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Study Guide in (AU 312 – Building Utilities 2) Module No. 1

STUDY GUIDE FOR MODULE NO. ___

1

INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICITY AND ELECTRICAL

SYSTEM
MODULE OVERVIEW

In this module you will be introduced to electricity and electrical systems. Understanding how energy source is
produced and delivered to the needed consumer in the buildings is important. We are going to review the
sources of electricity that is being used in buildings. You also need to familiarize yourself with the definitions of
electrical terms and their units. Aside from this we will learn how to use ohm’s law and power formula then
apply them in calculating and tabulating electrical loads of the building. Before you can create electrical
diagrammatic layout for buildings you also need to distinguish electrical circuits and understand how this
systems work.

Electricity and electrical systems can be compared to plumbing system which you learned in your Building
Utilities 1 subject. Since you are already familiar with the plumbing systems we will be using them as analogy
to the electrical systems.

MODULE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this module the student should be able to:

1. To learn electricity and basic electrical systems as used in buildings.
2. To define electrical terms and be familiarized with their units .
3. To understand the concepts of Ohm’s Law and the Power formula to be used in computing electrical
loads in buildings.

LEARNING CONTENTS (Introduction to Electricity)

Sources of Energy

A. Biomass
Biomass includes the use of food and wood. Energy stored in non-fossil organic materials such as wood,
straw, vegetable oils and wastes from the forest, agricultural and industrial sectors. Biomass is captured from
forest industries. To capture energy from biomass is to burn it, to make heat, steam, and electricity.

B. Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuels include different types of oil, gas and jet fuel. They are normally ‘natural resources’ and are
extracted from the earth itself. Non-renewable resources. Fossil Fuels may also be associated with mineral
fuels. The resources may be crushed, burnt, or turned into steam. Fossil Fuels form from the organic remains
of prehistoric plants and animals.

C. Hydroelectric Energy
Hydroelectric Energy produces energy through power plants, some such as; Micro-scale, small-scale and
“run-of-the-river.” A dam is built to trap water, usually in a valley where there is an existing lake. Water is
allowed to flow through tunnels in the dam, to turn turbines and thus drive generators. Notice that the dam is
much thicker at the bottom than at the top, because the pressure of the water increases with depth. Hydro-
electric power stations can produce a great deal of power very cheaply.

D. Nuclear Energy
Nuclear Energy work by thermal nuclear reactors and fast reactors. The thermal ones use a moderator to slow
down the neutrons produced by fission. The moderator can be normal water, heavy water, or graphite.

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E. Solar Energy
Solar Energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a
range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar powered electrical generation relies on heat engines and
photovoltaic. Solar energy's uses are limited only by human ingenuity.
A partial list of solar applications includes space heating and cooling through solar architecture, potable water
via distillation and disinfection, day lighting, solar hot water, solar cooking, and high temperature process heat
for industrial purposes. To harvest the solar energy, the most common way is to use solar panels

F. Wind energy
Wind energy is energy obtained from moving air. Is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of
energy. Some such as using wind turbines to make electricity, wind mills for mechanical power, wind pumps
for pumping water or drainage, or sails to propel ships. The motion results from the heating and cooling of the
Earth.
Flowing wind can be used to turn turbines for the generation of electricity. A typical wind tower consists 2 to 3
blades which turn a shaft increasing rotation speed and converting into electrical energy.

G. Geothermal Energy
Geothermal Energy is power extracted from heat stored in the earth. Geothermal power is cost effective,
reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, but has historically been limited to areas near tectonic plate
boundaries.
This geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of
minerals, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface.

H. Biofuel
Biofuel, alternative source of energy, has been used to replace conventional fuels.
Biofuels are renewable sources of energy produced from biological materials such as sugarcane, corn,
cellulose or vegetable oils. Ethanol and biodiesel are common biofuels. Ethanol can be used as a direct
source of energy and combined with gasoline to produce effective results. Biodiesel is a biodegradable fuel
which can replace traditional diesel fuel.

Definition of Electrical Terms

ELECTRICITY- a form of energy resulting from the existence of charged particles (such as electrons or
protons), either statically as an accumulation of charge or dynamically as a current.

There are two types of electrical power supply ac and dc. Direct Current (DC) is what is produced by
batteries, solar panels, and DC generators. For DC electricity the current always flows in the same
direction. The other kind of electricity is Alternating Current (AC). As the name indicates, the current
switches direction in the wire on a regular cycle. AC electricity is what comes to our homes through
the power grid. It is produced by AC generators.

Electricity is measured in Watts and kilowatts

Electricity is measured in units of power called Watts, named to honor James Watt, the inventor of the
steam engine. A Watt is the unit of electrical power equal to one ampere under the pressure of one
volt.

One Watt is a small amount of power. Some devices require only a few Watts to operate, and other
devices require larger amounts. The power consumption of small devices is usually measured in Watts,
and the power consumption of larger devices is measured in kilowatts (kW), or 1,000 Watts.

Voltage is the force behind electricity. It's sometimes called electrical pressure', or, more scientifically,
electromotive force, 'emf'. The unit of measurement for electrical pressure - the volt - is named after the Italian
scientist Alessandro Volta who made the first battery about 200 years ago.

VOLTAGE (VOLTS)- measure of electrical pressure----E

Electrical Current - Current is measured in Amperes, named after a French physicist from the 19 th century.
Amperes are usually known simply as amps.

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An electric current is a flow of electrons through a conductor.

AMPERE (AMPS)- measure of electrical current flow----I

1 amp= 6,280,000,000,000,000,000 electrons per second
DETERMINES WIRE SIZE NEEDED

WATTAGE (WATTS)- measure of electrical power

WATTS= VOLTS x AMPS

VOLT.AMPERE- new term for wattage

AMPS= WATTS/VOLTS

VOLTS= WATTS/AMPS

A conductor is a material in substance which permit electrons to move easily.

Examples: copper, aluminum
An insulator is a substances which will not conduct electrons.
Examples: glass, rubber, plastic

CIRCUIT- path followed by electrons from and back to the source.

Series Circuit – A circuit in which electricity has only on possible path through the circuit.
Parallel Circuit – A circuit in which electricity has multiple paths through the circuit.

RESISTANCE- the characteristic of material that impedes the flow of electricity. All materials have electrical
resistance. Electrical resistance can be compared to the friction experienced by water when flowing in a pipe.
The two most important characteristic of resistance are: 1) heat is generated when electricity flows through a
resistant material, 2) the voltage is decreased when electricity flows through a resistant material.
Determined by: material, size, length

AMPACITY- current rating in amperes that a conductor can carry continuously without exceeding its
temperature rating.

BRANCH CIRCUIT- the conductors between the final overcurrent device and the outlets
*appliance- 20ampere, supplying outlets for the connection of appliances
*general purpose- 15 or 20 ampere, supply outlets for lighting and receptacles

CIRCUIT BREAKER- type of overcurrent protection device which has a time-delay circuit interrupter that
automatically opens the circuit when current flow exceeds the breaker rating for a short period of time. To
restore service, it is necessary to reset (close) the circuit breaker after identifying and correcting the cause of
the overload or failure.

FUSE – A circuit interrupting device used to protect against excessive current flow in conductors. A metal link
in the fuse will melt and breaks the circuit when the current becomes excessive. When the metal link melts the
fuse is destroyed and cannot be reused.

LOAD – Anything which consumes electrical energy. Example include light and appliances.

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CONTINUOUS LOAD- the current is expected to continue for 3 hours or more

*conductors are rated for 100% continuous loading
*overcurrent protection devices are limited to 80% of the device rating

DEVICE- unit of an electrical system that is intended to carry but not consume electricity

DISCONNECTING MEANS- device or group of devices that disconnects the main power supply conductors.

FEEDER- the circuit conductors between the service equipment and the branch circuit overcurrent device

GROUNDED- the intentional connection to earth

OVERCURRENT- current greater than the rated current of equipment or conductors

*overload
*Short circuit
*ground fault

SERVICE CONDUCTORS- conductors on the supply side of service disconnect.

LEARNING ACTIVITY 1

.Memorize the basic electrical terms, their units, and symbol.

Differentiate the differences of series and parallel circuits and find some of the applications where these two
circuits are used in buildings.

LEARNING CONTENTS (Ohms Law and Power)

The relationship between Voltage, Current and Resistance in any DC electrical circuit was firstly
discovered by the German physicist Georg Ohm.

Georg Ohm found that, at a constant temperature, the electrical current flowing through a fixed
linear resistance is directly proportional to the voltage applied across it, and also inversely
proportional to the resistance. This relationship between the Voltage, Current and Resistance forms
the basis of Ohms Law and is shown below.

Ohms Law Relationship

By knowing any two values of the Voltage, Current or Resistance quantities we can use Ohms
Law to find the third missing value. Ohms Law is used extensively in electronics formulas and
calculations so it is “very important to understand and accurately remember these formulas”.

To find the Voltage, ( V )

[ V = I x R ]      V (volts) = I (amps) x R (Ω)

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To find the Current, ( I )

[ I = V ÷ R ]      I (amps) = V (volts) ÷ R (Ω)

To find the Resistance, ( R )

[ R = V ÷ I ]      R (Ω) = V (volts) ÷ I (amps)
It is sometimes easier to remember this Ohms law relationship by using pictures. Here the three
quantities of V, I and R have been superimposed into a triangle (affectionately called the Ohms
Law Triangle) giving voltage at the top with current and resistance below. This arrangement
represents the actual position of each quantity within the Ohms law formulas.

Ohms Law Triangle

 Transposing the standard Ohms Law equation above will give us the following combinations of the
same equation:

Electrical Power in Circuits

Electrical Power, ( P ) in a circuit is the rate at which energy is absorbed or produced within a circuit.
A source of energy such as a voltage will produce or deliver power while the connected load
absorbs it. Light bulbs and heaters for example, absorb electrical power and convert it into either
heat, or light, or both. The higher their value or rating in watts the more electrical power they are
likely to consume.
The quantity symbol for power is P and is the product of voltage multiplied by the current with the
unit of measurement being the Watt ( W ). Prefixes are used to denote the various multiples or sub-
multiples of a watt, such as: milliwatts (mW = 10-3W) or kilowatts (kW = 103W).
Then by using Ohm’s law and substituting for the values of V, I and R the formula for electrical
power can be found as:

To find the Power (P)

[ P = V x I ]      P (watts) = V (volts) x I (amps)
Also:
[ P = V2 ÷ R ]      P (watts) = V2 (volts) ÷ R (Ω)
Also:
[ P = I2 x R ]      P (watts) = I2 (amps) x R (Ω)

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Again, the three quantities have been superimposed into a triangle this time called a Power
Triangle with power at the top and current and voltage at the bottom. Again, this arrangement
represents the actual position of each quantity within the Ohms law power formulas.

The Power Triangle

 and again, transposing the basic Ohms Law equation above for power gives us the following
combinations of the same equation to find the various individual quantities:

Electrical Power Rating

Electrical components are given a “power rating” in watts that indicates the maximum rate at which
the component converts the electrical power into other forms of energy such as heat, light or
motion. For example, a 1/4W resistor, a 100W light bulb etc.
Electrical devices convert one form of power into another. So for example, an electrical motor will
covert electrical energy into a mechanical force, while an electrical generator converts mechanical
force into electrical energy. A light bulb converts electrical energy into both light and heat.
Also, we now know that the unit of power is the WATT, but some electrical devices such as electric
motors have a power rating in the old measurement of “Horsepower” or hp. The relationship
between horsepower and watts is given as: 1hp = 746W. So for example, a two-horsepower motor
has a rating of 1492W, (2 x 746) or 1.5kW.

Ohms Law Pie Chart

To help us understand the the relationship between the various values a little further, we can take
all of the Ohm’s Law equations from above for finding Voltage, Current, Resistance and of
course Power and condense them into a simple Ohms Law pie chart for use in AC and DC circuits
and calculations as shown.

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Ohms Law Pie Chart

 
As well as using the Ohm’s Law Pie Chart shown above, we can also put the individual Ohm’s Law
equations into a simple matrix table as shown for easy reference when calculating an unknown
value.

Ohms Law Matrix Table

Ohms Law Example No1

For the circuit shown below find the Voltage (V), the Current (I), the Resistance (R) and the Power
(P).

 
Voltage   [ V = I x R ] = 2 x 12Ω = 24V

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Current   [ I = V ÷ R ] = 24 ÷ 12Ω = 2A
Resistance   [ R = V ÷ I ] = 24 ÷ 2 = 12 Ω
Power   [ P = V x I ] = 24 x 2 = 48W
Power within an electrical circuit is only present when BOTH voltage and current are present. For
example, in an open-circuit condition, voltage is present but there is no current flow I = 0 (zero),
therefore V*0 is 0 so the power dissipated within the circuit must also be 0. Likewise, if we have a
short-circuit condition, current flow is present but there is no voltage V = 0, therefore 0*I = 0 so
again the power dissipated within the circuit is 0.
As electrical power is the product of V*I, the power dissipated in a circuit is the same whether the
circuit contains high voltage and low current or low voltage and high current flow. Generally,
electrical power is dissipated in the form of Heat (heaters), Mechanical Work such as
motors, Energy in the form of radiated (Lamps) or as stored energy (Batteries).

Electrical Energy in Circuits

Electrical Energy is the capacity to do work, and the unit of work or energy is the joule ( J ).
Electrical energy is the product of power multiplied by the length of time it was consumed. So if we
know how much power, in Watts is being consumed and the time, in seconds for which it is used,
we can find the total energy used in watt-seconds. In other words, Energy = power x time and
Power = voltage x current. Therefore electrical power is related to energy and the unit given for
electrical energy is the watt-seconds or joules.

 
Electrical power can also be defined as the rate of by which energy is transferred. If one joule of
work is either absorbed or delivered at a constant rate of one second, then the corresponding power
will be equivalent to one watt so power can be defined as “1Joule/sec = 1Watt”. Then we can say
that one watt is equal to one joule per second and electrical power can be defined as the rate of
doing work or the transferring of energy.

Electrical Power and Energy Triangle

 
or to find the various individual quantities:

We said previously that electrical energy is define as being watts per second or joules. Although
electrical energy is measured in Joules it can become a very large value when used to calculate the
energy consumed by a component.

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For example, if a 100 watt light bulb is left-“ON” for 24 hours, the energy consumed will be
8,640,000 Joules (100W x 86,400 seconds), so prefixes such as kilojoules (kJ = 103J)
or megajoules (MJ = 106J) are used instead and in this simple example, the energy consumed will
be 8.64MJ (mega-joules).
But dealing with joules, kilojoules or megajoules to express electrical energy, the maths involved
can end up with some big numbers and lots of zero’s, so it is much more easier to express electrical
energy consumed in Kilowatt-hours.
If the electrical power consumed (or generated) is measured in watts or kilowatts (thousands of
watts) and the time is measure in hours not seconds, then the unit of electrical energy will be
the kilowatt-hours,(kWhr). Then our 100 watt light bulb above will consume 2,400 watt hours or
2.4kWhr, which is much easier to understand the 8,640,000 joules.
1 kWhr is the amount of electricity used by a device rated at 1000 watts in one hour and is
commonly called a “Unit of Electricity”. This is what is measured by the utility meter and is what we
as consumers purchase from our electricity suppliers when we receive our bills.
Kilowatt-hours are the standard units of energy used by the electricity meter in our homes to
calculate the amount of electrical energy we use and therefore how much we pay. So if you switch
ON an electric fire with a heating element rated at 1000 watts and left it on for 1 hour you will have
consumed 1 kWhr of electricity. If you switched on two electric fires each with 1000 watt elements
for half an hour the total consumption would be exactly the same amount of electricity – 1kWhr.
So, consuming 1000 watts for one hour uses the same amount of power as 2000 watts (twice as
much) for half an hour (half the time). Then for a 100 watt light bulb to use 1 kWhr or one unit of
electrical energy it would need to be switched on for a total of 10 hours (10 x 100 = 1000 = 1kWhr).

Electrical Units of Measure

Electrical Units of Measurement are used to express standard electrical units along with their
prefixes when the units are too small or too large to express as a base unit.

The standard units of electrical measurement used for the expression of voltage, current and
resistance are the Volt [ V ], Ampere [ A ] and Ohm [ Ω ] respectively.

These electrical units of measurement are based on the International (metric) System, also known
as the SI System with other commonly used electrical units being derived from SI base units.

Sometimes in electrical or electronic circuits and systems it is necessary to use multiples or sub-
multiples (fractions) of these standard electrical measuring units when the quantities being
measured are very large or very small.

The following table gives a list of some of the standard electrical units of measure used in electrical
formulas and component values.

Standard Electrical Units of Measure

Electrical Measuring
Symbol Description
Parameter Unit

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Unit of Electrical Potential

Voltage Volt V or E
V = I × R

Unit of Electrical Current

Current Ampere I or i
I = V ÷ R

Unit of DC Resistance
Resistance Ohm R or Ω
R = V ÷ I

Reciprocal of Resistance
Conductance Siemen G or ℧
G = 1 ÷ R

Unit of Capacitance
Capacitance Farad C
C = Q ÷ V

Unit of Electrical Charge

Charge Coulomb Q
Q = C × V

Unit of Inductance
Inductance Henry L or H
VL = -L(di/dt)

Unit of Power
Power Watts W
P = V × I  or  I2 × R

Unit of AC Resistance
Impedance Ohm Z
Z2 = R2 + X2

Unit of Frequency
Frequency Hertz Hz
ƒ = 1 ÷ T

LEARNING ACTIVITY 2

Review and understand the derivation of the different formula from Ohm’s law to power formula.
See how these formula are used or applied in the computation and tabulation of electrical loads as shown in your reading
materials.

SUMMARY

In this module we learned about the different sources of energy and some theories of electricity and electrical systems.
Familiarized ourselves with the basic electrical terms used in the building industry and their units. We also learned the
relationship of volts, current, and resistance and saw the derivation of different formulas from Ohm’s law and power
formula.

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REFERENCES

Architectural Building Utilities 2 by George S. Salvan

Follow link:
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/dccircuits/dcp_2.html

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