Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Electrical charge
There is a force (F) between electrical charges. Like
charges repel; unlike charges attract.
• The force is directly proportional to charge.
• The force is inversely proportional to square of distance.

_
+ + +

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Voltage
Force is required to move a charge
+ - against the electric field.
+ - When force is applied over a
+ - distance, work is done. Work done
+ - in moving a charge against the
e-
electric field leads to the definition
+ -
of voltage:
+ -
+ - Voltage is the work per charge
+ - done against the electric field.
+ -
Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall
Chapter 2
Summary
Voltage

The defining equation for voltage is

W
V
Q

One volt is the potential difference (voltage) between

two points when one joule of energy is used to move
one coulomb of charge from one point to the other.

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Voltage

Voltage is responsible for establishing current.

e-
Sources of voltage +
e-

include batteries, solar

Zinc Copper
cells, and generators. (anode)
-
(cathode)
-
Zn2+ Zn + 2e Cu 2+ + 2e Cu
A Cu-Zn battery, such
as you might construct
in a chemistry class, is ZnSO4
solution

shown. Porous
barrier
CuSO4
solution

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Voltage

Ideally, a voltage source can provide a constant

voltage for any current required by a circuit.
The IV curve for an I
ideal voltage source has
a constant voltage for all
current.
In practice, ideal sources
do not exist, but they can
be closely approximated
by actual sources. V

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Current
Current (I) is the amount of charge (Q) that flows past
a point in a unit of time (t). The defining equation is:
Q
I
t
One ampere is a number of electrons having a total charge of 1 C
moving through a given cross section in 1 s.

What is the current if 2 C passes a point in 5 s? 0.4 A

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Current

Ideally, a current source can provide a constant

current for any load.
The IV curve for an I
ideal current source has
a constant current as
indicated by the straight
line.

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Resistance
Resistance is the opposition to current.
One ohm (1 ) is the resistance if one ampere (1 A) is in a
material when one volt (1 V) is applied.
Conductance is the reciprocal of resistance.
1
G
R
Components designed to have a specific amount of resistance are
called resistors. Color bands
Resistance material
(carbon composition)
Insulation coating

Leads

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Resistance Color Digit Multiplier Tolerance

color-code Black 0 10 0

Brown 1 10 1 1% (five band)

Resistance value, first three bands: Red 2 10 2 2% (five band)

Orange 3 10 3
First band – 1st digit Yellow 4 10 4

Second band – 2nd digit Green 5 10 5

Blue 6 10 6

Violet 7 10 7

*Third band – Multiplier (number of Gray 8 10 8

White 9 10 9

zeros following second digit)

Gold ±5% 10 -1 5% (four band)

Fourth band - tolerance Silver ±10% 10 -2 10% (four band)

No band ±20%

* For resistance values less than 10 , the third band is either gold or silver.
Gold is for a multiplier of 0.1 and silver is for a multiplier of 0.01.

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary

What is the resistance and tolerance of

each of the four-band resistors?

5.1 k± 5%
k± 10%
47  ± 10%
1.0  ± 5%

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Alphanumeric Labeling

• Two or three digits, and one of the letters R, K, or M are

used to identify a resistance value.

• The letter is used to indicate the multiplier, and its position

is used to indicate decimal point position.

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Variable resistors
Variable resistors include the potentiometer and
rheostat. The center terminal of a variable resistor is
connected to the wiper. R
3
1 2
Shaft

Wiper Variable resistor

Resistive (potentiometer)
element

To connect a potentiometer as a rheostat, one of Variable resistor

the outside terminals is connected to the wiper. (rheostat)

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
The electric circuit

A basic electric circuit consists of

1) a voltage source
2) a path
3) a load.
An example of a basic circuit is a flashlight, which has
each of these plus a control element – the switch.
Switch Metal strip

Metal reflector Spring

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
The electric circuit

Circuits are described pictorially with schematics.

For example, the flashlight can be represented by
Switch

Battery Lamp
(2 cells)

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Switches

Switches are commonly used to control circuits by

either mechanical or electronic means.
The pole refers to the movable arm of a switch.
The throw refers to the number of contacts that are
affected by a single switch action.

SPST SPDT DPST DPDT

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
The DMM

The DMM (Digital

Multimeter) is an OFF VH

important multipurpose Hz

VH

instrument which can mV H

measure voltage, current, A

V

and resistance. Many 10 A V

include other 40 mA COM

measurement options.

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Summary
Analog meters

An analog multimeter is
also called a VOM (volt-
ohm-milliammeter).
Analog meters measure
voltage, current, and
resistance. The user must
choose the range and
read the proper scale.
Photo courtesy of Triplett Corporation

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall

Chapter 2
Selected Key Terms
Conductance The ability of a circuit to allow current. The unit
is the siemans (S).

Coulomb The unit of electrical charge.


Current The rate of flow of electrical charge.

Electron A basic particle of electrical charge in matter.

The electron possesses a negative charge.

Ground The common or reference point in a circuit.

Ohm () The unit of resistance.

Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall
Chapter 2
Selected Key Terms
Potentiometer A three-terminal variable resistor.

Resistance The opposition to current. The unit is the ohm ().

Rheostat A two-terminal variable resistor.

Siemens The unit of conductance.

Volt The unit of voltage or electromotive force.

Voltage The amount of energy per charge available to

move electrons from one point to another in an
electric circuit.
Electric Circuits Fundamentals - Floyd © Copyright 2007 Prentice-Hall