Electricity Basics

Electricity
• Free flowing movement of charged particles, either
▪ Negatively-charged electrons
▪ Negatively-charged ions
▪ Positively-charged ions

• Electric current
▪ Flow of electric charge through either air or wire

• Types of electricity
▪ Static electricity
▪ Lightning
▪ Wired electricity
Wired Electricity
In a wire, atomic nuclei stay in a fixed position and electrons far from their
nucleus freely move about.

These conduction electrons wander from atom to atom and their movement
constitutes an electric current.

1 C = charge of 6.242 x 1018 electrons

1 A = 1 C/s (1 C of charge passes a given spot in 1 s)

Current (A) = change in charge q (C) per unit time t

i = dq/dt
Direct Current vs Alternating Current
• Charges can be + or -. Direction of current = direction of + flow.
• →Electrons moving to right means current is flowing to left

• Direct current
▪ Charge flows at constant rate in one direction.

• Alternating current
▪ Electrons flows to right then left then right sinusoidally over time
▪ U.S.: AC current 60 Hz = 60 cycles per second
▪ Europe: AC current 50 Hz
Circuit With Light Bulb, Battery, Switch
Drift Velocity
Average speed of the net flow of electrons

As electrons collide with each other, they transfer energy to each

other causing a wave of electricity to travel down a wire at nearly the
speed of light, but electrons themselves move slowly

With AC electricity, electrons reverse direction 60 times per second (in

U.S.), so they barely move at all.
Drift Velocity
vd = current (C/s) / (electrons (e-) per m3 x C per electron x area of wire (m2))

Find drift velocity in copper wire of area 3.31x10-6 m2 if current = 20 A

Cu molecular weight 63.55 g/mol; density 8,960 kg/m3; and 1 electron per atom

e-/m3 = 1 e-/atom x 6.023x1023atoms/mol x 1 mol/63.55 g x 8.96x106 g/m3

= 8.49x1028 electrons per m3

→ vd = 20 C/s / (8.49x1028 e-/m3 x 1.602x10-19 C/e- x 3.31x10-6 m2)

= 0.00044 m/s = 1.6 m/hr

Thus, the bulk movement of electrons is slow, but they don’t need to move fast to
carry a large amount of current.
Kirchoff’s Current Law
At every instant of time the sum
of the currents flowing into any
node of a circuit must equal the
sum of the currents leaving the
node.
Voltage
• Amount of energy (dw, J) per unit charge (dq, C)

• v = dw/dq

• Just as a lifted mass gains potential energy; a charge with its voltage raised gains
electrical energy

• A 12-V battery provides 12 J of energy for every 1 C of charge it stores

• Voltage is measured across components. Voltage across battery is 12 V

• Voltage rises across a battery 12 V and drops across a lightbulb

• Current is measured through components. Current through battery =10 A

Kirchoff’s Voltage Law
The sum of voltages around any
loop of a circuit at any time is
zero.

Thus, if a voltage across the

battery (from negative to positive
node) is +12 V, the voltage across
the light bulb is -12 V.
Power
Power (W) = energy (J) per unit time

dw dw dq
p= = = vi
dt dq dt
→ v=12 V battery delivering i=10 A to a load supplies p=120 W

Energy (J) = integral of power over time. For constant power, it is pDt

→ p=120 W over 1 min gives (120 J/s) x 60 s = 7,200 J of energy

Resistance
• Resistors drop voltage proportionally to current (which stays constant)

• v = iR, where R is resistance in Ohms (W)

• The higher the resistance, the lower the current for the same voltage drop

• i = v/R

• Power dissipated in a resistor (where R must equal v/i)

2
v
p = vi = i R =
2
R
Resistance Examples
• What is the resistance of a filament in a lamp designed to consume 60 W if the
power source is 12 V?
▪ R = v2 / p = 12 V x 12 V / 60 W = 2.4 W

• What is the current that flows?

▪ i = p / v = 60 W / 12 V = 5 A

• What is the energy consumed over 100 h?

▪ E = p t = 60 W x 100 h = 6 kWh
2
v
p = vi = i 2 R =
R
 Resistance in Series
Voltage drop with resistors wired in series:
v=iR1 + iR2 + iR3 = iRS

→Total resistance of R1 and R2 in series is

RS=R1+R2 +R3
Example: Total resistance in the circuit
shown is 1000 W = 1 k W
Resistance in Parallel
From Kirchoff‘s Current Law:
i = i1 + i2 = v/R1 + v/R2 = v/RP

1
Rp =
→ 1 1
+
R1 R 2
→ v=i RP

The combined resistance in parallel is

always less than either individual
resistance
Capacitor
Device to store electric charge;
also used to smoothen voltage in
DC power lines

Made of two parallel conducting

plates separated by a non-
conducting insulator, such as air
or paper
 Capacitor
When voltage from battery is applied,
negative charges from negative side of
battery accumulate on plate attached
to that end of wire, creating a negative
charge there.

Electrons from other plate flow to +

terminal of battery, creating + charge
on second capacitor plate.

Charge difference creates an electric

field, where electrostatic energy
stored.
Capacitance
Describes ability of a capacitor to store electric charge (energy) in an electric field
(units of Farads, F). If charge on each plate is –q and +q, respectively, and voltage
between plates is v, then capacitance is

q
C=
v
If plate area (A) is large relative to distance between (d) plates

→ C=e0A/d e0=permittivity in a vacuum (F/m)

The higher the permittivity, the more energy is stored

Current Through, Power in a Capacitor
• Power needed to initiate a capacitor‘s change in voltage with time. From q=Cv,

dq dv dv
i= =C pc = vi = Cv
dt dt dt
• As capacitor storage becomes full (dv/dt=0), current goes to 0 so light goes out

• If voltage change with time were infinite, then power would also be infinite,
which is impossible

• →Capacitors resist rapid changes in voltage and are used to smoothen DC

voltage in power lines
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism
An electrical current flowing through a wire creates a circular
magnetic field around the wire. (Orsted, 1820)

A magnet moving toward or away from a coiled wire along a circuit

creates a fluctuatings electric current in the wire. (Faraday)

A fluctuating current in one wire creates a fluctuating magnetic field

that induces a fluctuating current in a second wire (Faraday, 1831).
Electromagnetism
Faraday’s August 29, 1831
experiment creating a brief current
Electromagnetism
Another Faraday experiment to
create a current
DC Versus AC Electricity
DC electricity current flows in one
direction. DC current and voltage
are independent of time. AC
electricity current changes
direction and magnitude with
time.
AC Generator (Alternator)
Rotation of magnetic field
around set of stationary wire
coils creates AC voltage across
the wire coils. The faster the shaft
turns, the greater the frequency
that the current alternates.
AC Electricity
With AC electricity, current and
voltage switch sign and magnitude
sinusoidally. Top: no phase angle;
Bottom: 30o angle. Phase angles from
capacitors or inductors along circuit;
affect current only

Frequency = number of full waves per

second
U.S.: 60 Hz (60 waves/s); Europe, 50 Hz
AC Electricity
Voltage & current vary sinusoidally

v(t) = Vmcoswt
i(t) = Imcos(wt+f)

w=angular freq (rad/s)=2pf

f=frequency (1/s)

Period T=1/f

f=phase angle (rad)=fractional period difference between i(t), v(t) peaks

AC Electricity
With AC electricity, v, i are root-mean-square (rms) values and p is an average value.
Thus, 120 V AC is Vrms

v=Vrms=√[(Vm2cos2wt)avg]=Vm/√2

i=Irms=√[(I2mcos2 (wt+f))avg]=Im/√2

p=vi=VrmsIrms=Pavg

Find resistance and current for 60 W bulb powered by 120 V AC:

R=v2/p=1202/60=240 W
i=p/v=60/120=0.5 A
AC Electricity With Capacitor
• Current leads voltage with capacitor since current must flow
before capacitor shows voltage
 Inductor
Used with transmission systems to limit abnormal currents

Insulated wire coiled around iron core. When current passes

through coil, it creates magnetic field in which energy is stored.

Analogous to a capacitor, which store energy in an electric field

Oppose changes in current by changing voltage proportional to

the change in current with time

v(t)=Ldi(t)/dt, L=inductance (Henrys)

AC Electricity With Inductor
Current lags voltage since must supply voltage to inductor before
current flows
3-Phase Electricity
• Smoothens current (reduces flicker) relative to single phase
• Electricity generated by three equally-spaced coils of wire moving
through a magnetic field (left) or a magnetic field moving through
three pairs of coiled wires (right)
Reactive Power
Real power
Energy/time used to run a motor or heat a home. It is the result of a
circuit with resistive components only (no capacitors or inductors).

Reactive power
“Imaginary” power that does not do useful work but moves back and
forth within power lines. Byproduct of an AC system that has
inductors or capacitors and arises due to a phase difference (f)
between voltage and current. It represents the product of Volts x
Amperes that are out of phase with each other
Reactive Power
DC circuit: p=iv (active, or real power)

AC circuit
Apparent power S=iv = vector sum of
Active power p=ivcosf
Reactive power Q=ivsinf
f is phase angle between current and voltage.

Purely resistant AC circuit (iron, heater,

filament bulbs), f=0, so Q=0 and S=p

Power factor = p/S. Should be >0.95 for

Highest efficiency
Reactive Power

Reactive power important for 3 reasons:

1) Smoothens voltage on transmission grid by supplying or absorbing it

2) A sufficient amount of reactive power is needed to avoid blackouts

3) Transformers, motors, and generators require reactive power to

produce magnetic flux
Reactive Power

Generators are used to supply or absorb reactive power to maintain a

constant voltage (“voltage support”) when voltage is too low or high
on the grid.

Such generators have high heat losses so don’t produce much real
power. They are paid for reactive power.
Transformers
Transformers
In 1882, Edison’s first electric utility (Pearl Street, NYC) used DC power

DC voltages were low (110 V), currents were high, and power losses (pw
=i2Rw) were high, so voltages dropped significantly along the thick
copper wires

In 1886, Westinghouse introduced the first AC grid (Great Barrington,

Massachusetts) using a single-phase AC generator. He had purchased
the rights to use Lucien Gaulard’s transformer and hired William
Stanley to improve it.

Transformers were used to boost voltage entering transmission lines in

order to reduce current, thus line losses. Voltage was reduced back
down to safe levels at customer locations.
Step-Up and Step-Down Transformer
Transmitting power over long
distances is most efficient with
stepped-up voltages and
stepped-down currents to
minimize i2Rw power losses.

Voltages are then stepped down

and currents stepped up at the
end of the line for consumers.
Step-Up Transformer
• Analogous to toothed gears
Transformers
• A transformer steps voltage up or down from a powered coil to an
unpowered coil.

• The AC voltage induced in the unpowered coil equals that in the

powered coil multiplied by the ratio of secondary coil turns to
primary coil turns.

• Transformers don’t work with DC

Decreasing Current Reduces Line Losses
Doubling v along a transmission line reduces i by a factor of 2 at same power since
p=vi.

Power loss along a wire,

pw=vwi=i2Rw= (p/v)2Rw

where vw=iRw is the voltage loss across the wire.

→ Cutting i in half decreases power loss by a factor of 4.

→ Raising end voltage (v) by a factor of 10 decreases line loss by a factor of 100.

Modern systems generate 12-25 kV. Transformers boost that to 100-1000 kV and
down again to 4-35 kV
AC Versus DC
In 1887, C.S. Bradley invented 3-phase AC generator.

By 1887, Westinghouse had half the number of AC generating stations

as Edison had DC stations

In 1888, Tesla invented 3-phase AC induction motor, which was critical

for powering equipment on an AC grid.

Westinghouse then hired Tesla to improve AC grid, AC generators, and

AC motors.

In 1891, Westinghouse built first power plant (hydro) to supply AC

electricity over long distance (5.6 km) for a gold mine in Ophir, CO
 AC Versus DC
Edison declined to invest in AC.

In Nov. 1887, dentist Alfred Southwick asked Edison to support the use of
electricity to execute criminals.

Edison didn’t believe in capital punishment but believed Westinghouse

should be punished: “The most effective of these are known as alternating
machines manufactured principally in this country by Mr. Geo.
Westinghouse, Pittsburgh.” Edison lobbied and succeeded in having first
electric chair use AC (1890)

Edison hired Harold Brown to stoke fears about AC electricity.

Demonstrated electrocution of dogs, horses, calves to audiences.
 AC Versus DC
By 1891, AC had all but taken over.

DC could operate only a few appliances; AC, many.

AC less expensive and could run on larger, more distant power supplies.

With adoption of AC at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 and at the New
York Niagara Falls power station in 1895, AC completed its takeover.
HVDC Transmission
• High-voltage direct current (HVDC) uses DC for most of the
transmission distance. Obtained by converting HVAC to HVDC then
back to HVAC with thyristor or transistor.

• For long distance (> 600 km), HVDC has lower line losses than
HVAC and costs less.

• For short distance (< 600 km), HVAC costs less because of greater
conversion equipment for HVDC.

• HVDC uses voltages 100 kV to 1,500 kV.

120 V – 240 V Outlets
• Home wall receptor receives 60 Hz AC power at 120 V (110-125 V).
Some appliances (e.g., dryer) require 240 V.

• Transformer on power pole steps down voltage from utility

distribution from 4.16-34.5 kV to 120 V or 240 V.