ELECTRIC CIRCUITS 2 WEEK 2 LESSON

INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRICITY
Honesty
Honesty is the quality or condition of being
truthful, sincere, candid, and worthy of honor. The
word honesty is related to other words with the
same roots such as honor and honorable. These
expressions share the notion of being genuine,
trustworthy, upright, respectable, and decent.
Cheating in academic work is unprincipled,
dishonest, and a form of self-deception or
betrayal.
No student can be hope to ultimately succeed in
a career or profession if he or she builds upon a
foundation of fraud.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After completing this unit, you are
expected to:

1. define electricity.
2. name some scientists who contributed to the development of
electricity and electronics.
3. discuss the scientist’s contributions to electricity and electronics.
4. quote some applications of electricity and electronics.
5. identify various electrical components.
6. use metric prefixes in simplifying large and small numbers.
7. perform mathematical operations involving powers of ten and
metric prefixes.
8. identify the SI units of mass, force, weight, work, power and
energy.
9. discuss the difference between direct current and alternating
current.
 ILOs TLAs ATs
1. define electricity.
2. name some scientists who
contributed to the
1. Lecture
development of electricity
and electronics. 2. Discussion 1. Recitation
3. discuss the scientist’s
contributions to electricity 3. PowerPoint 2. Seatwork
4.
and electronics.
quote some applications of Presentation 3. Assignment
electricity and electronics.
5. identify various electrical
components.
4. Problem Set
6. use metric prefixes in
simplifying large and small 5. Objective Test
numbers.
7. perform mathematical
operations involving
powers of ten and metric
prefixes.
8. identify the SI units of
mass, force, weight, work,
power and energy.
9. discuss the difference
between direct current and
alternating current.
 Important Terms

electricity semiconductor
static electricity active element
dynamic electricity passive element
resistor electrical quantities
resistance metric prefixes
inductor direct current
inductance alternating current
transformer
Definition of Electricity

Electricity is a physical
phenomenon arising from
the existence and interaction
of electric charge. It is a
form of energy generated by
friction, heat, light,
magnetism, chemical
reaction, etc.
 Two Types of Electricity:

• Static electricity – electricity at rest. It

cannot flow from one place to another.

•Dynamic electricity – also known as

current electricity. Electricity in motion. It
can be transmitted from one place to the
other.
 Methods of Producing Electricity

There are six methods for producing

electricity:
1.Magnetism
2.Chemical reaction
3.Pressure
4.Heat
5.Friction
6.Light
A piezoelectric disk generates a voltage
when deformed (change in shape is
greatly exaggerated)
A thermoelectric generator (TEG), also called a Seebeck generator, is a solid state
device that converts heat flux (temperature differences) directly into electrical energy
through a phenomenon called the Seebeck effect (a form of thermoelectric effect).
Electrical Effects

With the exception of friction, electricity can

be used to cause the same effects that cause
it.
1.Magnetism
2.Chemical action
3.Pressure
4.Heat
5.Light
 History of Electricity and Electronics

Picture Contributions to the

Use short bond paper development of
electricity and
See edmodo for the electronics/inventions/
front page discoveries

Title: Scientists and

their Contributions to the
Development of
Electricity and Electronics Name
(Year born-died)
For example:

He used the Latin word

Use short bond paper elektron for amber and
originated the word
See edmodo for the front electrica for the other
page
substances that acted
Title: Scientists and their similar to amber.
contributions to the
development of electricity

William Gilbert (1540-

1603).
Applications of Electricity and Electronics

Computers

Communications
Automation Medicine
Consumer Products
Circuit Components

Resistors

These can be the carbon-composition type or

wound with special resistance wire. Their
function is to limit the amount of current or
divide the voltage in a circuit.
Capacitors
A capacitor is constructed of two conductor plates
separated by an insulator (called a dielectric). Its
basic function is to concentrate the electric field of
voltage across the dielectric. As a result, the capacitor
can accumulate and store electric charge from the
voltage source. Furthermore, the dielectric can
discharge the stored energy when the charging source
is replaced by a conducting path.
When ac voltage is applied, the capacitor charges and
discharges as the voltage varies. The practical
application of this effect is the use of capacitors to pass
an ac signal but to block a steady dc voltage.
Inductors
An inductor is just a coil of wire. Its basic function is to
concentrate the magnetic field of electric current in the
coil. Most important, an induced voltage is generated
when the current with its associated magnetic field
changes in value or direction. Inductors are often called
chokes.

In the practical application of a choke, the inductor can

pass a steady current better than alternating current. The
reason is that a steady current cannot produce induced
voltage. Note that the effect of a choke, passing a steady
current, is the opposite of that of a coupling capacitor,
which blocks dc voltage.
Transformers

Semiconductor Devices
 Active and Passive Elements

Active elements - are capable of delivering

power to some external device.
Examples: dependent and independent voltage
and current sources

Passive elements – are capable of receiving

power. They are able to store to store finite
amounts of energy and then return that energy
later to various external devices. Examples are
resistors, inductors, and capacitors.
Measuring Instruments
Electrical Quantities and Units with SI Symbols
Quantity Symbol Unit Symbol
Capacitance
C
Conductance
Current
joule
Frequency
henry
watt
ohm
volt
 Commonly Used Metric Prefixes in Electricity
Power of Value Metric Prefix Metric Symbol
Ten
109 one billion giga G
106 one million mega M
103 one thousand kilo k
10-3 one-thousandth milli m
10-6 one-millionth micro 
10-9 one-billionth nano n
10-12 one-trillionth pico p
EXAMPLE: Express the following as a quantity having a
metric prefix

1) 89 x 10-9 F
2) 270 x 10-6 A
3) 385 x 103 V
4) 375 x 103 x 103 V
5) 62000000000 Ω
6) 0.00000000543 F
EXAMPLE: Add the following. Show your solution.

1) 2350000 V + 450 kV = _______ kV

2) 440 mA + 640000 µA = ________ mA
3) 5.7 MW + 498200 kW = ________ MW
4) 8923 V + 99 kA = __________ kW
MORAL LESSON
 Comparison of AC and DC

Direct Current

The DC electricity, flows in one direction. The

flow is said to be from negative to positive. The
normal source of a DC electricity, is the dry cell
or storage battery.
Alternating Current.

The AC electricity constantly reverses its direction of

flow. It is generated by machine called generator. This
type of current is universally accepted because of its
limited number of applications with the following
advantages.
•It is easily produced.
•It is cheaper to maintain.
•It could be transformed into higher voltage.
•It could be distributed to far distance with low
voltage drop.
•It is more efficient compared with the direct current.

See multisim DC and AC in oscilloscope

 Comparison of DC Voltage and AC Voltage
DC Voltage AC Voltage

Fixed Polarity Reverses polarity

Can be steady or vary in Varies between reversals in

magnitude polarity
Steady value cannot be stepped Can be stepped up or down
up or down by a transformer for electric power
distribution
Easier to measure Easier to amplify
Heating effect is the same in AC and DC

See multisim lamp in AC and DC circuit

MORAL LESSON
The War of Currents
Thomas Edison, a prolific inventor in the 19th and
20th centuries, holds the record for the most U.S.
patents by one person. When it came to
technology, he was usually a winner. But there was
one important area where Edison lost - and lost
badly. It was called the 'War of Currents,' and it
pitted Edison and his support for direct current
(DC) electricity against engineers like George
Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla, who supported
alternating current (AC).
In the 1880s, incandescent lighting was
the main goal, and DC was just as good as
AC. But a storm was brewing, and it
centered on which type of power, AC or
DC, would be best for power generation,
electric motors, and power transmission.
The war came to a head in 1893, when the
contract to provide electricity to the Chicago
World's Fair was awarded to Westinghouse,
whose proposal, using AC, came in over 30%
cheaper than Edison's. In that same year, the
Niagara Falls Power Company decided to go with
AC power generation for the city of Buffalo and
signed with Westinghouse and Tesla as well.
These two major victories were part of the
changes taking place rapidly in the 1890s that set
our country on a path toward AC power.