Motivation

Electrical circuits seem to be everywhere!

 What is an Electric Circuit?
• In electrical engineering, we are usually interested in
transferring energy or communicating signals from one point to
another.

To do this, we often require an interconnection of

electrical components.

“An electric circuit is an interconnection of

electrical components.”

• Typical circuit or electrical components that we will see in this

year:
batteries or voltage sources, current sources,
resistors, switches, capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors,
operational
amplifiers, …
 What is an Electric Circuit?
• According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
“The complete path of an electric current including usually the source of
electric energy.”

• According to Encyclopedia Britannica:

“Path that tranits electric current.”

“A circuit includes a battery or a generator that gives energy to the

charged particles; devices that use current, such as lamps, motors, or
electronic computers; and connecting wires or tranission lines. Circuits
can be classified according to the type of current they carry (see
alternating current, direct current) or according to whether the current
remains whole (series) or divides to flow through several branches
simultaneously (parallel). Two basic laws that describe the performance
of electric circuits are Ohm's law and Kirchhoff's circuit rules."
A Simple Circuit
 A More Complicated Circuit

A Radio Receiver
 System of Units

The International System of Units, or Système

International des Unités (SI), also known as metric
system uses 7 mutually independent base units. All other
units are derived units.

SI Base Units
6
SI Prefixes

7
 Review of Basic Circuit Concepts
• Electric Charge is the basis for describing electrical
all phenomena .
• Charge is an electrical property of the atomic particles of which
matter consists and is measured in coulombs (Charles Augustin
de Coulomb (1736-1806) a French Scientist)

• Inside an atom, there is negative charge on electrons, positive

charge on protons and no charge on neutrons.

• The charge of an electron is equal to that of an proton and is:

e =1.602  10 -19 C
8
 Charge
• Note that in 1C of charge there are:
1/ 1.602  10 -19 = 6.24  10 18 electrons

• Laboratory values of charges are more likely to be a fraction of a

Coulumb (e.g., pC, nC, C, or mC).

• Law of conservation of charge: charge can neither be created

nor destroyed, only transferred. (This is a law in classical
physics and may not be true in some odd cases!. We are not
dealing with those cases anyway.)

• Electrical effects are attributed to both separation of charges

and/or charges in motion!

9
 A Material Classification
• Conductor: a material in which charges can move
to neighboring atoms with relative ease.
– One measure of this relative ease of charge movement is
the electric resistance of the material
– Example conductor material: metals and carbon
– In metals the only charged particles that can
move are electrons
• Insulator: a material that opposes the charge
movement (ideally infinite opposition, i.e., no charge
movement)
– Example insulators: Dry air and glass
• Semi-conductor: a material whose conductive properties are
somewhat in between those of conductor and insulator
– Example semi-conductor material: Silicon with some added
impurities
10
 Electric Current (Charges in Motion!)
• Current: net flow of charge across any cross section of a
conductor, measured in Amperes (Andre-Marie Ampere (1775-
1836), a French mathematician and physicist)

• Current can be thought of as the rate of change of charge:

dq
i
dt
11
 Electric Current
• Originally scientists (in particular Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
an American scientist and inventor) thought that current is only
due to the movement of positive charges.

• Thus the direction of the current was considered the direction of

movement of positive charges.
current

12
 Electric Current
• In reality in metallic conductors current is due to the movement
of electrons, however, we follow the universally accepted
convention that current is in the direction of positive charge
movement.

• Two ways of showing the same current:

13
 Two Important Types of Current
• Direct current (DC) is a current that remains constant with time.
• Alternating current (AC) is a current that varies sinusoidally with
time.

14
Magnitude of Some Typical Currents

15
 Voltage (Separation of Charge)
• Voltage (electromotive force, or potential) is the energy required
to move a unit charge through a circuit element, and is
measured in Volts (Alessandro Antonio Volta (1745-1827) an
Italian Physicist).

dW
v
dq
• Similar to electric current, there are two important
types of
16
voltage: DC and AC
Typical Voltage Magnitudes

17
 Voltage
• “Voltage between two points in a circuit is the
difference in energy level of a unit charge located at each of
the two points.

• Voltage is very similar to a gravitational force.

• Some examples:

18
 Voltage Polarity
• The plus (+) and minus (-) sign are used to define voltage
polarity.
• The assumption is that the potential of the terminal with (+)
polarity is higher than the potential of the terminal with (-)
polarity by the amount of voltage drop.

• The polarity assignment is somewhat arbitrary! Is this a scientific

statement?!! What do you mean by arbitrary?!!!
19
 Voltage Polarity
• Figures (a) and (b) are two equivalent representation of
the same voltage:

• Both show that the potential of terminal a is 9V higher than the

potential of terminal b.
 Power
• The rate of change of (expending or absorbing) energy per unit
time, measured in Watts (James Watt (1736-1819) a Scottish
inventor and mechanical engineer)

dW dW dq
p    vi
dt dq dt
 A Classification of Circuit Components
• One common classification for circuit components is to group
them in two major groups:

1) Passive components or passive elements

Components or elements that absorb power.

2) Active components or active elements

Components that are not passive! that is, components
that deliver power.
 Passive Sign Convention
• For calculating absorbed power: The power absorbed by any
circuit element with terminals A and B is equal to the voltage
drop from A to B multiplied by the current through the element
from A to B, i.e., P  V ab  I a b I ab
a b
+ -
V ab
• With this convention if P  0, then the element is absorbing

(consuming) power. Otherwise (i.e.,P  0 ) is absorbing negative

power or actually generating (delivering) power.
 Tellegan’s Theorem
• Principle of Conservation of the Power: The algebraic sum of
the powers absorbed by all elements in a circuit is zero at any
instance of time (ΣP=0). That is, the sum of absorbed powers is
equal to the sum of generated powers at each instance of time.

• This principle is also known as Tellegan’s theorem.

(Bernard
D.H. Tellegan (1900-1990), a Dutch electrical engineer)

• Similarly, one can write the principle of conservation of energy.

 Passive Sign Convention
• Calculate power absorbed or supplied by each of
the
following elements:
the
 Example
• Given the two diagrams shown below, determine whether the
element is absorbing or supplying power and how much.
 Example
• Determine the unknown voltage or current in the
following figures:
 Example
• Suppose that your car is not starting. To determine whether the
battery is faulty, you turn on the light switch and find that the
lights are very dim, indicating a weak battery. You borrow a
friend's car and a set of jumper cables. However, how do you
connect his car's battery to yours? What do you want his battery
to do?
 Energy Calculation
• Instantaneous power: p(t)  v(t)i(t)
i(t)

+
Circuit element
Remainder
v(t) consuming/generating
of Circuit
power p(t)
-

• Energy absorbed or supplied by an element from time t0 to

t>t
time0
t t
W  W (t0 ,t)


p( )d 
t 0 v( t0  
 )i( )d
 Circuit Elements
• Circuit components can be broadly classified as being
either
active or passive.

• An active element is capable of generating energy.

– Example: current or voltage sources

• A passive element is an element that does not generate energy,

however, they can either consume or store energy.
– Example: resistors, capacitors, and inductors
 (Ideal) Voltage and Current Sources
• Independent sources: An (ideal) independent source is an
active element that provides a specified voltage or current that
is independent of other circuit elements and/or how the source
is used in the circuit.
• Symbol for independent voltage source
(a) Used for constant or time-varying voltage
(b) Used for constant voltage (dc)

Question: Plot the v-i characteristic of the above dc

source.
 Ideal Voltage and Current Sources
• Equivalent representation of ideal independent current sources
whose current i(t) is maintained under all voltage requirements
of the attached circuit:

• What is the equivalent of the ideal voltage source shown on the

previous slide (Figure (a))?
Common Voltage and Current Source Labeling

• Is this different from passive sign convention?

• Can we use the passive convention for
sources
 Example
• Determine the power absorbed or supplied by the elements of
the following network:
 Ideal Dependent (Controlled) Source
• An ideal dependent (controlled) source is an active element
whose quantity is controlled by a voltage or current of another
circuit element.

• Dependent sources are usually presented by diamond-shaped

symbols:
 Dependent (Controlled) Source
• There are four types of dependent
sources:

• Voltage-controlled voltage source (VCVS)

I(t)
+
V(t) +
Vs
- (t)=V(t)
-

• Current-controlled voltage source

(CCVS)
I(t)
+
V(t) +
Vs(t)=I(t)
-
-
 Dependent (Controlled) Source
• Voltage-controlled current source (VCCS)
I(t)

+
V(t) Is(t)=V(t)
-

• Current-controlled current source

(CCCS)
I(t)
+
V(t) Is(t)=I(t)
-
 Example: Dependent Source
• In the following circuits, identify the type of dependent
sources:
 Example: Power Calculation
• Compute the power absorbed or supplied by each component in
the following circuit.
 Example
• Use Tellegan’s theorem to find the current I0 in the following
circuit:
 Example
• The charge that enters the BOX is shown below. Calculate and
sketch the current flowing into the BOX and the power absorbed
by the BOX between 0 and 10 milliseconds.
Notes
 Example
• A third-generation iPod® with a 630 mAh Lithium-ion battery is
to be recharged from a high-power USB port supplying 150 mA
of current. At the beginning of the recharge, 7.8 C of charge are
stored in the battery. The recharging process halts when the
stored charge reaches 35.9 C. How long does it take to
recharge the battery?
 Resistance
• Different material allow charges to move within them with
different levels of ease. This physical property or ability to resist
current is known as resistance.

• The resistance of any material with a uniform cross-sectional

area A and length l is inversely proportional to A and directly
proportional to l.
 Resistance

l
R A
• The of the proportionality is the resistivity of the
constant
l
material, i.e.,  R
A
 Resistance
• In honor of George Simon Ohm (1787-1854), a
physicist, the
German
unit of resistance is named Ohm
().

• A conductor designed to have a specific resistance is called a

resistor.
 Ohm’s Law
• The voltage v across a resistor is directly proportional to the
current i flowing through the resistor. The
proportionality
constant is the resistance of the resistor, i.e., v(t)  Ri(t)

• One can also write:

1
i(t)  R v(t)  i(t) 
Gv(t)
• Instantaneous power dissipated in a
resistor
v (t)
2
p(t)  v(t)i(t)   Ri 2 (t)
R
 Linear and Nonlinear Resistors

• Linear resistor Nonlinear resistor

• In this course, we assume that all the elements that

are designated as resistors are linear (unless mentioned
otherwise)
 Resistors (Fixed and Variable)
• Fixed resistors have a resistance that remains
constants.
• Two common type of fixed resistors are:
(a) wirewound
(b) composition (carbon film type)
 Fixed Resistors
• Inside the resistor

• A common type of resistor that you will work with in your

labs:
• It has 4 color-coded bands (3 for value and one for
tolerance)
– How to read the value of the resistor?
 Variable Resistors
• Variable resistors have adjustable resistance and are typically
called potentiometer (or pot for short).

• Potentiometers have three terminals one of which is a sliding

contact or wiper.
 Conductance
• G=1/R called the conductance of the element and is
measured
is in siemens (S) or mho ( ).


German inventor
Ernst Werner von Siemens
(1816-1892)

• Conductance is the
ability of an element to
conduct current..
• A device with zero (no) resistance has infinite conductance and
a device with infinite resistance has zero conductance.
 Short and Open Circuits
• A device with zero resistance is called short circuit and a device
with zero conductance (i.e., infinite resistance) is called open-
circuit.


 Example
• The power absorbed by the 10-kΩ resistor in the following circuit
is 3.6 mW. Determine the voltage and the current in the circuit.
 Example
• Given the following network, find R and VS.
 Example
• Given the following circuit, find the value of the voltage source
and the power absorbed by the resistance.
 Wheatstone Bridge
• A Wheatstone Bridge circuit is an accurate device for measuring
resistance. The circuit, shown below, is used to measure the
unknown resistor Rx. The center leg of the circuit contains a
galvanometer (a very sensitive device used to measure current).
When the unknown resistor is connected to the bridge, R3 is
adjusted until the current in the galvanometer is zero, at which
point the bridge is balanced.
 Wheatstone Bridge
• In the balanced condition:
R R
1 2
R3  Rx
That is:
 R2  3
R   R R
x
 1
• Invented by Samuel Hunter Christie (1784–1865), a
British scientist and mathematician.

• Improved and popularized by Sir Charles Wheatstone

FRS (1802–1875), an English scientist and inventor
 Wheatstone Bridge
• Engineers use the Wheatstone bridge circuit to measure strain
in solid material. For example, in a system used to determine
the weight of a truck (shown below). The platform is supported
by cylinders on which strain gauges are mounted. The strain
gauges, which measure strain when the cylinder deflects under
load, are connected to a Wheatstone bridge.
 Wheatstone Bridge
• Typically, the strain gauge has a resistance of 120Ω under no-
load conditions and changes value under load. The variable
resistor in the bridge is a calibrated precision device.
 Terminology (Nodes and Branches)
• Note: our definition of nodes (and branches) is slightly different
from traditional definitions used in the textbooks!

• Please note that almost all components that we deal with in

this course are two-terminal components (resistors, sources,
…)

• A “true node” (or node for short) is the point of connection of

three or more circuit elements. (The node includes the
interconnection wires.)

• A “binary node” (or b-node for short) has only two components
connected to it.
 Example
• In the following circuit identify the nodes (and their
types).
 Example
• Are the following two circuits different? Identify the nodes (and
their types) in each circuit.
 Branch
• A branch is a collection of elements that are connected between
two “true nodes” that includes only those two true nodes (and
does not include any other true nodes).

• In our example:
 Loop
• A “loop” is any closed path in the circuit that does not cross any
true node but once.

• A “window pane loop” is a loop that does not contain any other
loops inside it.

• An “independent loop” is a loop that contains at least

one branch that is not part of any other independent loop.
 Example
• In the following circuit, find the number of branches, nodes, and
window pane loops. Are the window pane loops independent?
 Series and Parallel Connections
• Two or more elements are connected “in series” when they
belong to the same branch.(even if they are separated by other
elements).
• In general, circuit elements are in series when they are
sequentially connected end-to-end and only share binary nodes
among them.
• Elements that are in series carry the same current.
 Series and Parallel Circuits
• Two or more circuit elements are “in parallel” if they
are connected between the same two “true nodes”.

• Consequently, parallel elements have the same voltage

 Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)
• Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887), a German physicist,
stated two basic laws concerning the relationship between the
currents and voltages in an electrical circuit.

• KCL: The algebraic sum of the currents entering a node (or a

closed boundary) is zero.

• The current entering a node may be regarded as positive while

the currents leaving the node may be taken as negative or vice
versa.
 KCL
• KCL is based on the law of conservation of charge.

• Example: Write the KCL for the node A inside this black box
circuit:

i4 A
i1
i3 i2

Black box circuit

 KCL

• Alternative statement of KCL: For lumped circuits, the

algebraic sum of the currents leaving a node (or a closed
boundary) is zero.

• Can you think of another statement for KCL?

The sum of the currents entering a node is equal to the sum of
the currents leaving that node.

Σiin=Σiout
 Example
• The following network is represented by its topological diagram.
Find the unknown currents in the network.
 Example
• In the following circuit, find ix.
 Closed Boundary
• A closed boundary is a closed curve (or surface), such as a
circle in a plane (or a sphere in three dimensional space) that
has a well-defined inside and outside.
• This closed boundary is sometimes called supernode or more
formally a Gauss surface.

• Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss

(1777-1855)
German mathematician
 KCL Example
• Draw an appropriate closed boundary to find I in the following
graphical circuit representation.

2A

3A
 Example
• In the following circuit, use a closed surface to find I4.
 Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
• KVL: The algebraic sum of the voltage drops around any closed path
(or loop) is zero at any instance of time.

• Write KVL for the above circuit.

Sum of voltage drops=Sum of voltage rises

 KVL Example
• Find VAC and VCH in the following circuit.

C H G
A
+ +
-
1V
-2V 4V
+ - -
F
D - 2V + E
 Example
• In the following circuit, find vo and i.
 Example
• In the following circuit, assume VR1=26V and VR2=14V. Find VR3.
 Example
• In the following circuit use KVL to determine Vae and Vec. Note
that we use the convention Vae to indicate the voltage of point a
with respect to point e or Vae=Va-Ve
 Some Interesting Implications of KCL and KVL
• A series connection of two different current sources
is impossible. Why?

• A parallel connection of two different voltage sources is

impossible. Why?
 More Interesting Implicationsz
• A current source supplying zero current is equivalent to an open
circuit:

• A voltage source supplying 0V is equivalent to a short circuit:

 Series Resistors
• The equivalent resistance of any number of resistors connected
in series is the sum of the resistors (Why?)

1
Req  R1  R2    Rn 1 1 1 
 
Geq G1 G 2  Gn
or
 Voltage Division
• In a series combination of n resistors, the voltage drop across
the resistor Rj for j=1,2, …, n is:

Rj
v j (t)  vin (t)
R1  R2    Rn
• What is the formula for two series
resistors?!
 Parallel Resistors
• The equivalent conductance of resistors connected in parallel is
the sum of their individual conductances:

Geq  G1  G2    Gn 1 1 1 1
   R
Req R1 R2 n

or

• Why?
 Current Division
• In a parallel combination of n resistors, the current through the
resistor Rj for j=1,2, …, n is:

Gj
i j(t)  iin
G1  G2    Gn (t)

• Why?
Parallel Resistors and Current Division Example
• For the special case of two parallel
resistors

R1R2 R2 R1
Req  , i1 (t)  i(t), and i2 (t) i(t)
R1  R2 R1  R2  R1  R2
• Why?
 Example
• In the following circuit find Req:
 Example
• In the following circuit find the resistance seen between the two
terminal s A and B, i.e., RAB

•
 Example
• In the following circuit find the current i.

20

30

30

30
i
12V

10
 Example
• In the following circuit find I1, I2, I3, Va, and Vb.
 Tricky Example!
• In the following circuit, find the equivalent resistance Req.
Assume gm=0.5S.

2

gmv1



Req
+
v1

1
-
Standard Resistor Values for 5% and 10% Tolerances
 Example
• Given the network shown in Fig. 2.31: (a) find the required value
for the resistor R; (b) use Table 2.1 to select a standard 10%
tolerance resistor for R; (c) using the resistor selected in (b),
determine the voltage across the 3.9-kΩ resistor; (d) calculate
the percent error in the voltage V1, if the standard resistor
selected in (b) is used; and (e) determine the power rating for
this standard component.
Board Notes
 Wye-Delta Transformations
• In some circuits the resistors are neither in series nor in
parallel.

• For example consider the following bridge circuit:

how can we combine the resistors R1 through R6?

 Wye and Delta Networks
• A useful technique that can be used to simply many
such circuits is transformation from wye (Y) to delta ()
network.

• A wye (Y) or tee (T) network is a three-terminal network with the

following general form:
 Wye and Delta Networks
• The delta () or pi () network has the following general
form:
 Delta-Wye Conversion
• In some cases it is more convenient to work with a Y network in
place of a  network.

• Let’s superimpose a wye network on the existing delta network

and try to find the equivalent resistances in the wye network
 Delta-Wye Conversion
• We calculate the equivalent resistance between terminals a and
c while terminal b is open in both cases:

Rac(Y )  R1  R3

Rac ()  Rb (Ra  Rc )

Rb (Ra  Rc )
Rac(Y )  Rac ()  R1  R3 
Ra  Rb  Rc
Similarly: Rc (Ra  Rb )
R1  R2 
R a  Rb  Rc

Ra (Rb  Rc )
R2  R3 
R
 Delta-Wye Conversion
• Solving for R1, R2, and R3 we have:

Rb Rc
R1 
Ra  Rb  Rc

R2  Rc Ra
Ra  Rb  Rc

R3  Ra Rb
Ra  Rb  Rc
• Each resistor in the Y network is the product if the resistors in
the two adjacent  branches, divided by the sum of the three 
resistors.
 Wye-Delta Conversion
• From the previous page equations, we have:

R R R (R  Rb  Rc )
R1R2  R2R3  R3R1  a b c a
(Ra  Rb  Rc )2
 Ra Rb Rc
Ra  Rb  Rc
• Dividing this equation by each of the previous slide equations:

R1R2  R2R3  R3R1 R 1 R 2  R 2 R 3  R 3R 1 R1R2  R2R3  R3R1 R1

Ra  , Rb  , and Rc 

R2 R3
• Each resistor in the  network is the sum of all the possible
products of Y resistors taken two at a time, divided by the
opposite Y resistor
 Wye-Delta Transformations
• Y and  networks are said to be balanced when:

R1  R2  R3  RY and Ra  Rb  Rc  R

• For balanced Y and  networks the conversion

formulas become:

R
RY  3 and R  3RY
 Example
• For the following bridge network find Rab and i.
 Example
• Find IS?