Stellenbosch University Faculty of Engineering

Module Framework
© Copyright reserved: University of Stellenbosch
This document should be read with the following documents:
 Stellenbosch University Calendar Parts 1 and 11.
 Faculty of Engineering Assessment Rules
 Faculty of Engineering General Stipulations for Undergraduate Modules1

 Module: 12599 Lecturer(s): Approved by Programme

Electrotechnique 143 Dr AA du Plessis, Group 1 Coordinator:

2024 [email protected]
Ms T Hall, Group 2
[email protected] Date: 21 July 2024
Dr FM Mwaniki, Group 3
[email protected]
Dr T Ebrahim, Group 4
[email protected]
Convenor: Dr A Barnard ([email protected] )
Internal moderator: Dr JC Schoeman

1 Assessment Details
 Major assessment dates and venues are provided at mymaties.com and https://firga.sun.ac.za/timetables/
 Method of assessment as indicated in the Calendar Part 11
Calculation of final marks (according to formulas in the Faculty of Engineering’s Assessment Rules):
wSM = 15%; wA1 = 35%; w A2 = 50%
SM=weighted average of tutorial tests and practicals.

2 Language of Tuition
 The language of tuition in this module is according to the faculty’s approved Language Implementation Plan. Please refer
to the website of the Engineering Faculty or the "General Information" block on SUNLearn for the particulars.

3 Module Objectives
Aim: Introduction to circuit theory. Modelling, analysis, and design of basic direct current electric circuits.
 Introduction to basic circuit variables: Voltage, current, power, and energy.
 Introduction to basic circuit elements: Voltage and current sources (independent and dependent) and resistors.
 Ohm’s Law, Kirchhoff’s Current Law, and Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law.
 Simple resistive circuits: Resistors in series and parallel. Voltage division and current division. Wheatstone Bridge.
Delta-to-wye transformation.
 Circuit analysis techniques: The node-voltage method. The mesh-current method. Source transformations. Thévenin
and Norton equivalent circuits. Maximum power transfer. Superposition.
 Inductors, capacitors, and mutual inductance: Introduction to inductors and capacitors. Magnetic fields and electric
fields. Inductors and capacitors in series and in parallel. Mutual inductance.
 First-order RL and RC circuits: Natural and step responses of first order RL and RC circuits. General solution for step and
natural responses. Sequential switching of first order RL and RC circuits.

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Available on SUNLearn for modules offered by Faculty of Engineering, in the block titled "General Programme
Information" on the left-hand side
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A student who has successfully completed this module can:
 Understand and use basic circuit terminology, including voltage, current, power and energy.
 Understand and use the passive sign convention.
 Model direct current circuits consisting of basic circuit elements: independent voltage and current sources, dependent
voltage and current sources, and resistors.
 Use Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Current Law, and Kirchhoff's Voltage Law to analyse simple resistive circuits.
 Simplify and analyse simple resistive circuits using the rules for series and parallel resistors, voltage division and
current division, and delta-to-wye transformations.
 Design simple voltage-divider and current-divider circuits.
 Analyse a Wheatstone Bridge circuit that is used to measure resistance.
 Use the following circuit analysis techniques to solve circuits: the node-voltage method, the mesh-current method,
source transformations, Thévenin and Norton equivalent circuits, and superposition.
 Determine the required value for a load resistor to achieve maximum power transfer.
 Model the terminal behaviour of inductors and capacitors in terms of current and voltage.
 Determine the power and energy in inductor and capacitors.
 Combine inductors in series and parallel.
 Combine capacitors in series and parallel.
 Understand and use the concept of mutual inductance.
 Understand and use the dot convention for magnetically coupled inductor coils.
 Determine the natural and step responses of RL and RC circuits.
 Analyse RL and RC circuits with sequential switching.

Prior knowledge required:

 This module is the first module in the Electronics and Energy module chains.

Proceeding application:
 The knowledge developed in this module is applied further in Electrotechnique 214, Systems and Signals 214, and
Systems and Signals 244 (corequisite).

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 4 Module Content and Schedule
Prescribed textbook(s): J.W. Nilsson and S.A. Riedel; Electric Circuits, 11th edition, Pearson, 2020
Week Topic Tutorials / Practicals
1 (22 Jul) Chapter 1: Circuit Variables Tut 1 / Tut 1 test
Introduction,
1.2 SI Units (Lecture 1)
1.3 Overview of Circuit Analysis (Lecture 1)
1.4 Voltage and Current (Lecture 2)
1.5 Ideal Basic Circuit Element (Lecture 2)
1.6 Power and Energy (Lecture 2)

Chapter 2: Circuit Elements

2.1 Voltage and Current Sources (Lecture 3)
2.2 Electrical Resistance (Lecture 3)
2.3 Circuit Models (Lecture 3)
2.4 Kirchhoff’s Laws (Lecture 4)

2 (29 Jul) 2.5 Dependent Sources (Lecture 5) Practical 1

Gr2 and Gr4: Tuesday
Chapter 3: Simple Resistive Circuits Gr1 and Gr3: Wednesday
3.1 and 3.2 Resistors in Series / Parallel (Lecture 6)
3.3 Voltage-Divider and Current-Divider Circuits (Lecture 7)
3.4 Voltage Division and Current Division (Lecture 7)
3.5 Measuring Voltage and Current (Lecture 8)

3 (5 Aug) 3.6 Wheatstone Bridge (Lecture 9) (Virtual) Practical 2:

3.7 Delta-to-Wye (Lecture 9) Note: Monday follows a
Friday timetable
Chapter 4: Techniques of Circuit Analysis
4.1 Terminology: Node, Branch, Mesh, Loop (Lecture 10)
4.2 The Node-Voltage Method (Lecture 10)
4.3 The Node-Voltage Method and Dependent Sources (Lecture11)

4 (12 Aug) 4.4 The Node Voltage Method: Special Cases (Lecture 12) Tut 2 / Tut 2 test
4.5 The Mesh-Current Method (Lecture 13)
4.6 The Mesh Current Method and Dependent Sources (Lecture 14)
4.7 The Mesh-Current Method: Special Cases (Lecture 15)

5 (19 Aug) 4.8 The Node Voltage Method vs. Mesh-Current Method (Lecture 16) Practical 3
4.9 Source Transformations (Lecture 17, 18) Gr2 and Gr4: Tuesday
4.10 Thévenin and Norton Equivalents (Lecture 19) Gr1 and Gr3: Wednesday

6 (26 Aug) 4.11 More on Deriving Thévenin and Norton Equivalents (Lecture 20) Tut 3 / Tut 3 test
4.12 Maximum Power Transfer (Lecture 21)
4.13 Superposition (Lecture22)
(Thursday 31 Aug – open lecture)
2 Sep – 6 Sep Test Week

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9 Sep – 13 Sep Recess
7 (16 Sep) Additional notes - Capacitors (Lecture 23) Tut 4 / Tut 4 test
Additional notes - Inductors (Lecture 24)
Chapter 6: Inductance, Capacitance, and Mutual Inductance
6.1 The Inductor, Magnetic Fields (Lecture 25)

8 (23 Sep) 6.2 The Capacitor, Electric Fields (Lecture 26) (Virtual) Practical 4
6.3 Series and Parallel Combinations of Inductance and Capacitance 24 Sep: Heritage Day
(Lecture 27, 28)

9 (30 Sep) 6.4 Mutual Inductance (Lecture 29) Practical 5

Additional notes – Practical circuit elements (Lecture 30) Gr2 and Gr4: Tuesday
Chapter 7: First Order RL and RC Circuits Gr1 and Gr3: Wednesday
7.1 The Natural Response of an RL Circuit (Lecture 31)

10 (7 Oct) 7.1 The Natural Response of an RL Circuit (Lecture 32) Tut 5 / Tut 5 test
7.2 The Natural Response of an RC Circuit (Lecture 33, 34)

11 (14 Oct) 7.3 The Step Responses of RL and RC Circuits (Lecture 35, 36, 37) Practical 6
Gr2 and Gr4: Tuesday
Gr1 and Gr3: Wednesday

12 (21 Oct) 7.4 A General Solution for Step and Natural Responses (Lecture 38) Tut 6 / Tut 6 test
7.5 Sequential Switching of RL and RC Circuits? (Lecture 39)
(Thursday 24 Oct – open lecture)

5 ECSA Knowledge Area Credits

Mathematical Basic Sciences Engineering Design and Complementary
Sciences Sciences Synthesis Studies
0 6 9 0 0
Basic Science:
Content: Basic electrical and electromagnetic circuit elements.
Assessment: Tests and examinations.
Engineering Science:
Content: Basic electrical circuits from an engineering perspective.
Assessment: Tests and examinations.

6 ECSA Exit Level Outcomes

This module is not used to assess any ECSA Exit level Outcomes.

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 7 Other Module Specific Information

7.1 Tutorials and Tut tests (ET143)

The tutorials for all the groups (Gr1 to Gr4) will be on Wednesday afternoons (see the schedule in Section 4).
At the end of each tutorial there will be a compulsory tutorial test. The tutorial test is 30 minutes and will be
from 16:00-16:30 on the day of the tutorial. The tutorial tests are compulsory and will count as part of the SM.
For every tutorial test not written, a mark of 0 will be allocated, irrespective of the excuse. To avoid scenarios
where tutorial tests might not be marked, due to negligence on the part of those responsible for marking
tutorial tests, students are required to take a photo of all tutorial tests submitted, as proof that the tutorial test
was indeed written and so that a mark can be allocated. The lowest 2 marks obtained for either practicals or
tut tests will be disregarded for the SM. This is to accommodate for any potential scenarios (illness, family
issues, personal issues, etc.) where a student is unable to attend a tutorial test or practical, without being
negatively impacted.

7.2 Practicals (ET143)

All practicals are compulsory and must be completed satisfactory. If a practical is not completed, it will lead to
an INCOMPLETE for the module. Those who missed a practical session during the semester WITH VALID
REASONS will have an opportunity to do it during the last week of classes of the semester. Should a student fail
to utilise the additional opportunity to complete the practical session that was missed, this will result in an
incomplete for the module. A student will only be allowed to make up ONE practical that was missed. If a
student missed two or more practicals during the semester, they will receive an incomplete for the module.
Each practical will be marked and will count as part of the SM. Each practical will take place in person in the
E2029 (Ampere Laboratory in Electrical and Electronic Engineering building) and E4058 (Volt Laboratory in
Electrical and Electronic Engineering building). See the timetable for the practicals in Section 4. Please note that
CLOSED shoes must be worn when working in the laboratories. For the two Virtual Practicals students will work
in their own time and submit results electronically via the SUNLearn platform.

7.3 Repeaters
It is not compulsory for students who repeat the module to attend the tutorials. However, ALL TUTORIAL TESTS
must be written. To accommodate for clashes with other tutorial tests, repeaters can start writing their tutorial
tests at 15:30 – 16:00. Repeaters who have attended and completed ALL the practicals in 2023 successfully,
average >= 50%, do not have to attend practicals again. The historic practical marks obtained will be awarded
in that case. In scenarios where a repeater has not completed ALL practicals during their previous attempt of
the module, then ALL practicals will have to be completed again in 2024.