AC Waveforms, the most common periodic
signal waveforms that are used in Electrical and Electronic Engineering are
the Sinusoidal Waveforms. However, an alternating AC waveform may not
always take the shape of a smooth shape based around the trigonometric sine
or cosine function. AC waveforms can also take the shape of either Complex
Waves, Square Waves or Triangular Waves and these are shown below.

Types of Periodic Waveform

The time taken for an AC Waveform to complete one full pattern from its
positive half to its negative half and back to its zero baseline again is called
a Cycle and one complete cycle contains both a positive half-cycle and a
negative half-cycle. The time taken by the waveform to complete one full
cycle is called the Periodic Time of the waveform, and is given the
symbol “T”.

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The number of complete cycles that are produced within one second
(cycles/second) is called the Frequency, symbol ƒ of the alternating
waveform. Frequency is measured in Hertz, ( Hz ) named after the German
physicist Heinrich Hertz.
Then we can see that a relationship exists between cycles (oscillations),
periodic time and frequency (cycles per second), so if there are ƒ number of
cycles in one second, each individual cycle must take 1/ƒ seconds to
complete.

Relationship between Frequency and Periodic Time

Theory: (for reports)

Dear students, in this section of your report, you have to write down a
simple explanation about AC and DC sources and the following

Direct Current:
Alternating Current:
Dynamo:
Transformer:
Electrode batteries:
Solar cells:
Inverters:

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Chargers or UPS:
Nickel cadmium batteries:
Procedures:
1. In your laboratory, different sources are available, so try to look at
all of them separately.
2. Read the information of each source with its characteristics as well as
its symbols.
3. Classify the available sources according to DC and AC sources.
4. For a determined magnitude, plot the DC signal and the AC signal on
different axes.

Discussion:

1. Discuss various types of domestic voltage supply.

2. What sources are used in your homes and for which devices?

References:

http://www.ni.com

“Basic Circuit Analysis” Schaum’s Outlines.

https://www.youtube.com.

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