Chapter 8 Notes

AEE1013 Introduction to Engineering and Technology

Objectives
 After completing this chapter, students will able to:
 To understand and explain about concept of electricity :DC and AC
 To determine the types of electrical circuit and its component
 To understand the concept of power and heating effect

Charge, Q is measured in coulombs (C).

One coulomb is defined as:

The charge carried by an electric current of one ampere in one second

Electrons have a negative charge

Protons have a positive charge

Like charges repel each other and attract opposite ones

In neutral (i.e. uncharged) atoms and objects the number of electrons and the
number of protons are equal

The movement of electrons determines the charge of an atom or object

In charged atoms or objects there is a net amount of either positive or negative

charge
An object that gains electrons has an overall negative charge
An object that loses electrons has an overall positive charge
 Charge

Charge
 In conductors, some electrons are free to move between atoms
 Delocalised electrons in the outer shell of the atoms in a conductor can move between
atoms. When a neutral atom loses electron it becomes a positive ion

Electricity
 The potential difference in a circuit is provided by cells or batteries
 Each cell has a positive terminal and a negative terminal
 A battery is a collection of cells arranged positive terminal to negative terminal
 A cell and a battery made of three cells

Electricity
 The battery is the source of the potential difference V needed for the electrons to flow
 Electrons gain electrical potential energy as they move through the battery
 They then leave the battery and move through the wire
 A little amount of their energy is transferred to the metal atoms of the wire
 The flow of electrons is from the negative terminal to the positive one

Direct current (DC)

 Direct current (dc) flows through the circuit in one direction
 Direct current flows from the positive to the negative terminal of the battery in a circuit.
Electrons flow in the opposite direction
 The charge of electrons is 1.6 x 10-19 C

Alternating current (AC)

 Alternating current (ac) is used instead of dc in high voltage devices (i.e. used in homes
and industries)
 Alternating current flows one way around the circuit and then reverses its flow
 In other words, flow of electric charge in periodically in reverse direction
 AC direction usually changes every 0.01 s

Pro and cons of DC and AC

 DC
 AC

Electric current
 Definition
 A flow of charge is called an electric current
 Scalar quantity
 The current (symbol I) is the amount of charge Q [in Coulombs] flowing per unit time t
[in seconds]
 The units of current are C/s or “Amperes” A

Drift speed
 In conductors, only negatively charged (delocalised) electrons are allowed to move
between atoms
 Charged particles moving through a material or through vacuum are known as charge
carriers
 Charge carriers drift towards the positive terminal of the conductor. Conventional
current flows in the opposite direction
Drift speed
 The average speed at which the charge carriers move through a conductor is known as
the drift speed
 The value of the drift speed is usually very small
 Unit of m/s
 The electric current arising from the movement of a given number of
 charge carriers through a conductor is calculated as follows:
 I = nAvq
 Where:
 n = number of charge carriers per unit volume, i.e. charge density (m–3)
 A = cross-sectional area of the conductor (m2)
 v = average drift speed of the charge carriers (m s–1)
 q = charge of the charge carriers (C)

Electric resistance
 Property of the conducting medium that weaken the transmission of electric current
 Denoted as R in units ohm (Ω)

Example
 A piece of 1.0 m wire has a resistance of 0.19 ohms. Calculate the resistivity of the wire
with the cross-sectional area is 0.5 mm2.

Circuit diagram

Circuit Diagram
 cell
 switch
 lamp
 wires
 In diagram
 In symbols

Simple circuits
 Series circuit
 All in a row
 1 path for electricity
 1 light goes out and the circuit is broken
 Parallel circuit
 Many paths for electricity
 1 light goes out and the others stay on

Ohm’s law
 Assumed that the resistance does not vary with voltage or current
 Not all conducting material follow “Ohm’s law’. Those are follow are said ‘ohmic’ while
those do not said ‘non-ohmic’
 V = IR
 V = Voltage (Volts)
 I = Current (Amperes) (amps)
 R = Resistance (ohms)

Voltage: a force that pushes the current through the circuit

 Resistance: friction that impedes flow of current through the circuit
 Current: the actual “substance” that is flowing through the wires of the circuit
 Ohm’s law

Single loop circuit

 Circuit
 Close network of electronic devices through which current constantly flows
 EMF (electromotive force)
 maintain potential difference
 Provide steady flow of charge

Resistor
 Provides a resistance to a circuit
 In other words, an electrical component that limits the flow of electrical current in an
electronic circuit
 It was specially designed to only provide certain amount of resistance

Electromotive force (EMF)

 When charge passes through a power supply such as a battery, it gains electrical energy
 The electromotive force (e.m.f) is the amount of chemical energy converted
to electrical energy per coulomb of charge (C) when charge passes through a power
supply
 e.m.f is measured in Volts (V)
 e.m.f is also the potential difference across the cell when no current is flowing
 e.m.f can be measured by connecting a high-resistance voltmeter around the terminals
of the cell in an open circuit

Potential difference (V)

 The difference between potential difference and e.m.f is the type of energy transfer per
unit charge
 When charge passes through a resistor, for example, its electrical energy is converted to
heat in the resistor
 The resistor, therefore, has a potential difference across it
 Potential difference describes the loss of energy from charges; ie. when electrical
energy is transferred to other forms of energy in a component
 e.m.f. describes the transfer of energy from the power supply to electrical
charges within the circuit

Potential difference
 V = voltage across the source
 E = voltage if source is ideal (v)
 ri = internal resistance of the source (Ω)
 I = current flowing through the battery (A)

Internal resistance
 Resistance found inside real batteries
 Lessen the output voltage of a batteries
 Denoted as ri, in unit ohms (Ω)
 Resistor R is the ‘load resistor’
 r is the internal resistance
 ε is the e.m.f
 Vr is the lost volts
 VR is the p.d across the load resistor, which is the same as the terminal p.d

Series and Parallel circuit rules

Series and Parallel cells

 Cells can also be connected in series or parallel
 If the cells are connected in series, the total potential difference between the ends of the
chain of cells is the sum of the potential difference across each cell
 If the cells are connected in parallel, the total potential difference across the
arrangement is the same as for one cell

Electric motor
 Is electrical machine that converts electrical energy to kinetic energy of rotation
 Types of motor: DC and AC motor
 Brushed DC motor

Electric motor
 Electric motors are functioning by changing electrical power (AC or DC) to mechanical
power to produce motion.
 Force is created within a motor
 From ohm’s law, (V=IR) the voltage should rise to maintain constant current as
resistance rises

Power
 The amount of heat produced depends on two factors:
 Current: The greater the current, the more heat that is produced
 Resistance: The higher the resistance, the more heat that is produced (for a given
current)
 Note that reducing the resistance can cause the current to increase
 This could actually increase the amount of heat produced
 In mechanics, power P is defined as the rate of doing work
 The potential difference is the work done per unit charge
 Current is the rate of flow of charge

Power

Power
 Using Ohm’s law V = I R :
 Power = V I = I2R = V2/R
 The power dissipated (produced) by an electrical device can also be written as

Power
 This means for a given resistor if the current or voltage doubles the power will
be four times as great.
 Rearranging the energy and power equation, the energy can be written as:
 E = VIt
 Where:
 E = energy transferred (J)
 V = voltage (V)
 I = current (A)
 t = time (s)

Power
 Why do power lines operate at 100,000 V?
 P = V I : high power can be delivered using high V or high I
 Some power will be lost in heating the transmission wires
 P = I2R : low current minimizes these transmission losses
 P = V I : high power can be delivered using high V or high I
 Some power will be lost in heating the transmission wires
 P = I2R : low current minimizes these transmission losses

Heating effect of current

 When electricity passes through a component, such as a resistor, some of the electrical
energy is turned into heat, therefore, increasing its temperature
 The heat that is produced will dissipate (spread out) into the environment via thermal
conduction, convection and radiation
 As electrons flow through the metal, they collide with ions, making them vibrate more

Heating effect of current

 When electricity passes through a component, there is energy transferred to heat
 This is due to collisions between:
 Electrons flowing in the conductor, and
 The lattice of atoms within the metal conductor
 Metals are made up of a lattice of ions
 As the electrons pass through the metal lattice they collide with ions
 The ions resist the flow of the electrons

Application of heating effect

 When the electrons collide, they lose some energy by giving it to the ions, which start to
vibrate more
 As a result of this, the metal heats up
 This is used to an advantage to generate heat for appliances such as electric hobs

Thank You

Quick Summary
This chapter discusses major engineering and technology concepts together with their
applications, processes, and professional responsibilities.