Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering

(TEGT3542)
Lecture Notes

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 CH3 Outline
 Capacitance
• Electric Field
• Capacitance
• Capacitors
• Capacitors in series and parallel
• Energy stored by a capacitor

 Inductance
• Magnetic Field
• Inductance
• Inductors in series and parallel
• Energy stored by an inductor

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 Capacitance
 Electric Field
• We earlier learned that, there exists a force of attraction or
repulsion between two charged bodies.

• In other words, there is an electric field around a charged body.

• Flux Density

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 Capacitance
 Electric Field (cont’d)
• Flux (𝜓) is directly proportional to charge (Q).

• Electric Field Strength, E – the force acting on a unit positive

charge.

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 Capacitance
 Electric Field (cont’d)
• Electric flux lines always extend from a positively charged body
to a negatively charged body.

• They always extend or terminate perpendicular to the charged

surfaces, and never intersect.

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 Capacitance
 Capacitance
• A capacitor is a two terminal element created by two conducting
surfaces separated by a dielectric (insulator).

• Capacitance is a measure of a capacitor’s ability to store charge

on its plates—in other words, its storage capacity.

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 Capacitance
 Capacitance (cont’d)
• The higher the capacitance of a capacitor, the greater is the
amount of charge stored on the plates for the same applied
voltage.

• Capacitance is measured in Farads [F].

• 1 F means 1 C of charge (6.242 x 1018 electrons) have been

deposited on the plates by a potential difference of 1 V across
its plates.

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 Capacitance
 Capacitance (cont’d)
• Electric field strength between the plates is determined by the
voltage across the plates and the distance between them.

• Fringing reduces the capacitance.

• Although it is normally ignored
for most applications.
• The material between the two
plates is called Dielectric.

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 Capacitance
 Capacitors
• Physically, the parameters forming the capacitor are related to
its capacitance as follow:

• Or,

• 𝜖0 = 8.85 × 10−12 - permittivity of air.

• A capacitor with a dielectric having a relative permittivity of 𝜖𝑟
is 𝜖𝑟 times the capacitance using air as the dielectric.

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 Capacitance
 Types of Capacitors
• Capacitors are foremost categorised as Fixed and Variable.

• For the same type of

construction and dielectric,
the larger the required
capacitance, the larger is the
physical size of the capacitor.

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 Capacitance
 Types of Capacitors (cont’d)
• Capacitor construction: It is necessary to increase the area.

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 Capacitance
 Capacitor Labelling
• Capacitor value: Normally labelled, but can be confirmed with a
DMM.
• The same multipliers are normally used as for resistors.
Tolerance: F – 1%, J – 5%, K – 10%, M – 20%.

• Polarity – Normally labelled.

• Otherwise leads are used.

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 Capacitance
 Capacitors in Series
• The total capacitance reduces for series combination.

• For two capacitors:

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 Capacitance
 Capacitors in Parallel
• The total capacitance increases for parallel combination.

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 Capacitance
 Example: Question
a) Determine the total capacitance.
b) Determine the charge on each plate.
c) Find the voltage across each capacitor.

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 Capacitance
 Example: Solution
a) Determine the total capacitance.

b) Determine the charge on each plate.

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 Capacitance
 Example: Solution (cont’d)
c) Find the voltage across each capacitor.

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 Capacitance
 Example: Question
a) Find the total capacitance.
b) Determine the charge on each plate.
c) Find the total charge.

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 Capacitance
 Example: Solution
a) Find the total capacitance.

b) Determine the charge on each plate.

c) Find the total charge.

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 Capacitance
 Energy Stored by a Capacitor
• A capacitor stores the energy supplied to it in the form of an
electric field between the conducting surfaces. It is
represented by the area under the power curve.

• In terms of V,

• In terms of Q,

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 Inductance
 Magnetic Field
• There is a magnetic field around a conductor carrying current.

• A magnetic field exists in the region surrounding the conductor,

and they can be represented by magnetic flux lines similar to
electric flux lines.

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 Inductance
 Magnetic Field (cont’d)
• The direction of the magnetic flux is determined using the Right
Hand Rule.

• Magnetic flux in measured in Webers [Wb]

• Flux Density [Tesla] – The number of flux lines per unit area.

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 Inductance
 Magnetic Field (cont’d)
• The flux density of an electromagnet is directly related to the
number of turns and current through the coil.

• Magnetomotive Force (MMF)

• Magnetic Field is also affected by the core material through its

relative permeability.

• - permeability of free space.

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 Inductance
 Inductance
• Inductance is the measure of the strength of the magnetic field
around the coil due to an applied current.
• Inductance is measured in Henries [H].

• 1 Henry is the inductance level that will establish a voltage of 1

volt across the coil due to a change in current of 1 A/s through
the coil.

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 Inductance
 Inductance (cont’d)
• The inductance value is related to its physical parameters as
follow:

• The inductance of an inductor with a ferromagnetic core is 𝜇𝑟

times the inductance obtained with an air core.

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 Inductance
 Types of Inductors
• Inductors are also categorized depending on whether they are
fixed or variable.

• Generally, the size of an inductor is determined by the type of

construction, the core used, and the current rating.

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 Inductance
 Types of Inductors (cont’d)
• Effects of physical parameters on inductance value.

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 Inductance
 Inductors in Series
• Inductors in series are treated the same way as resistors.

 Inductors in Parallel
• The same is true for parallel combination.

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 Inductance
 Example: Question
• Find the total inductance in the circuit below.

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 Inductance
 Example: Solution
• Reduce the network to its simplest form and find the total
inductance.

• Equivalent representation:

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 Inductance
 Energy Stored in the Inductor
• An inductor stores the energy in the form of a magnetic field.

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 Capacitance & Inductance
Chapter 3 Summary
 Capacitance
• The Electric Field
• Capacitance
• Capacitors
• Capacitors in series and parallel
• Energy stored by capacitors

 Inductance
• Magnetic Field
• Inductance
• Inductors in series and parallel
• Energy stored by an inductor

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