1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals

Module 1.0 – Circuit Theory Fundamentals

Learning After finishing this module, you are expected to:
Objectives:
1. Review the SI system of units and standard prefixes
2. Know the definitions of basic electrical quantities:
voltage, current, and power
3. Know the symbols for and definitions of independent
and dependent sources
4. Be able to calculate the power absorbed by a circuit
element using the passive sign convention

Topics: 1.0. Overview

1.1. Definitions and Units
1.2. System of Units
1.3. Charge and Current
1.4. Illustrative Examples
1.5. Electric Potentials

Allotted Time: 6 Hrs.

Introductory Circuit Analysis, 10th Edition, Boylestad

Electrical Circuits Theory and Technology, 3rd Edition, John Bird 2007
Fundamentals of Electric Circuits, Third Edition, Charles A. Alexander & Matthew N.O. Sadiku
Electric Circuit Analysis, 2nd Edition, Johnson, Johnson & Hilburn

Warm Up:
Give three things that you expect you will learn in this module.
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________

Pre-Test: Answer the following questions:

1. Electric current originates from which part of an atom?

2. The rate of flow of an electric charge is known as ____________ .
3. The resistance of the wire varies inversely as ___________ .
4. Resistance is a measure of a material’s opposition to __________ .
5. What are the basic components of a simple electric circuit?
6. The unit of electrical charge is __________ .
7. The SI unit of power is ____________ .
8. The amount of work done in joules, when one unit electric charge moves
from one point to another point in an electric circuit is called
________________ .

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 1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals

1.0. Overview

Electric circuits are a part of the basic fabric of modern technology. A

circuit consists of electrical elements connected together, and we can use
symbols to draw circuits. Engineers use electrical circuits to solve problems
that are important in modern society such as in the generation, transmission
and consumption of electrical power and energy. The elements in an electric
circuit include sources of energy, resistors, capacitors, inductors and so on.
Analysis of electric circuits means determining the unknown quantities such
as voltage, current and power associated with one or more elements in the
circuit. Basic electric circuit analysis and laws are explained in this chapter
and knowledge of these are essential in the solution of engineering
problems.

In electrical engineering, we are often interested in communicating or

transferring energy from one point to another. To do this requires an
interconnection of electrical devices. Such interconnection is referred to as
an electric circuit, and each component of the circuit is known as an element.

1.1. Definitions and Units

We commence our study by defining some basic concepts. These concepts

include charge, current, voltage, circuit elements, power, and energy. Before
defining these concepts, we must first establish a system of units that we will use
throughout the course/subject.

An electric circuit, or electric network is a connection of electrical

elements inter-connected in some specified way.

A simple electric circuit is shown in Figure 1. It consists of three basic

elements: a battery, a lamp, and connecting wires. Such a simple circuit can exist
by itself; it has several applications, such as a flashlight, a search light, and so forth.

Figure 1. A simple electric circuit

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 1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals
1.2. Systems Of Units

In the past, the systems of units most commonly used were the English and
metric, as outlined in Table 1.1. Note that while the English system is based on a
single standard, the metric is subdivided into two interrelated standards: the MKS
and the CGS. Fundamental quantities of these systems are compared in Table 1
along with their abbreviations. The MKS and CGS systems draw their names from
the units of measurement used with each system; the MKS system uses Meters,
Kilograms, and Seconds, while the CGS system uses Centimeters, Grams, and
Seconds.

Table 1

Source: Fundamentals of Electric Circuits (Charles K. Alexander & Matthew N.O. Sadiku)

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. Table 2 shows the SI
prefixes and their symbols. For example, the following are expressions of the same
distance in meters (m):

Table 2. The SI prefixes

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 1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals
1.3. Charge and Current

The concept of electric charge is the underlying principle for explaining all
electrical phenomena. Also, the most basic quantity in an electric circuit is the
electric charge. We all experience the effect of electric charge when we try to
remove our wool sweater and have it stick to our body or walk across a carpet and
receive a shock.

Charge is an electrical property of the atomic particles of which matter

consists, measured in coulombs (C).

The following points should be noted about electric charge:

1. The coulomb is a large unit for charges. In 1 C of charge, there are

1/(1.602 𝑥 10 ) = 6.24𝑥 10 electrons. Thus realistic or laboratory
values of charges are on the order of pC, nC, or 𝜇𝐶.
2. According to experimental observations, the only charges that occur in
nature are integral multiples of the electronic charge 𝑒 =
−1.602 𝑥 10 𝐶.
3. The law of conservation of charge states that charge can neither be
created nor destroyed only transferred. Thus the algebraic sum of the
electric charges in a system does not change.

Electric current is the time rate of change of charge, measured in

amperes (A).

Mathematically, the relationship between current i, charge q, and time t is

𝑖 = 𝑑𝑞/𝑑𝑡

One ampere of current is said to flow through a wire if at any cross-section

one coulomb of charge flows in one second.

Types of Electric Current

If the current does not change with time, but remains constant, we call it a
direct current (dc).

A direct current (dc) is a current that remains constant with time.

Figure 3. Direct Current

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 1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals
By convention the symbol i is used to represent such a constant current.

A time-varying current is represented by the symbol i. A common form of

time-varying current is the sinusoidal current or alternating current (ac).

An alternating current (ac) is a current that varies sinusoidally with

time.

FIGURE 4. Alternating current

Such current is used in your household, to run the air conditioner,

refrigerator, washing machine, and other electric appliances.

1.4. Illustrative Examples:

EXAMPLE 1.1.

How much charge is represented by 4,600 electrons?

Solution:

Each electron has −1.602 𝑥 10 𝐶. Hence 4,600 electrons will have,

−1.602 x 10 C
x 4,600 eletrons = −7.39 x 10 C … … … answer
electrons

EXAMPLE 1.2.

The total charge entering a terminal is given by

𝑞 = 5𝑡 sin 4𝜋𝑡 𝑚𝐶. Calculate the current at t = 0.5 s.

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 1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals
Solution:
𝑑𝑞 𝑑
𝑖= = (5𝑡 sin 4𝜋𝑡) 𝑚𝐶/𝑠 = (5 sin 4𝜋𝑡 + 20 𝜋𝑡 cos 4𝜋𝑡) 𝑚𝐴
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝐴𝑡 𝑡 = 0.5 𝑠,

𝑖 = 2.5 sin 2𝜋 + 10 𝜋 cos 2𝜋) = 0 + 10𝜋 = 31.42 𝑚𝐴 … … 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟

EXAMPLE 1.3.

If q = (10 − 10e −2t ) mC, find the current at t = 0.3 s.

Solution:
𝑑𝑞 𝑑
𝑖= = (10 − 10𝑒 ) = (−10)(−2)𝑒
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑖 = 20𝑒

𝐴𝑡 𝑡 = 0.3 𝑠𝑒𝑐

𝑖 = 20𝑒

𝑖 = 10.98 𝑚𝐴

Do-It-Yourself No. 1:

Practice Solving the following problems.

1. How much current is flowing in a circuit where 1.27 𝑥 10 electrons move

past a given point in 100 ms?

2. The current in a certain conductor is 40 mA.

(i) Find the total charge in coulombs that passes through the conductor in
1.5 s.
(ii) Find the total number of electrons that pass through the conductor in that
time.

3. If 𝑞 = (20 − 20𝑒 )𝑚𝐶, find the current at t = 0.3 s.

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 1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals

1.5. Electric Potential and e.m.f.

When a body is charged, work is done in charging it. This work

done is stored in the body in the form of potential energy. The charged
body has the capacity to do work by moving other charges either by
attraction or repulsion. The ability of the charged body to do work is
called electric potential.

The capacity of a charged body to do work is called its electric

potential.

Voltage (or potential difference) is the energy required to move

a unit charge through an element, measured in volts (V).

The greater the capacity of a charged body to do work, the

greater is its electric potential. Obviously, the work done to charge a
body to 1 coulomb will be a measure of its electric potential i.e.

𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑊
𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙, 𝑉 = =
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑄

The work done is measured in joules and charge in coulombs.

The unit of electric potential is the volt (V), where one volt is one
joule per coulomb. One volt is defined as the difference in potential
between two points in a conductor which, when carrying a current of
one ampere, dissipates a power of one watt, i.e.

𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠 =
𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑠
𝑜𝑟
𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠/𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑠
= = =
𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒 − 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑠

A change in electric potential between two points in an electric circuit

is called a potential difference. The electromotive force (e.m.f.) provided
by a source of energy such as a battery or a generator is measured in volts.

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 1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals
Potential Rise and Potential Drop

The resistor is also associated with a potential difference. Since it is

a consumer (converter) of energy, there is a drop in potential across the
resistor.

Figure 7. Potential rise and drop

We can combine the idea of potential rise or drop with the popular
term “voltage”. It is customary to refer to the potential difference across the
cell as a voltage rise and to the potential difference across the resistor as a
voltage drop.

Resistance

Is the opposition to current flow, the symbol is R and the unit is

express in terms of ohms.

The resistance of an electrical conductor depends on four factors,

these being: (a) the length of the conductor, (b) the cross-sectional area of
the conductor, (c) the type of material and (d) the temperature of the material.
𝑙
𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑅 = 𝜌 𝑜ℎ𝑚
𝐴

Table below shows some example of materials with their

corresponding specific resistance value.

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 1 Circuit Theory Fundamentals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9fgfQ078wc
Watch this video explaining the charge, current and voltage.

Worksheet No. 1

Name: _____________________________________ Course/Year: ___________

Instructor: __________________________________ Rating: ________________

Instructions: Answer the following problems and write the solution on the space
provided in each problem.

PROBLEMS:

1. Calculate the amount of charge represented by two million protons.

(Fundamentals of Electric Circuits, Alexander & Sadiku, p 16)

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 12. Circuit Theory Fundamentals
Determine the total charge entering a terminal between t = 1 s and t
= 2 s if the current passing the terminal is i = (3t 2 − t) A. (Fundamentals of Electric
Circuits, Alexander & Sadiku, p 16)

3. Find the current flowing through an element if the charge flow is given by,
q(t) = (5t 2 + 4t − 3) C (Fundamentals of Electric Circuits, Alexander & Sadiku, p 31)

4. Find the charge q(t) flowing through a device if the current is, i(t) = 20
cos(10t + π/6)μA, q(0) = 2μC (Fundamentals of Electric Circuits, Alexander & Sadiku, p 31)

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5. If q = (20 − 20e −5t) mC, find the current at t = 0.4 s.

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