CIRCUIT FUNDAMENTALS

An electrical network is an interconnection of electrical elements such as resistors, inductors, capacitors, transmission lines, voltage sources, current sources, and switches.

An electrical circuit is a network that has a closed loop, giving a return path for the current. A network is a connection of two or more components, and may not necessarily be a circuit.

What is network analysis?

Generally speaking, network analysis is any structured technique used to mathematically analyze a circuit (a network of interconnected components). Quite often we encounter circuits containing multiple sources of power or component configurations which defy simplification by series/parallel analysis techniques. In these cases we will be forced to use other means. In this course we will learn a few techniques useful in analyzing such complex circuits.

Common Misconceptions Regarding Electric Circuits

Statement True or False? 1. When an electrochemical cell no longer works, T or F it is out of charge and must be recharged before it can be used again. 2. An electrochemical cell can be a source of T or F charge in a circuit. The charge which flows through the circuit originates in the cell. 3. Charge becomes used up as it flows through a circuit. The amount of charge which exits a light T or F bulb is less than the amount which enters the light bulb. 4. Charge flows through circuits at very high speeds. This explains why the light bulb turns on T or F immediately after the wall switch is flipped. 5. The local electrical utility company supplies millions and millions of electrons to our homes T or F everyday. Name Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5

An electrochemical cell supplies the energy needed to move a charge from a low potential location to a high potential location.

The charge that flows through a circuit originates in the elements of the circuit. The charge carriers are simply the electrons possessed by the atoms which make up the elements.

Charge moves abnormally slowly - on average, about 1 meter in an hour - through a circuit. Yet as soon as a switched is turned to ON, charge located everywhere within the circuit begins to move.

The rate at which charge flows is everywhere the same within an electric circuit. The rate at which charge flows into a light bulb is the same as the rate at which charge flows out of a light bulb.

An electrical appliance such as a light bulb transforms the electrical energy of moving charge into other forms of energy such as light energy and thermal energy. Thus, the amount of energy possessed by a charge as it exits an appliance is less than it possessed when it entered the appliance.

Requirements which must be met in order to establish an electric circuit: 1. There must be an energy supply capable doing work on charge to move it from a low energy location to a high energy location and thus establish an electric potential difference across the two ends of the external circuit.

2. There must be a closed conducting loop in the external circuit which stretches from the high potential, positive terminal to the low potential, negative terminal.

Electric Current
If the two requirements of an electric circuit are met, then charge will flow through the external circuit. It is said that there is a current - a flow of charge. Current is a physical quantity which can be measured and expressed numerically. Current is the rate at which charge flows past a point on a circuit. Current in a circuit can be determined if the quantity of charge Q passing through a cross section of a wire in a time t can be measured. The current is simply the ratio of the quantity of charge and time.

1 ampere = 1 coulomb / 1 second

A 2 mm long cross section of A 1 mm long cross section of wire is isolated and 2 C of wire is isolated and 20 C of charge are determined to pass charge are determined to pass through it in 0.5 s. through it in 40 s.

I = _____ Ampere

I = _____ Ampere

Current versus Drift Speed

How can there by a current on the order of 1 or 2 ampere in a circuit if the drift speed is only about 1 meter per hour? The answer is: there are many, many charge carriers moving at once throughout the whole length of the circuit. Current is the rate at which charge crosses a point on a circuit. A high current is the result of several coulombs of charge crossing over a cross section of a wire on a circuit. If the charge carriers are densely packed into the wire, then there does not have to be a high speed to have a high current. That is, the charge carriers do not have to travel a long distance in a second, there just has to be a lot of them passing through the cross section. Current does not have to do with how far charges move in a second but rather with how many charges pass through a cross section of wire on a circuit.

Consider a typical wire found in household lighting circuits - a 14gauge copper wire. In a 0.01 cm-long (very thin) cross-sectional slice of this wire, there would be as many as 3.51 x 1020 copper atoms. Each copper atom has 29 electrons; it would be unlikely that even the 11 valence electrons would be in motion as charge carriers at once. If we assume that each copper atom contributes just a single electron, then there would be as much as 56 coulombs of charge within a thin 0.01-cm length of the wire. With that much mobile charge within such a small space, a small drift speed could lead to a very large current. Once the switch is turned to on, the circuit is closed and there is an electric potential difference is established across the two ends of the external circuit. The electric field signal travels at nearly the speed of light to all mobile electrons within the circuit, ordering them to begin marching. As the signal is received, the electrons begin moving along a zigzag path in their usual direction. Thus, the flipping of the switch causes an immediate response throughout every part of the circuit, setting charge carriers everywhere in motion in the same net direction. While the actual motion of charge carriers occurs with a slow speed, the signal which informs them to start moving travels at a fraction of the speed of light.

Electric circuits are all about energy, not charge. The charge is simply the medium which moves the energy from location to location. The batteries or other energy source does work upon the charge to supply it with energy and place it at a high electric potential. Charge at high electric potential will spontaneously begin its very slow migration towards the low potential terminal of the cell. Charge everywhere within the circuit moves together, like soldiers marching in step. As an individual charge moves through circuit elements such as light bulbs, its electrical energy is transformed into other forms of energy such as light energy and thermal energy. With many, many charges moving through the light bulb at the same time, there is a significant transformation of electrical energy to light energy to cause the light bulb filament to noticeably glow. Upon passage through a light bulb filament, an individual charge is less energized and at a lower electric potential. The charge completes its slow migration back to the low potential terminal where the electrochemical cell does work upon the charge again to move it back up to high electric potential. Once at high potential, the charge can begin its loop again through the external circuit.

Direct Current : Unidirectional Alternating Current:

I t

Basic Elements in Electric Network

Active Elements capable of generating Energy Passive Elements Active Elements: Generators/ Batteries (Voltage and current sources), OP-AMPS Passive Elements: Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors Sources: Independent or Dependent An ideal independent source is an active element that provides a specified voltage or current that is completely independent of other elements in the circuit.

V I

V I

An ideal dependent (controlled) source is an active element in which the source quantity is controlled by another voltage or current.

Voltage Controlled Voltage Source Voltage Controlled Current Source Current Controlled Voltage Source Current Controlled Current Source (Useful in modeling transistors, op-amps, ICs etc.)

Non-ideal Sources
Rs Rs

"Advances are made by answering questions. Discoveries are made by questioning answers." Bernhard Haisch, Astrophysicist