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Module 1 Basic Electrical Ideas Units Part I 1

Electricity is the flow of electric charge. It is produced through various methods including static electricity generated by friction, and through piezoelectricity using pressure on crystalline materials. Key concepts in electricity include electrons as the fundamental charge carriers, and electrostatic force that causes attraction and repulsion between positive and negative charges. Many scientists throughout history made important contributions to the understanding of electricity through discoveries of concepts like Coulomb's law, Ohm's law, and Maxwell's equations.

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59 views

Module 1 Basic Electrical Ideas Units Part I 1

Electricity is the flow of electric charge. It is produced through various methods including static electricity generated by friction, and through piezoelectricity using pressure on crystalline materials. Key concepts in electricity include electrons as the fundamental charge carriers, and electrostatic force that causes attraction and repulsion between positive and negative charges. Many scientists throughout history made important contributions to the understanding of electricity through discoveries of concepts like Coulomb's law, Ohm's law, and Maxwell's equations.

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dragh meh down
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THEORY OF ELECTRICITY

What is “Electricity”?
Electricity is a natural phenomenon that occurs
throughout nature and takes many different forms.
In this tutorial we'll focus on current electricity:
the stuff that powers our electronic gadgets. Our
goal is to understand how electricity flows from a
power source through wires, lighting up LEDs,
spinning motors, and powering our
communication devices.
Electricity is briefly defined as the flow of
electric charge, but there's so much behind that
simple statement. Where do the charges come
from? How do we move them? Where do they
move to? How does an electric charge cause
mechanical motion or make things light up? So
many questions! To begin to explain what
electricity is we need to zoom way in, beyond the
matter and molecules, to the atoms that make up
everything we interact with in life.
 form of energy
 Greatest discoveries of man
 Come from the greek word “electron” which
means amber
 Electricity is all about electrons, which are the
fundamental cause of electricity
 Static Electricity - involves electrons that are
moved from one place to another, usually by
rubbing or brushing
 Current Electricity - involves the flow of
electrons in a conductor
FLOWING CHARGES
Electricity is defined as the flow of electric
charge. Charge is a property of matter--just like
mass, volume, or density. It is measurable. Just
as you can quantify how much mass something
has, you can measure how much charge it has.
The key concept with charge is that it can come
in two types: positive (+) or negative (-).
Figure 1.1 Structure of an atom
All materials are made up from atoms, and all atoms
consist of protons, neutrons and electrons. Protons,
have a positive electrical charge. Neutrons have no
electrical charge (that is they are Neutral), while
Electrons have a negative electrical charge. Atoms
are bound together by powerful forces of attraction
existing between the atoms nucleus and the electrons
in its outer shell.
When these protons, neutrons and electrons are together
within the atom they are happy and stable. But if we
separate them from each other they want to reform and
start to exert a potential of attraction called a potential
difference.
Now if we create a closed circuit these loose
electrons will start to move and drift back to the
protons due to their attraction creating a flow of
electrons. This flow of electrons is called an
electrical current. The electrons do not flow freely
through the circuit as the material they move
through creates a restriction to the electron flow.
This restriction is called resistance.
ELECTROSTATIC FORCE
The charge of electrons and protons is
important, because it provides us the means to
exert a force on them. Electrostatic force.
Electrostatic force (also called Coulomb's
law) is a force that operates between charges. It
states that charges of the same type repel each
other, while charges of opposite types are
attracted together. Opposites attract, and likes
repel.
Figure 1.2 Response of charges (attraction and
repulsion)
The amount of force acting on two charges
depends on how far they are from each other.
The closer two charges get, the greater the force
(either pushing together, or pulling away)
becomes.
Thanks to electrostatic force, electrons will
push away other electrons and be attracted to
protons. This force is part of the "glue" that
holds atoms together, but it's also the tool we
need to make electrons (and charges) flow.
MAKING CHARGES FLOW
Consider the atomic model of a copper atom, one of
the preferred elemental sources for charge flow. In its
balanced state, copper has 29 protons in its nucleus
and an equal number of electrons orbiting around it.
Electrons orbit at varying distances from the nucleus
of the atom. Electrons closer to the nucleus feel a
much stronger attraction to the center than those in
distant orbits. The outermost electrons of an atom are
called the valence electrons, these require the least
amount of force to be freed from an atom.
Figure 1.3 Copper atom diagram
This is a copper atom diagram: 29 protons in
the nucleus, surrounded by bands of circling
electrons. Electrons closer to the nucleus are hard
to remove while the valence (outer ring) electron
requires relatively little energy to be ejected from
the atom.
Using enough electrostatic force on the
valence electron--either pushing it with another
negative charge or attracting it with a positive
charge--we can eject the electron from orbit
around the atom creating a free electron.
Figure 1.4 A very simplified model of charges flowing
through atoms to make current.
STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM (BOHR
ATOMIC MODEL)

Figure 1.5 Structure of an atom


Electrons – negatively charged particles that
revolve around the nucleus of an atom. Electron is
one of the lightest particles with a known mass.
The mass of one electron is about 9.11 𝑥 10−31𝑘𝑔.

𝑁=2𝑛2

Where: 𝑁=𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛


𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑛=𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚
EXAMPLE 1.1:
Determine the maximum number of electrons
that can exist in the third shell of an atom?
❖ Protons – positively charged particles that stays in the nucleus of
an atom. Protons is very small, but it is fairly massive compared to
the other particles that make up matter. The mass of one proton is
1.673 𝑥 10−27𝑘𝑔 .
❖ Neutrons – particles having no charge. Neutrons are about same
size as protons but their mass is slightly greater, 1.675 𝑥 10−27𝑘𝑔 .
❖ Nucleus – the central part of the atom where the protons and
neutrons are located.
❖ Atomic Number – represents the number of electrons or protons
of an atom.
❖ Atomic Mass – represents the sum of protons and neutrons of an
atom.
❖ Valence electrons – electrons found in the outermost shell or
orbit of an atom.
MILESTONES OF ELECTRIC
CIRCUIT THEORY
Many early scientists have made great contributions in
developing the theorems of electrical circuits. The laws and
physical quantities that they discovered are named after them, and
all are important milestones in the field of electric engineering. The
following are some of the most common people in this course.

 Coulomb is the unit of electric charge; it was named in honor of


Charles Augustin de Coulomb (1736–1806), a French physicist.
Coulomb developed Coulomb’s law, which is the definition of the
electrostatic force of attraction and repulsion, and the principle of
charge interactions (attraction or repulsion of positive and
negative electric charges).
 Faraday is the unit of capacitance; it was named
in honor of Michael Faraday (1791–1867), an
English physicist and chemist. He discovered that
relative motion of the magnetic field and conductor
can produce electric current, which we know today
as the Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction.
Faraday also discovered that the electric current
originates from the chemical reaction that occurs
between two metallic conductors.
 Ampere is the unit of electric current; it was named
in honor of Andre´-Marie Ampe`re (1775–1836), a
French physicist. He was one of the main
discoverers of electromagnetism and is best known
for defining a method to measure the flow of current.

Ohm is the unit of resistance; it was named in honor


of Georg Simon Ohm (1789–1854), a German
physicist. He established the relationship between
voltage, current, and resistance, and formulated the
most famous electric circuit law—Ohm’s law.
Volt is the unit of voltage; it was named in
honor of Alessandro Volta (1745– 1827), an
Italian physicist. He constructed the first
electric battery that could produce a reliable,
steady current.

Watt is the unit of power; it was named in


honor of James Watt (1736–1819), a Scottish
engineer and an inventor. He made great
improvements in the steam engine and made
important contributions in the area of magnetic
fields.
 Lenz’s law was named in honor of Heinrich Friedrich Emil
Lenz (1804–1865), a Baltic German physicist. He
discovered that the polarity of the induced current that is
produced in the conductor of the magnetic field always
resists the change of its induced voltage; this is known as
Lenz’s law.

 Maxwell is the unit of magnetic flux; it was named in


honor of James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), a Scottish
physicist and mathematician. The German physicist
Wilhelm Eduard Weber (1804–1891) shares the honor with
Maxwell (1 Wb ¼ 108 Mx). Maxwell had established the
Maxwell’s equations that represent perfect ways to state
the fundamentals of electricity and magnetism.
Hertz is the unit of frequency; it was named in
honor of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857–1894), a
German physicist and mathematician. He was the
first person to broadcast and receive radio waves.
Through the low-frequency experiment, Hertz
confirmed Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory.

Henry is the unit of inductance; it was named in


honor of Joseph Henry (1797– 1878), a Scottish-
American scientist. He discovered self-induction
and mutual inductance.
Joule is the unit of energy; it was named
in honor of James Prescott Joule (1818–
1889), an English physicist. He made
great contributions in discovering the law
of the conservation of energy. This law
states that energy may transform from one
form into another, but is never lost.
Joule’s law was named after him and
states that heat will be produced in an
electrical conductor.
HOW IS ELECTRICITY
PRODUCED?
A. Electricity Produced from Frictional Energy
(Static Electricity)

Figure 1.6 Static electricity


B. Electricity produced from Pressure
Electricity produced from pressure is called
piezoelectricity, which is produced by certain
crystalline materials such as quartz and barium
titanate. If a crystal made of this material is placed
between two metal plates and pressure is exerted
on the plates, an electric charge will be developed
but the amount of charge will depend on the
amount of pressure exerted.
C. Electricity Produced from Heat

Figure 1.7 Electricity from heat


D. Electricity Produced from Chemical Reaction

Figure 1.8 Electricity produced from chemical reaction


E. Electricity Produced from Light

Figure 1.9 Solar panels


F. Electricity Produced from Magnetism
Electricity produced by relative movement of
a magnet and a wire that result in the cutting of
lines of force. The amount of electricity produced
will depend on:
a. the number of turns in coil
b. the speed with which relative motions of the
coil and the magnet take place
c. the strength of the magnet
Figure 1.10 Simple electric generator

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