Elements of Electrical Engineering

EEB 1113
(3 credits)

Asst Prof Devika Sethu

devika.sethu@miu.edu.my
EEE Department
Manipal International University, Nilai
Basic Electric Circuit Laws
• Ohm’s Law
• Kirchhoff’s Current Law
• Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law
 Ohm’s Law
• Behavior of materials >> resist the flow of electric charge
• RESISTANCE (symbol R) >> ability to resist current
• Resistance of any material with a uniform cross-sectional area A depends on A and length l :

Resistor Circuit symbol for resistance

• In mathematical form:

where ρ is resistivity of the material (Ω-m).

 Ohm’s Law
• Conductors, e.g. copper and aluminum >> low resistivities
• Insulators, e.g. mica and paper >> high resistivities
• Resistor >> made from metallic alloys + carbon compounds (current-resisting
material)
• Ohm’s law – relationship between current and voltage for a resistor.

• R is measured in ohms, Ω.
 Ohm’s Law

• passive sign convention.

 If current flows from a higher potential to a lower potential v = iR

 If current flows from a lower potential to a higher potential v = -iR

 Ohm’s Law
• if R = 0 is called a short circuit (v = 0 V but i = any values)
• usually a connecting wire >> assumed as a perfect conductor.

• element with R = ∞ is known as an open circuit

 Types of Resistors

Variable resistors (adjustable resistor):

(a) composition type,
(b) slider pot.

Fixed resistors (constant value of R):

(a) wirewound type
(b) carbon film type Circuit symbol for:
(a) a variable resistor
(b) a potentiometer
 Types of Resistors
• A resistor that obeys Ohm’s law >> known as a linear resistor (constant R)

• A nonlinear resistor does not obey Ohm’s law (R varies with i)

• E.g. of devices: light bulb; diode
 Ohm’s Law
• power dissipated by a resistor (nonlinear function):

• Since R is a +ve quantity, power always +ve.

• Resistor always absorbs power from the circuit
• R = passive element or incapable of generating energy.
 Conductance, G
• CONDUCTANCE >> measure of how well an element will conduct electric current.

• unit of G is mho (ohm spelled backward).

• SI unit of conductance is siemens (S):

• Power dissipated by a resistor in terms of G:

Example #1

Practice #1
Example #2
Practice #2
Example #3

Practice #3
Nodes, Branches, and Loops

• 5 branches: 10-V voltage

source, 2-A current source,
and three resistors.
• 3 nodes: a, b & c
• 3 loops:
1st loop: abca with 2Ω resistor.
2nd loop with 3Ω resistor and the
current source.
3rd loop: could be the one with 2Ω
resistor in parallel with 3Ω resistor.

fundamental theorem of network topology:

 Nodes, Branches, and Loops
• Connection of elements >> neither in SERIES nor in PARALLEL.
Example #4
Practice #4
 Kirchhoff’s Laws
• Kirchhoff’s first law >> based on the conservation of charge

• Mathematically, KCL is:

where N = number of branches connected to the node and

in = nth current entering (or leaving) the node.

• currents entering a node >> +ve,

• currents leaving the node >> -ve or vice versa.
 Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)
• A simple application of KCL is combining current sources in parallel.

• By applying KCL to node a:

Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)
 Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
• Kirchhoff’s second law >> based on the conservation of energy

• Mathematically, KVL is:

where M = number of voltages in the loop (or number of branches in the loop) and
vm is the mth voltage.
 Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
• A single-loop circuit illustrating KVL:

• Start with the voltage source and go clockwise around the loop:
 Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
• Another example:
Example #5
Example #5
Example #6
Practice #5

Practice #6
Example #7
Practice #7
Example #8
Example #8
Example #8
Practice #8

Correction, i3 = 2.5 A