Chapter 1

Introduction to Electrical
Systems
Learning Outcomes

Student should be able to:

 describe a basic electrical circuit/systems
 explain the concept of electrical charge
 describe the basic structure of atoms
 recognize the conductor, semiconductor and
isolator
 define voltage, current, energy and power
 Perform energy and power calculations

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Learning Outcome
Student should be able to:
 differentiate between active elements and
passive elements
 list the electrical and magnetic quantities and
their units in SI
 familiar with the prefixes system unit
 identify branches, nodes and loop in electrical
circuit
 identify series and parallel circuit

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1.1 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Provide electrical Absorb the electrical

energy to electrical
system
(i.e DC or AC source)
Control the flow of energy and perform a
electrical energy (i.e given task/purpose/work
switch/sensor)
(i.e motor)

Source Control Load

Transmission Line Transmission Line

Conduct and transfer energy from source to load

(i.e wire)

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 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM contd.

Example

Torch Light system

Note:
Electric circuit – an interconnection of electrical elements.
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1.2 ELECTRIC CHARGE

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 ELECTRIC CHARGE contd.
 All matter of substance is made up of molecules.

 Molecules – the smallest division of a substance

that could be made without destroying the
identity or properties of the substance.

 Atoms – the smallest particle of an element.

 Most molecules is made up of multiple atoms.

 Example:
 A molecule of hydrogen gas is a combination of
two hydrogen atoms

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 ELECTRIC CHARGE contd.

 a molecule of water is a combination of two

hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.

Hydrogen
Water molecule gas
molecule

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 ELECTRIC CHARGE contd.
 Atoms is made of three basic particles:

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 ELECTRIC CHARGE contd.
 Normally, atoms in balance or neutral condition
(# of protons = # of electrons).

 Some atoms hold their electrons loosely

 Easy to loose electron if there is force

 The loose electrons is transferred into another atoms

 The movement of electron from one atom to another is

called electricity

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 ELECTRIC CHARGE contd.
 Law of conservation of charge – charge cannot
be created or destroyed, only transfer.
 Existing in space around a charged body is an
invisible field of force called electrostatic field.

 Charges can be measured in coulomb

1 Coulomb (C) = 6.24 x 1018 electrons
1 electron = 1.602 x 10 -19 C

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 ELECTRIC CHARGE contd.

 Conductor – a material that allows the free

movement of many electrons. Example: copper,
iron, silver…

 Insulator – a material that allows only a few

electrons to move freely. Example: rubber,
glass…

 Semiconductors – elements that are neither true

conductors nor insulators in their ability to permit
electrons to flow.
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1.3 VOLTAGE, CURRENT, POWER & ENERGY

Voltage

 Voltage (or potential difference) – the energy required to

move a unit charge through an element.

 To move an electron in a conductor in a particular

direction requires some work or energy transfer.

 This work is performed by an external electromotive

force (emf) – i.e. batterry

 This emf also known as potential difference or voltage.

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 VOLTAGE contd.
 Voltage is a measurement of potential between two
points.
 vab – voltage between point a and b
 It is the energy (or work) needed to move a unit charge
from a to b.

a
+

Vab
_
b

 plus (+) and minus (-) signs – voltage polarity or direction

of charges being pushed.

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 VOLTAGE contd.
 Two types of voltages:

 dc voltage, (V) – a constant voltage with time. i.e.

battery.

 ac voltage, (v) – a voltage that varies sinusoidally with

time. i.e. electric generator.

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Current
 Electric charge is mobile – can be transferred from one atom to another.
 Consider the following:

 negative charges move from the negative terminal of battery towards the positive
terminal.
 This motion of charges creates electric current.

Notes: Electromotive force (emf) - the force that causes the movement of
electrons through an electrical circuit i.e. battery.

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 CURRENT contd.
 Flow of current in metallic conductors is due to
movement of electrons.

 However, it is universally accepted that current is the net

flow of positive charges.

 Note positive charges is not flowing physically.

 Electrons move the opposite direction of current.

 Conventional current flow – the movement of positive

charges.

 Electric current – the time rate of change of charge,

measured in amperes (A).
1 A = 1 C/s
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 CURRENT contd.

 Generally, have two types of current:

 directcurrent (dc) – a current that remains
constant with time. Symbol, I
 alternating current (ac) – a current that varies
siniusoidally with time. Symbol, i

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 VOLTAGE contd.

 Analogy:

Pressure = Voltage
Water current = Electric current
Sponge porosity = Resistance

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POWER & ENERGY

 Power – time rate of expending or absorbing energy,

measured in watts (W) or joules per second (J/s).

 Denoted by p.
dw
p p  vi
dt
where p = power in watts (W)
w = energy in joules (J)
t = time in seconds (s)
v = voltage in volts (V)
i = current in amperes (A)
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 POWER & ENERGY contd.
 Power absorbed or supplied by an element – the product
of voltage across the element and current through it.
p  vi

 Positive power – power is absorb by the element.

p   vi
 Negative power – power is supplied by the element.
p  vi

 How to identify positive and negative power? Based on

the direction of current flow and voltage polarity.

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 POWER & ENERGY contd.

Note: focus on the direction

of current entering an
element. If enter at:
+ve terminal – power
absorbed
-ve terminal – power
supplied

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 POWER & ENERGY contd.
 Law of conservation of energy – the algebraic sum of
power in a circuit, at any instant of time, must be zero.

p0
 The total power supplied to the circuit must equal to the
total power absorbed.

 Energy – the capacity to do work, measured in joules (J).

t t
w   p dt   vi dt
t0 t0

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1.4 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS
 Element – basic building block of a circuit or
electrical components of an electrical circuit.

 Electric circuit – an interconnection of electrical

elements.

 Circuit analysis – process of determining

voltages across (or the currents through) the
elements of the circuit.

 Two types of electrical circuits:

 Activeelements
 Passive elements
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 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS contd.
 Active elements – elements capable of
generating electrical energy i.e. voltage source
& current source.

 Passive elements – elements not capable of

generating electrical energy i.e. resistor,
capacitor and inductors.

 Voltage & current source deliver power to the

electrical circuit.

 Two kinds of sources:

 Independentsources.
 Dependent sources.

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 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS contd.
 Ideal independent source – an active
elements that provides a specified voltage
or current that is completely independent
of other circuit elements.

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 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS contd.
 Ideal independent voltage source delivers to the
circuit whatever current is necessary to maintain
its terminal voltage.

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 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS contd.
 Ideal independent current source delivers to the
circuit whatever voltage is necessary to maintain
the designated current.

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 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS contd.
 Ideal dependent (or controlled) source – an active
element in which the source quantity is controlled by
another voltage or current.

 Four types of dependent source:

 A voltage-controlled voltage source (VCVS)
 A current-controlled voltage source (CCVS)
 A voltage-controlled current source (VCCS)
 A current-controlled current source (CCCS)

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 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS contd.
 Consider the following:

 The CCVS is depends on i.

 Value = 10i V

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EXAMPLE 1

Calculate the power absorbed or supplied by each

element of the above figure.

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 EXAMPLE 1 contd.
 p1 = 20(5) = 100 W
 Since the current leaves the positive terminal thus,
p1 = -100 W

 p2 = 12(5) = 60 W
 The current enters the positive terminal

 p3 = 8(6) = 48 W
 The current enters the positive terminal

 p4 = 8(0.2I) = 8(0.2 x 5) = 8 W
 Since the current leaves the positive terminal thus,
p4 = -8W

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 EXAMPLE 1 contd.
 Algebraic sum of power in the circuit
p1 + p2 + p3 + p4 = -100 + 60 + 48 – 8 = 0

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EXAMPLE 2

Calculate the power absorbed or supplied by each

element of the above figure.

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 EXAMPLE 2 contd.
 p1 = -40 W
 p2 = 16 W
 p3 = 9 W
 p4 = 15 W

 p1 + p2 + p3 + p4 = -40 + 16 + 9 – 15 = 0

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1.5 SYSTEMS OF UNITS

Quantity Unit Symbol

Charge (q) coulomb C
Energy (E) joule J
Power (P) watt W
Voltage (V) volt V
Current (I) ampere A
Resistance (R) ohm Ω
Induction (L) Henry H
Capacitance (C) farad F

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 SYSTEMS OF UNITS contd.
 The SI prefixes:
Power of 10 Prefix Symbol
+18 Exa E
+15 Peta P
+12 Tera T
+9 Giga G
+6 mega M
+3 kilo k
+2 hecto h
+1 deka D
-1 deci d
-2 centi c
-3 milli m
-6 micro µ
-9 nano n
- 12 pico p
- 15 femto f
- 18 atto a
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1.6 BRANCHES, NODES AND LOOPS

 Branch – represents a single two-terminal

elements such as voltage source or a resistor.

Number
There
5
10branches.
areof5branches?
V voltage
Named the branches.
There are2 the
source,
branches? 10 V voltage
A current source source, 2 Aresistors
and three
current source and three resistors.
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 NODES, BRANCHES & LOOPS contd.
 Node – a point of connection between two or more
branches.

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 NODES, BRANCHES & LOOPS contd.
 Indicated by a dot.

 If a short circuit (a connecting wire) connects between

two nodes, this two nodes constitute a single node.

 This node where the point of connection between three

or more branches is called essential node.

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NODES, BRANCHES & LOOPS contd.

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 NODES, BRANCHES & LOOPS contd.
 Loop – any closed path in a circuit.

 A loop is a closed path formed by starting at a node,

passing through a set of nodes and returning to the
starting node without passing through any node more
than once.

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1.7 BASIC CONNECTIONS

 Two types of connections:

 Series
 Parallel

 Series connection – two elements are joint at a node and

no other element is connected to that node.

 Elements in series carry the same current.

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 BASIC CONNECTIONS contd.

The series connection are:

 A&B  6 branches.
 D, E & F  5 nodes.
 2 loops.

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 BASIC CONNECTIONS contd.

 Parallel – elements that are connected to the

same pair of terminals.

 Elements in parallel have the same voltage

across them

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 BASIC CONNECTIONS contd.

Parallel connections:  9 branches.

 C &D  5 nodes.
 G, H & J  5 loops.
Series connection – A & B

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EXAMPLE 1

Determine the number of branches and

nodes. Identify which elements are in series
and parallel.
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 EXAMPLE 1 contd.

 Since there are 4 elements, the circuit has 4 branches:

10 V, 5 Ω, 6 Ω and 2 A.
 Has 3 nodes.
 Series connection: 5 Ω resistor with 10 V voltage
source.
 Parallel connection: 6 Ω resistor with 2 A current
source.

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EXAMPLE 2

Determine the number of branches and nodes.

Identify which elements are in series and parallel.

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 EXAMPLE 2 contd.

 Since there are 5 elements, the circuit has 5

branches
 Has 3 nodes.
 Parallel connection:
1 Ω & 2 Ω resistors.
 4 Ω resistor with 10 V source.

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