Basic concepts
Charge and Current
Voltage
Power and Energy
Motivation
• An electric circuit is an interconnection of electrical elements
• We are often interested in communicating or
transferring energy from one point to another
• What is circuit analysis?
• To predict how a circuit behave without implementing the circuit
• For a simple circuit, that’s easy
• I = 15/5 = 3A
• How about this?
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Systems of Units
• Our measurement must be communicated in a
standard language that virtually all professionals
can understand
• One great advantage of the SI unit is that it uses
prefixes based on the power of 10 to relate larger
and smaller units to the basic unit.
Charge and Current
The concept of electric charge is the underlying principle for explaining all
electrical phenomena.
Facts about charges:
• The fundamental building block of all matters is atom
• Each atom consists of electrons, protons, and neutrons
• Electron carries -ve charge and proton carries +ve charge
• The unit of charge is coulombs (C)
• 1C of -ve charge = 6.24 × 1018 electrons
• Or equivalently one electron = 1.602 × 10-19 C
What is current?
• Net movement of charges
• Due to historical reason, current flow in the same direction as +ve charge
movement
• Although we know that current in metallic conductors is due to -ve
charged electrons, we still follow the convention today
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Charge and Current
• The amplitude of current is the rate of change of charge (w.r.t. time across a
fixed surface)
dq (t )
• Mathematically, it is given by i (t ) =
dt
• 1 ampere = 1 coulomb of charge moving across a fixed surface in 1 second
• The charge transferred between time to and t is given by the inverse
relationship: t
Q = i (t )dt
to
Example: The total charge entering a terminal is given by q(t) = 5tsin4πt mC.
Calculate the current at t = 0.5 s
dq(t ) d
i (t ) = = (5t sin 4π t ) = (5sin 4π t + 20π t cos 4π t )mA
dt dt
i (0.5) = 5sin 2π + 10π cos 2π = 31.42mA
Charge and Current
Example: Find the current at (a) t = 1ms, (b) t = 6ms, (c) t = 10ms,
if the charge entering a certain element is shown in the figure.
• Current = slope of the curve
• (a) i = 80/2 = 40A,
• (b) i = 0,
• (c) i = -80/4 = -20A
• Note: negative current means opposite direction to the
reference
Example: Determine the total charge entering a terminal
between t = 1s and t = 2s if the current passing the terminal is
i(t) = (3t2-t)A.
2 2
Q = 1 i (t )dt = 1 (3t 2 − t )dt
2
(
= t3 − t 2 / 2 ) 1 = (8 − 2) − (1 −1/ 2) = 5.5C
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Voltage
• To move an electron from point a to point b,
external electromotive force (emf), typically a
battery, is needed
• The voltage vab between two points a and b is the
energy needed to move a unit charge from a to b
dw
• Mathematically, vab =
dq
• 1 volt = 1 joule / coulomb
• Two equivalent representations:
• Point a is vab = +9V above point b
• Point b is vba = -9V above point a
• In general, vab = -vba
Voltage (or potential difference) is the energy required to
move a unit charge through an element, measured in volts (V).
Power and Energy
• Power is the rate (w.r.t. time) of expending or absorbing
energy, measured in watts (W)
dw(t )
• Mathematically, p (t ) =
dt dw(t ) dq (t )
• Rewrite the above equation, p (t ) = = v(t )i (t )
dq(t ) dt
Current direction and voltage polarity play a major role in
determining the sign of power
–When the current enters through the +ve terminal,
p=vi, the element absorbs power
–When the current enters through the –ve terminal,
p=-vi, the element supply power
The above rule is called the “passive sign convention”
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Power and Energy
Example: Element absorbing +12W Example: Element supplying +12W, or
absorbing –12W
• Note: +power absorbed = -Power supplied
• Energy absorbed or supplied by an element from time to to t1:
t t
w = t 1 p (t )dt = t 1 v(t )i (t )dt
o o
• Note: If p(t) is a constant, w = p(t1-to)
Power and Energy
Example: Find the power delivered to an element at t = 3 ms if the current entering
its positive terminal is i(t) = 5cos60πt A and the voltage is: a) v = 3i, b) v = 3di/dt
a) p(t) = v(t)i(t) = 3i(t)2 = 75cos260πt W
=> p(3ms) = 75cos20.18π = 53.48 W
b) v(t) = 3di/dt = -900πsin60πt
=> p(t) = v(t)i(t) = -4500πsin60πtcos60πt W
=> p(3ms) = -4500πsin0.18πcos0.18π = - 6.396kW
Example: How much energy does a 100W electric bulb consume in two hours?
Since p is a constant =100, so w = pt = 100 × 2 × 3600 = 720 kJ
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Circuit Elements
• Passive elements: not capable of generating energy
• e.g., resistors, capacitors, and inductors
• Active elements: capable of generating energy
• e.g., generators, batteries, and operational amplifiers
The most important active elements are voltage and current
sources (sources can be dependent or independent)
– The ideal voltage source will produce any current required
to ensure that the terminal voltage is as stated
– The ideal current source will produce the necessary voltage
to ensure the stated current flow
–Independent sources: provides a specified voltage or current
that is completely independent of other circuit elements
–Dependent sources: source quantity is controlled by another
voltage or current (Diamond-shaped symbols)
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Circuit Elements
Example: Calculate the power supplied or absorbed by
each element
• For p1, the 5A current is out of the +ve terminal;
hence p1 = -vi = -20(5) = -100W
• For p2 and p3, the current flows into the +ve terminal,
so p2 = vi = 12(5) = 60W and p3 = vi = 8(6) = 48W
• For p4 , note that the voltage is 8V with +ve terminal
at the top. Since the current flow out of the +ve
terminal, we have p4 = -vi = -8(0.2I) = -8(0.2×5) = -8W
-The 20V independent voltage source and 0.2I
dependent current source are supplying power, while
the two passive elements are absorbing power
-Also note that p1+ p2 + p3 + p4= -100 + 60 + 48 - 8 = 0.
This is the law of conservation of energy!
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