BASIC

IN
ELECTRICITY
• Matter - anything that occupies space and has
weight
• Element - a substance that cannot be
decomposed any further by chemical action
• Compound - a combination of two or more
elements
• Molecule - smallest particle that a compound can
be reduced to before it breaks down into
element
• Atom - smallest part that element can be
reduced to and still keeping the properties of the
element
 Parts of Atom
• Proton = positively charge particle
=having a mass of 1.67x10-27 kg
• Electron = negatively charge particle
=having a mass of 9.11x10-31kg
=having a charge of -1.602x10-27C

• Neutron = no charge particle(neutral)

NOTE:
• Mass of proton is 1840 times the mass of
electron.
• Normally, the atoms are electrically neutral, that
the number of electrons and protons are the
same.
• Like electrical charges repel and unlike charges
attract to each other
• Earth is more negative and atmosphere is more
positive
• When an electron is removed from a neutral
atom, this atom becomes positively charge and
is called ‘positive ion’. If an electron is added to
a neutral atom, it becomes negatively charged
and is called ‘negative ion’.

• Ion –gain or loss of an atom

For element:

ATOMIC NUMBER = NUMBER OF PROTONS = NUMBER OF ELECTRONS

STRUCTURE OF ATOM (ALUMINUM) SECOND ORBIT

- - -
FIRST ORBIT
- -
-

+ +
+ +
+ LAST ORBIT
- + + + - (where valence
+ +
+ + electron resides)
+

- -
-
- -
CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS ACCORDING
TO CONDUCTIVITY

1.Conductor – has 3 or less number of valence electrons

- easy to dislodge from the orbit
2.Semi-conductor – has exactly 4 valence electrons
-by adding impurity (doping process) it
will become a good conductor or good
insulator
3.Insulator – has 5 or more valence electrons
- needs enough energy to dislodge from the
orbit
Valence electrons – electrons found in the
outermost shell or orbit of an atom

ALUMINUM = 3 VALENCE ELECTRONS

COPPER = 1 VALENCE ELECTRON
SILVER = 1 VALENCE ELECTRON
 ELECTRIC CHARGE(Q)
=unit is coulomb(C)
=a body is said to be charge if it has either an excess or
deficit of electrons from its normal values due to sharing.

CHARGE- is the quantity of electricity responsible for

electric phenomena

=one coulomb is equivalent to 6.25x1018 electrons or

protons.
=cation is more protons (positive charge or positive ion)
=anion is more electrons (negative charge or negative ion)
 ELECTRIC CURRENT(I)
• Intensity of charge
• unit is ampere (A)
• one ampere is equivalent to one coulomb of charge past
a given point in on second
I = Q/t
where
Q=electric charge in coulomb
I= electric current in ampere
t= time in seconds
• is a flow of free electrons
• generally called charge in motion

Example:
The current in an electric lamp is 5
amperes.What quantity of electricity flows
towards the filament in 6
minutes?(ans=1800C)
 What is free electron?
• when the valence electrons escape or
dislodge from its orbit, they become free
electrons so generally the valence electrons
are the free electrons.
Why the valence electrons escape?
• when there is an energy added to the atom,
the affected shell is the outer most since the
energy shared to the said shell is weak
causing electrons to dislodge from its orbit.
 Energy comes from?
• Friction (static)
• Magnetism (magneto motive force)
• Pressure (piezoelectric using quartz and salt)
• Chemical reaction (battery)
• Light (solar)
• Temperature (thermocouples)

Thermocouple – different metals that are joined together

w/c produce voltage when heated
Important values
• Silver = 1.68x1024 Free electrons per cubic
inch

• Copper = 1.64x1024 Free electrons per

cubic inch

• Aluminum = 1.6x1024 Free electrons per

cubic inch
 POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE(E)
• unit is volt (V)
• sometimes called electromotive force, voltage and
electrical pressure
• ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE(EMF)- is a force that
causes a current of electricity to flow.
• Unit can be one joule per coulomb

What is potential difference?

• when the unbalanced of charge exists, the
unbalanced is called potential difference.
 RESISTANCE(R)
• unit is ohm ( Ώ )
• opposition to charge flow or flow of electrons

FACTORS AFFECTING RESISTANCE

• Length: the longer, the higher is the resistance

• Cross sectional area : the bigger the cross sectional
area, the lower its resistance
• Kind of material : this refers to a conductor having free
electrons that has low resistance
• Temperature: metal offers high resistance to high
temperature
For the 3 factors:

FORMULA:

R = pL/A
Where
R = resistance
L = length of material
(meter or feet)
A = cross-sectional area of
material (m2 or CM)
p = resistivity (ohm-CM/feet or
ohm-meter)
NOTE:

CM=d2

where
d= diameter of conductor in mil
CM= circular mil
• 1000mil = 1 inch
• 1 MCM = 1000CM
• 3.28 ft = 1 meter
• 1 inch = 25.4 mm
Resistivity or specific resistance

=is the resistance offered by a unit cube of

the materials.
= is a measure of how strongly a material
opposes the flow of electric current.
 Important values:

• Silver: resistivity = 9.9 ohm-CM/ft,

T=243 degrees Celsius
• Copper: resistivity = 10.37 ohm-CM/ft,
T=234.5 degree Celsius
• Aluminum: resistivity = 17 ohm-CM/ft,
T=236 degrees Celsius
Example:

1.The substation bus bar is made up of 2-iches round

copper bars 20ft.long.What is the resistance of each
bar if resistivity is 1.724x10-6 ohm-cm?
(ans=5.185x10-5 ohm)

2.A 400 MCM cable has 37 strands.What is the

diameter of each strand in mil? (ans=104)

3.What is the diameter in mm of a copper wire having a

cross sectional area of 3.969MCM? (Ans=1.6
For the last factor:
• when the temperature increases, the resistance of
conductor will increase, semi-conductor and insulator will
decrease and remains for alloys

FORMULA:

R1/R2 = (T+t1) / (T+t2) or R2/R1 = 1+α∆t

where: α=1 / (T+t1)

R1 = initial resistance
R2 = final resistance
T = inferred absolute temperature
= temperature when resistance of a
given material is zero (superconductor)
t1 = initial temperature
t2 = final temperature
∆t =change in temperature (t2-t1)
α =temperature coefficient of resistance
= ohmic change per degree per ohm at some specified
temperature
= positive for conductor, negative for semi-conductor and
insulator and zero for alloys
Example:
The resistance of a coil of wire is 1 kilo ohms at 20
degrees celcius.If the coil is immersed into an oil, the
resistance falls to 880 ohm.If the wire has a
temperature coefficient of 0.006 at 20 degrees
celcius,how much is the temperature of the coil?

NOTE:
°C=5 (°F-32)
9
 CONDUCTANCE(G)

• Unit is siemens (formerly mho)

G=1/R
where
G=conductance
R=resistance

• is a measure of the material’s ability to conduct electric

current
PREFIXES OF UNIT

MULTIPLE PREFIX SYMBOL

• 1012 tera T
• 109 giga G
• 106 mega M
• 103 kilo K
• 10-2 centi c
• 10-3 milli m
• 10-6 micro µ
• 10-9 nano n
• 10-12 pico p
• 10-15 femto f