FUNDAMENTAL OF

ELECTRICITY
 OHM’S LAW, POWER AND
ENERGY

Ohm’s Law as Applied to a Resistive

Circuit.
 OHM’S LAW
• EMF ( electro-motive force ) is the force
which causes electrons to flow through the
connected circuit. This force or EMF is
measured in volts and is referred to as
“ voltage”. Symbol is V or E. In this lecture,
the symbol “V” will be used so as not to
confuse “ Voltage “ with “ Energy “.
 OHM’S LAW
• A battery supplying a large number of volts
exerts a greater force on the electrons,
causing them to flow at a greater rate
through the circuit.
• The rate at which electrons flow through a
circuit is termed “ CURRENT” and is
measured in AMPERE. It is denoted by
symbol “I”.
 OHM’S LAW
• Resistance- or the opposition to the flow
of electric current. Measured in Ohms,
and is assigned the letter R, it is
abbreviated with the Greek letter, capital
“ Omega “( Ω )
• The larger the ohmic value of the resistor,
the greater the resistance to the flow of
electric current.
 OHM’S LAW
A linear relationship exists between the
applied voltage and the resulting current,
with an increase in voltage producing a
proportional increase in current. That is for
any given value of resistance, doubling the
voltage applied will double the current.
This relationship is known as Ohm’s Law
and is given by the following expression :
 OHM’S LAW

Voltage (V) = Current (I) x

Resistance (R);

I= V/R and R= V/I

 OHM’S LAW
SAMPLE PROBLEMS TO SOLVE
1. If the applied voltage is 12 Volts and the
resistance is 48 Ohms, calculate the
Current in Amperes flowing through the
48 Ohms resistor.
2. Calculate the voltage required to produce
a current of 0.75 Amp in the circuit of
Question No. 1
 OHM’S LAW

What value of resistance is

required to produce a current of
0.5 Ampere using a 12-Volt
battery?
 ELECTRICAL POWER
Electrical Power is defined as the product of
volts and amperes and is measured in
Watts ( W ). The common equations for
calculating power are :
P= EI; P= I²R and P=E²/R
Where P is Power in Watts
E= Voltage in Volts, and
I= Current in Amperes
 ELECTRICAL POWER
A Watt is a basic unit of power, but is very
small. In the electrical utility business,
Kilowatts ( KW ) and Megawatts ( MW ) are
the most common units.
Putting Power Into Perspective
One Kilowatt ( KW) = 1000 Watts
Hardware store portable generators have
ratings such as 750W, 2.5KW, or 3.5 KW.
A typical roaster oven is 1.5KW.
 Cont.- Putting Power Into
Perspective
One Horsepower (HP )= 746 Watts

With 100 HP=74.6KW, a 75 KVA

transformer is needed to run a 100 HP
motor. However, in reality a motor is only
about 80% efficient, and a 100 KVA
transformer would be needed.
 Cont.- Putting Power Into
Perspective
One Megawatt ( MW )= 1000 Kilowatts

Some of the older hydraulic stations on

small rivers have generating unit rated at
about 1MW.
Each Mitsubishi Genset in Malakal PP has a
rating of 3.40 MW while each Wartsilla has
1.75MW capacity.
Formula for Power
For Power ( in Watts ) ;
P= I²R
P= EI
P=E²/R
Formula For Current
For Current ( in Amperes )
I = P/E
I = E/R
I = √P/R
Formula for Voltage
For Voltage ( in Volts )

E = IR
E = P/I
E = √ PR
Formula for Resistance
For Resistance ( in Ohms )

R = E/I
R = E²/P
R = P/I²
 Typical Problem Solving
1. What is the current required if the voltage
specified is 120V and the power is 1200
watts.
 ELECTRICAL ENERGY
Electrical energy is the product measured at
a customer’s meter. Electrical energy is
actually power x time. In other words,
electrical energy and electrical power are
not the same thing.
-It is the product of watts and time. One
watt times one second is watt-second.
One Kilowatt times one hour is a Kilowatt-hour.
 ENERGY
As a unit, the watt is the amount of power
being used at a given instant. It is also
necessary to know how long the power is
used to determine the amount a customer
is charged for energy. Customer are billed
based on the kilowatt-hour ( KW-hr ),
where the kilowatt is the rate at which
energy is used and the hour is the length
of time the power is used.
 Putting KW-Hr into Perspective

One Kilowatt-hour will run a 1000-watt

microwave oven or a 1000-watt hair dryer
for one hour.
One liter of gasoline has the energy
equivalent of approximately 10 KW-hr.
One U.S. gallon of gasoline has the energy
equivalent of approximately 37KW-hr ).
 Cont. Putting KW-Hr in
Perspective
1000 Kilowatt-Hours
An average household in North America is
considered to use 1000 KW-Hr per month,
and this figure is often used when
comparing electric bills between utilities.
For residential rate, the energy rate in Palau
for the first 500 KW-Hr per month is 8
cents/ KW-Hr ( excluding Fuel Adjustment
Cost )
 Cont. Putting KW-Hr in
Perspective
One KW-Hr is a small unit. When utilities
and even countries are compared, the
amount of energy generated is shown in
billion kilowatt-hours.
Annual statistics for the sale or generation of
electricity are expressed in billions of KW-
Hr. The total generating capacity of the
world is approx 12,000 billion KW-Hr.
 ENERGY MEASUREMENT
KW-Hr meters are installed to measure the
kilowatt-hours used by a customer. There
is a large variety of revenue metering used
to measure other variables.
TYPES OF REVENUE METERING

There are three kinds of electrical power:

1. Real power
2. Apparent power
3. Reactive power
 UNIT OF MEASURE FOR
BILLING
Kinds of Power Power Energy
Real Power Peak KW KWh
Apparent Power Peak KVA KVAh
Reactive Power Peak KVAR KVARh
 METER AVAILABILITY
Self-contained meters- Is a meter that can be
installed without the use of current or
potential transformers. The meter can
carry the actual load current through its
coil and can use the actual service voltage
in the meter potential coil. The S-C meter
are normally 240 volts or less, but 600-volt
meters are available. Generally 200 Amp
or less, although there are higher rated
meters on the market.
 METER AVAILABILITY
Transformer-Rated meters- When current
or voltage is too high to be carried by self-
contained meter, instrument transformers
are used to send a representative current
and voltage to the meter. A transformer-
rated meter is used to measure a
representative current from the current
transformer and a representative voltage
from the potential transformer.
 METER AVAILABILITY
Primary or Secondary Metering -Some
customers buy power at a primary voltage
and use their own transformers to step it
down to a utilization voltage. A
transformer- rated meter and its
associated potential and current
transformers are used to send a
representative voltage and current from
the primary to the meter.
 ALTERNATING CURRENT (AC)
• Introduction
Alternating current (AC) became the standard
form of electrical power over Direct Current
( DC) in the pioneer days of electrical power.
AC’s Major Advantage – the easy transformation
from one voltage to another. Easy
transformation allows the voltage to be stepped
up for efficient transmission of electrical energy
over long distances.
 Characteristics of AC
• AC Basics
Current flows in a conductor as long as
there is a potential difference present. To
have a potential difference, one end of the
circuit is at an opposite pole ( polarity ) to
the other end. These polarities are labeled
as positive and negative. The direction of
the current flow in a circuit is determined
by the polarity of the source terminals.
 AC and DC Comparison
With DC, the polarity does not change and
the current flows in one direction only.
With AC, the polarity at the source
alternates between positive and negative
and the current direction changes with
every change of the source polarity.
 AC- Frequency
• In North America, alternating current
supplied by electrical utilities travels 60
times in each direction in one second. In
some other parts of the world, 50 cycles
per second is common. The term “ cycles
per second” has been replaced by the
international standard term for frequency,
which is hertz and is represented by the
symbol Hz.
 AC - Frequency
Unlike voltage or current, the frequency in a circuit
stays constant right from the generator to the
customer. When the frequency starts to drop, it
is an indicator that the generator supplying the
electrical system is overloaded and slowing. A
small reduction in frequency will trigger the
electrical system to trip out of service. A typical
range is from 59.97 to 60.03 Hz. Some systems
are set-up to start load shedding when the
frequency reaches 59.3 Hz.
REACTANCE IN AC CIRCUITS
There are three kinds of loads fed by an AC
Circuit:
1. Heating and lighting are resistive loads. A
resistive load can do work. The amount of
work being done can be measured by a
kilowatt-hour meter.
2. The energy used to magnetize a motor or a
transformer is an inductive load. An inductive
load does not generate heat or light and is not
measured by the kilowatt-hour meter.
REACTANCE IN AC CIRCUITS
3. The energy used to supply a capacitive
effect at capacitors, paralleling conductors,
or in cables is a capacitive load. A
capacitive load does not generate heat or
light and is not measured by a kilowatt-
hour meter.
REACTANCE IN AC CIRCUITS
1. A resistive load opposes the flow of
current, but so do inductive and capacitive
loads. All three types of loads oppose the
flow of current and add to the total
opposition to current flow in a circuit. This
disturbance imposed by inductive and
capacitive loads in a circuit is called
reactance. The symbol for reactance is X.
REACTANCE IN AC CIRCUITS
Reactance can be inductive reactance
( XL ) caused by loads such as motors,
transformers, fluorescent lights and
computers, or it can be capacitive
reactance (XC ) caused by capacitors or
paralleling conductors.
 IMPEDANCE IN AN AC CKT
Resistance is the only opposition to the current
flow in a DC circuit. In an AC circuit, the
opposition to current flow consists of resistance
and reactance. This combination of resistance
and reactance opposing the current flow is
referred to as impedance. Impedance is
measured in ohms and is represented by the
symbol Z. Impedance can be used
interchangeably with resistance in calculation
using Ohm’s Law.
 IMPEDANCE IN AN AC CKT
The formula is :
Z=IR , Z=E/I and I=E/Z

where E= effective voltage in volts

I= effective current in amperes
Z= total impedance in ohms.
 AC POWER
• Active Power -
The total power produced in a DC circuit is
calculated by multiplying total voltage by total
amperes. Because there is no reactance in a DC
circuit, all of the power the circuit supplies is
useful power or active power.
Active Power is also referred to as effective
power, true power or real power because this
is the power that gives light, gives heat and turns
motor. Real power can be expressed as voltage
x resistive loads.
 ACTIVE POWER
In AC circuits, power alternates at the same
rate as the voltage and current are
alternating. The power measured at a
customer’s meter is referred to as active
power. Therefore, the total active power
supplied by a circuit is equal to total
effective current x total effective voltage,
or P= IE
 ACTIVE POWER
• Active Power is measured at a customer
meter and is measured as watts or in
blocks of 1000 watts, which is kilowatts.
It is simply abbreviated as KW.
 APPARENT POWER
• The total power supplied by a circuit is
called apparent power, because in an AC
circuit all of the power does not perform
actual work. Apparent power is a
combination of active and reactive
power.
AP = ( active power)2 +( reactive power )2