ECEG-2121 Fundamentals of Circuits

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAIT) School of Electrical and

Computer Engineering
Learning Outcomes

 At the end of the lecture, students should

be able to know about:
 Basic Concepts of Circuits.
 Charge, Current, Voltage, Power, Sources.
 Basic circuit element and device law.
 Identify nodes, branches, paths and loops.

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 Definition of Electric Circuit
 “An interconnection of electrical elements linked
together in a closed path so that an electric
current may flow continuously”
 “The path of flow for charge carriers”
 A circuit consists of source (energy) and/or drain
(device) elements.
 Electric circuits are broadly classified as Direct Current
(D.C.) circuits and Alternating Current (A.C.) circuits.

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Overview of Solid-State Materials
 Charge, q, is measured in Coulomb (C)
 1C = 6.24 x 1018 electrons
 1 electron = -1.6 x 10-19C
 Conservation of Charges
 Charges can neither be created nor destroyed, only
transferred
 Electric Current
dq t

i q   i(  ) d
dt to

 DC: direct current, remains constant with time

 Time varying current, e.g.: alternating current (AC) varies
sinusoidally with time.

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Voltage or Potential Difference or
EMF
Energy required to move one unit charge through
element
an

 Polarity of a circuit segment indicates the flow direction of

charges

+ve charges (eg: ions in battery)

-ve charges (electron)
Vab = -Vba
Note:
Vab = voltage drop
Vba = voltage rise

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 Power and Energy
 Power, p, is the time rate of expending or
absorbing energy, measured in watts (W).
p  vi
 Since power depends on the value of current and
voltage, voltage polarity and current direction play
a big role in determining the positive value of the
power. t t

w   p dt   vi dt
to to
 Energy, w, is the capacity to do work, measured in
joules (J).
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 Passive Sign Convention
 Current should enter the positive voltage terminal
I R
VR

V
V

Absorbing/consumption power Supplying/Generation power

p = + vi p = - vi
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Example 1
Using passive sign convention, calculate power

2A 2A 2A 2A

3V 3V 3V 3V

Figure a Figure b Figure c Figure d

Question: What can you deduce from your answer?

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 Source
 What is a source?
- Voltage or current generator capable of
supplying energy to a circuit
 Two categories
- Independent and dependent sources

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 Source
There are two types of elements found in electric circuits. They are
ACTIVE elements and PASSIVE elements. An active element is capable
of generating energy while passive element is not. Typical active
elements include generators, batteries and operational amplifiers.
Examples of passive elements are resistors, capacitors and inductors.
The most important active elements are voltage and current sources.
There are two kinds of sources namely INDEPENDENT and
DEPENDENT.

• Voltage sources
INDEPENDENT • Current sources

SOURCES
DEPENDENT
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• Voltage-controlled voltage source (VCVS)
• Current-controlled voltage source
(CCVS)
• Voltage-controlled current source (VCCS)
• Current-controlled current source (CCCS)
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 Ideal Independent Sources
 Referred to as ideal sources
 Voltage sources
 An active element, which provides a specified voltage independent
of the current through it and any other circuit variable.
 For example, v(t) = 10 cos 100t or v(t) = 9
i(t)
v(t)
+
Arbitrary
v(t) ~
- circuit

+
~ v(t) = V sin ωt
-

DC voltage AC voltage

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 Ideal Independent Sources
 Referred to as ideal sources
 Current sources
 An active element, which provides a specific current
independent of other circuit variables for example voltage
across the source.
 For example, i(t) = 4 sin 100t or i(t) = -0.1
i(t)

D.C. CURRENT SOURCE

A.C. CURRENT SOURCE

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Ideal Dependent Sources
An active element in which the source quantity is controlled by
another voltage or current
Types are :
Voltage-controlled voltage source (VCVS)
Current-controlled voltage source (CCVS)
Voltage-controlled current source (VCCS)
Current-controlled current source (CCCS)

Current Voltage
source source

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Ideal Sources Symbols

Independent Independent DC Independent

voltage source voltage source current source

Dependent voltage Dependent

source current source
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 Circuit Element – Ohm’s Law
 A limiting device to set voltage and current levels
 Linear resistor obeys Ohm’s law, V = IR V
I R

I R V = IR V = - IR R I
VR VR

Short Circuit: R = 0 i 2
v 2
p  vi  i 2 R    v 2G
Open Circuit: R =  G R

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Circuit Element – Ohm’s Law
Open Circuit
In open circuit condition, current i(t) through the resistor will be zero
irrespective of whatever be the voltage v(t) across it. To satisfy this, as
seen from equation (1.7), value of R must be infinity. Thus, in open
circuit condition, current i(t) through the resistor will be zero
irrespective of whatever be the voltage v(t) across it. To satisfy this, as
seen from equation (1.7), value of R must be infinity. Thus, in open
circuit condition i(t) = 0, R =  and G = 0.

Short Circuit
In short circuit condition, voltage v(t) across the resistor will be zero
irrespective of whatever be the current i(t) flowing through it. To satisfy
this, as seen from eq. (1.7), value of R must be zero. Thus, in short circuit
condition v(t) = 0, R = 0 and G = 

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 Circuit Concept and Definition

 Branch
-represent a single element such as voltage source or a resistor
 Node
- a point where two or more circuit elements join (a, b, c, d, e, f, g)
 Path
-a trace of adjoining elements with no element included more than once

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Circuit Concept and Definition
Loops

 v1  R1  R5  R6  R4  v2
 v1  R1  I  R4  v2
 v1  R1  R7  R4  v2
 I  R5  R6

 Loop Meshes
-a closed path (8 loops)
 Mesh  v1  R1  R5  R3  R2
-a loop does not enclose any other loop (4  v2  R2  R3  R6  R4
meshes)
 R5  R7  R6
 R7  I
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 Circuit Concept and Definition
 When two or more elements are connected in series and share a single
node, they are sharing the same current.
 When two or more elements are connected in parallel and connected to
the same node, consequently they are having the same voltage.

i1 i2 i3
I

In series: I = i1 = i2 = i3

V V1 V2 V3

In parallel: V = V1 = V2 = V3
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 Exercise 1
Determine the number of branches, nodes and meshes in
the circuit below.

R 30 V

DC

2A R R R R

Branches = 7, nodes = 4, meshes = 4

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 Resistor in Series
 When connected in series, resistors form a ‘string’
 Resistors are connected to one node only
 One path for current and same current through all points
 find Single Equivalent resistor by:

i One path One path

a i b
R1= 3k R2= 7k R3= 15k Req= 25 k

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 Resistor in Parallel
• Resistors are connected to both node a and node b
• Many paths for current, same voltage
• Single Equivalent resistor by:

a i1a a

R1= 3k R2= 6k Req= 2k

i1
i2 i3
b b
b
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 Exercise 2
Find Req a 2

Figure (a)
Req 6 3
1
b

2 a

6 3
Figure b Req
1
b
23

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 Voltage Divider Rule
• Calculate voltage for series circuit only

i R1= 3k R2= 7k

a v1 v2
vS= 10V

R1 R2
v1  vS v2  vS
R1  R2 R1  R2
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 Current Divider Rule
• Calculate current for parallel circuit only
iS = 5A
a
a i1 i2
vS= 20V R1= 6 k R2= 12 k

b
b

R2 R1
i1  iS i2  iS
R1  R2 R1  R2
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Symbols and Measurement Units

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Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)
i2 i5

Node A
i1
i4
i3
 The algebraic sum of currents entering a node is 0
N N N
in  0 Or  in (entering )   in (leaving )
n 1 n 1 n 1

 Assume one direction to be positive, in this case

- Currents entering a node is positive. Eg. i1, i2, i5

- Currents leaving a node is negative. Eg. i3, i4

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Exercise 5
Find current io and v0 in the following circuit.

io i
6A 2 io/4 8 V0

Answers
i0  4 A v0  8 V
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Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
v4 v3

N
v5
v2 v n  0
n 1

vn
v1
 The algebraic sum of voltages around a loop is 0.
 Assume one direction in the loop to be +ve, in this case
the anti-clockwise direction.
Example : v1 + v2 + v3 + v4 + v5+…+vn = 0

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 Exercise 6
Find v1 and v2 in the following circuit.
4

v1
10 V i 8V
v2

2
Answers
v1 , v2 

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Summary

• To define a current, both a value (symbol or a numerical) and a

direction must be given.
• To define a voltage across an element, label the terminals with
‘+’ and ‘–’ signs and provide a value.
• Passive sign convention uses a positive sign that relates the
voltage and current at the terminals of an element when the
current enters through the positive terminal, P = + IV.
• There are six sources: the independent voltage source, the
independent current source, VCVS, CCVS, VCCS, CCCS.

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Summary
 Ohm’s law, the voltage across a linear resistor is directly
proportional to the current flowing through it. V = IR.
 Elements in a circuit having a common voltage across them are
said to be connected in parallel.
 All elements in a series circuit carry the same current.
 Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) states that the algebraic sum of
the currents entering any node is zero.
 Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL) states that the algebraic sum of
the voltages around any closed path in a circuit is zero.

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