Lecture 2-B

Circuit Elements and Sources

E EMF Electromotive Force – Volt.

I Current

R Resistance

One volt = one amp x one ohm, or V = I x R

Circuit Loads
A load generally refers to a component or a piece of equipment connected to
the output of an electric circuit. In its fundamental form, the load is
represented by any one or a combination of the following
Quantity Symbol Unit
Voltage V Volts (V)
Current I Ampere (A)
Charge Q Coulomb (C)
Power P Watts (W)
Energy W Joules (J)
Time t seconds (s)
A load can either be of resistive, inductive or capacitive nature or a blend of them.
Table 2.2 shows the basic circuit elements along with their symbols and schematics
used in an electric circuit. The R, L and C are all passive components i.e. they do not
generate their own emf whereas the DC voltage and current sources are active
elements.
Circuit Element Symbol Schematic

Resistor R or

L
Inductor

Capacitor C

DC Voltage Source V
or

DC Current Source IS

Table 2.2, Common circuit elements and their representation in an electric circuit.
Voltage
• The force required to make electricity flow through a conductor is
called a difference in potential, electromotive force (emf), or more
simply referred to as voltage. Voltage is designated by the letter “E”
or the letter “V” The unit of measurement for voltage is volts which is
designated by the letter
• Voltage is the force that is applied to a conductor that causes
electric current to flow.
• The voltage difference between any two points in a circuit is
known as the Potential Difference,” pd” or Voltage Drop and it is
the difference between these two points that makes the current
flow. Unlike current which flows around a closed electrical circuit
in the form of electrical charge, potential difference does not
move or flow it is applied.
 Definition
• Voltage or potential difference between two points in an electric circuit is ‘1’ V if 1 J (Joule)
of energy is expended in transferring 1C of charge between those points.

• It is generally represented by the symbol “V” and measured in volts (V).

Note that the symbol and the unit of voltage are both denoted by the same letter;
however, it rarely causes any confusion.

• Voltage is always measured across a circuit element as demonstrated

in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: A voltmeter is connected in parallel with the circuit element, R to measure the voltage across it.
 Current
• Electricity is the flow of free electrons in a conductor from one
atom to the next atom in the same general direction.
•
This flow of electrons is referred to as current and is
designated by the symbol “I”.

• Current is determined by the number of electrons that pass

through a cross-section of a conductor in one second.

• The unit of current is “Ampere” whilst charge is measured in

Coulombs.
Definition of an Ampere
“The quantity of total charge that passes through an arbitrary cross section of
a conducting material per unit second is defined as an Ampere.”

Mathematically,

𝑄
I= 𝑡
or Q=It (2.1)

Where Q is the symbol of charge measured in Coulombs (C), I is the current in

amperes (A) and t is the time “t“ in seconds (s).
The current can also be defined as the rate of charge passing through a point in an electric
circuit i.e.
i = dQ/dt (2.2)

A constant current (also known as direct current or DC) is denoted by the symbol “I” where
as a time-varying current (also known as alternating current or AC) is represented by the
symbol “i (t)” .
Current is always measured through a circuit element.

Figure 2.1 demonstrates the use of an ampere-meter or ammeter in series with a circuit
element, R, to measure the current through it.

Figure 2.1: An ammeter is connected in series to measure current. I, through the element, R.
Example
Determine the current in a circuit if a charge of 80 coulombs (C)
passes a given point in 20 seconds

Q = 8O C, t = 20 s, I=?
𝑄 80
I= = = 4A
𝑡 20
electrical resistance Ohm - Ω
- the resistance between two points on a conductor when a constant
potential difference of 1 volt between them produces a current of 1 ampere.
The Standard Resistor Colour Code Chart.
The Resistor Colour Code system is all well and good but we need to understand how
to apply it in order to get the correct value of the resistor. The “left-hand” or the most
significant coloured band is the band which is nearest to a connecting lead with the
colour coded bands being read from left-to-right as follows;
Digit, Digit, Multiplier = Colour, Colour x 10 colour in Ohm’s (Ω’s)

For example, a resistor has the following coloured markings;

Yellow Violet Red = 4 7 2 = 4 7 x 102 = 4700Ω or 4.7 k
The Resistor Colour Code Table.
 Simple Electric Circuit
The following schematic is a representation of an electrical circuit, consisting
of a battery, a resistor, a voltmeter and an ammeter.
The ammeter, connected in series with the circuit, will show how much
current flows in the circuit.
The voltmeter, connected across the voltage source, will show the value of
voltage supplied from the battery.

Before an analysis can be made of a circuit, we need to understand Ohm's Law.

Sign Convention
It is common to think of current as the flow of electrons.
However, the standard convention is to take the flow of protons to determine the direction
of the current.
In a given circuit, the current direction depends on the polarity of the source voltage.
Current always flow from positive (high potential) side to the negative (low potential) side of
the source as shown in the schematic diagram of Figure 2.4(a) where VS is the source voltage,
VL is the voltage across the load and I is the loop current flowing in the clockwise direction.

Please observe that the voltage polarity and current direction in a sink is opposite to that of the source.
• In Source current leaves from the positive terminal
• In Load (Sink) current enters from the positive terminal
Ohm's Law
The relationship between current, voltage and resistance
was studied by the 19th century German mathematician,
George Simon Ohm.

Ohm formulated a law which states that:

current varies directly with voltage and inversely with
resistance. From this law the following formula is derived:

Ohm's Law is the basic formula used in all electrical circuits.

 Ohm's Law triangle
There is an easy way to remember which formula to use.
By arranging current, voltage and resistance in a triangle, one can quickly
determine the correct formula.

To use the triangle, cover the value you want to calculate.

The remaining letters make up the formula.
Ohm's Law
can only give the correct answer when the correct values are used.
Remember the following three rules:
• Current is always expressed in Amperes or Amps.
• Voltage is always expressed in Volts.
• Resistance is always expressed in Ohms.

Examples of solving Ohm's Law

Using the simple circuit below, assume that the voltage supplied by the battery is 10 volts,
and the resistance is 5 W.
• To find how much current is flowing through the circuit, cover the “I”
in the triangle and use the resulting equation.

 Using the same circuit, assume the ammeter reads 200 mA

and the resistance is known to be 10 Ω. To solve for voltage,
cover the “E” in the triangle and use the resulting equation.

Remember to use the correct decimal equivalent when dealing with numbers that
are preceded with mili (m), micro (µ) or kilo (k).
 Example
By using Ohm’s Law, the current flowing through a resistor can be
calculated as follows:
Calculate the current flowing through a 100Ω resistor that has one of its
terminals connected to 50 volts and the other terminal connected to 30
volts.
Voltage at terminal A is equal to 50v and the voltage at terminal B is
equal to 30v. Therefore, the voltage across the resistor is given as:
VA = 50v, VB = 30v, therefore, VA – VB = 50 – 30 = 20v
The voltage across the resistor is 20v, then the current flowing through
the resistor is given as:
I = VAB ÷ R = 20V ÷ 100Ω = 200mA
Ohm’s Law
states that for a Linear Circuit the current flowing through it
is proportional to the potential difference across it.
so the greater the potential difference across any two points the
bigger will be the current flowing through it.

For electrical circuits, the earth or ground potential is

usually taken to be at zero volts (0V) and everything is
referenced to that common point in a circuit.
For example,
if the voltage at one side of a 10Ω resistor measures 8V and at the other side of the resistor it
measures 5V, then the potential difference across the resistor would be 3V ( 8 - 5 ) causing a
current of 0.3A to flow. If however, the voltage on one side was increased from 8V to say 40V,
the potential difference across the resistor would now be 40V - 5V = 35V causing a current of
3.5A to flow. The voltage at any point in a circuit is always measured with respect to a
common point, generally 0V.
Resistance in a series circuit
A series circuit is formed when any number of resistors are connected end-to-
end so that there is only one path for current to flow. The resistors can be
actual resistors or other devices that have resistance. The illustration shows
four resistors connected end-to-end. There is one path of current flow from
the negative terminal of the battery through R4, R3, R2, R1 returning to the
positive terminal.
So for any number of resistors connected together in series,
dividing the supply voltage VS by the total resistance, RT will give the current flowing
through the series branch as:
I = VS /RT, (Ohm’s Law).

For series connected voltages,

Then the individual voltage drops across each resistor can be simply calculated as:
V=IxR
where R represents the resistance value.

The values of resistance add in a series circuit.

The mathematical formula for resistance in series is:
Rt = R1+R2 +R3+ R4
 example
Given a series circuit where R1 is 11 KΩ, R2 is 2 KΩ, R3 is 2 KΩ,
R4 is 100 Ω, and R5 is 1 KΩ, what is the total resistance?
Current in a series circuit
The equation for total resistance in a series circuit allows us to simplify a circuit.
Using Ohm's Law,
the value of current can be calculated. Current is the same any where it is
measured in a series circuit.
Voltage in a series circuit

Voltage can be measured across each of the resistors in a circuit.

The voltage across a resistor is referred to as a voltage drop.

In the following illustration,

four equal value resistors of 1.5 Ω each have been placed in series with a12 volt
battery. Ohm's Law can be applied to show that each resistor will “drop” an equal
amount of voltage.