-----How ELECTRICITY works - working principle

.we need to take a look at the atom.

Everything, including you, is made from atoms.

All the materials we use are made from atoms.

The materials are just different

because the construction of their atoms

are slightly different.

The atoms are made from three particles,

two of which are found inside the nucleus

and the third particle sits outside this.

At the center of the atom, we have the nucleus.

Inside the nucleus, we have the neutrons,

which have no charge, and we also have the protons,

which are positively charged.

The neutrons and the protons are much heavier

than the electrons so these will stay within the nucleus.

Surround the nucleus are different layers of orbital shells.

These are like flight paths for the electrons.

The electrons flow along these flight paths

much like a satellite orbits our plant,

except that the electrons travel

at almost the speed of light.

The electrons are negatively charged

and they are attracted to the positive charge

of the protons.

The electrons orbit around the nucleus

in these orbital shells and there are a set numbers

of how many electrons can be in any one orbital shell.

The number of protons, neutrons, and electrons an atom has

tells us which material it is.

Atoms hold on to their electrons very tightly,

but some materials will hold on to them more tightly

than others.

The outer-most shell is known as the valence shell,

and in this shell,

some materials have loosely bound electrons

which can flow to other atoms.

Atoms which can pass electrons are called conductors

and most metals are conductors.

On the other hand, atoms which do not have free electrons

and so they can't pass electrons between other atoms

are known as insulators.

And these are things like glass and rubber.

Now, we can combine these materials

to safely use electricity

by having the conductor in the center,

which allows electrons to move,

but surround this with an insulator

to restrict where they can flow to,

i.e., not lead to us, which keeps us safe.

If we look inside a slice of copper cable

at the free electrons surrounding the nucleus

of the copper atom, you'll see that the free electrons

are able to move to other atoms,

but this happens randomly in any direction.

If we then connect this slice of copper cable

to a closed circuit with a power source,

such as a battery, then the voltage will force the electrons

to move and these will then all flow

in the same direction to try and get back

to the other terminal of the battery.

When I say circuit, this just means the root

which electrons could flow along

between the two terminals, the positive and the negative,

of a power source.

So we can add things into their path,

like light bulbs, and this means that the electrons

will have to pass through this in order to get

to the other terminal.

And so we can use this to create things such as light.

The circuit can either be open or closed.

In a closed circuit, that means the electrons

can flow around.

And in an open circuit, this means that the electrons

are not able to flow.

Voltage is a pushing force of electrons within a circuit.

It's like pressure in a water pipe.

The more pressure you have, the more water can flow.

The more voltage you have, the more electrons can flow.

But what does a volt mean?

Well, a volt is a joule per coulomb.

And a joule is a measurement of energy or work

and a coulomb is a group of flowing electrons.

We'll have a look at what a coulomb is

in just a second though.

So a nine volt battery can provide nine joules

of energy in the form of work or heat

per group of electrons that flow

from one side of the battery to the other.

In this case, the current of electrons

flow from one side of the battery

through the LED light bulb, which produces light,

and then the electrons flow to the other side

of the battery, therefore, nine joules of light

and heat is produced by the light bulb.

Current is the flow of electrons.

When a circuit is closed,

it means electrons can flow, and when the circuit is open,

no electrons will flow.

We can measure the flow of electrons

just like you can measure the flow of water through a pipe.

To measure the flow of electrons,

we use the unit of amp.

One amp means one coulomb per second

and one coulomb is a group of electrons.

The group is incredibly large and is approximately

six billion, 242 million, billion electrons,

and that has to pass in one second

for it to equal one amp.

That's why electrons are grouped together

and just called amps, to make it easier for engineers.

Resistance is a restriction to the flow of electrons

in a circuit.

The wire which carries the electrons

will naturally have some resistance.

The longer the wire, the greater the resistance.

The thicker the wire, the lower the resistance.

Resistance to the flow of electrons

is different for each material.

And the temperature of the material

can also change resistance to the flow of electrons.

Electrical circuits use specially designed components

known as resistors to purposely restrict the flow

of electrons.

This is either to protect other components

from too many electrons flowing through it

or it can also be used to create light and heat,

such as in an incandescent light bulb.

Resistance occurs when electrons collide with atoms.

The amount of collisions is different from one material

to another.

Copper has very low collision rate,

but other materials such as iron

will have much more collisions.

When collisions occur, the atoms generate heat

and at a certain temperature,

the material will then start to produce light

as well as heat, which is how the incandescent lamps work.

When a wire is wrapped in a coil,

it will generate a magnetic field

as the current passes through it.

The cable will naturally create electromagnetic field

by itself.

It's just intensified by the coil.

By wrapping it in a coil,

the magnetic field becomes so strong

that the magnetic field starts to actually

affect the electrons within the wire.

But we'll look at why this occurs

in a future, more advanced video.

We can increase the strength of the magnetic field

simply by wrapping the coils around an iron core.

We can also increase the number of turns within the coils

and also we can increase the amount of current

passing through the circuit.

And this is how electromagnets work

and it's also the base of how induction motors work.

If you want to learn more about induction motors,

we've already covered this in another video already.

Just see the link on the screen now.

And when a magnetic field passes across the coil of wire,

it will induce a voltage in that wire

caused by an induced electromotive force,

which is pushing electrons in a certain direction.

If the wire is connected in a circuit,

then this electromotive force will cause a current to flow.

This is the basis of how AC generators work

and the electricity at your wall sockets within your home

is produced in a very similar way.

Transformer, now, we can combine all of the aspects

together that we've just covered

and when we do so, we will see that we can use one coil

to generate electricity

and then we can place two other coils

in very close proximity to each other but not touching,

and this will create a transformer.

The transformer will induce a voltage

from the first of the primary coil

over into the secondary coil.

And this will force electrons to flow

if the coil in the secondary side

has a closed circuit.

Now what's important about the transformer

is that we can increase or decrease the voltage

between the primary and the secondary coils

simply by changing the amount of coils on either side.

Again, this is a subject all by itself

so we'll cover this in a more advanced video later on.

Now, something else which I just want to briefly mention

is the capacitor.

So, a capacitor forces positive and negative charges

to separate across two plates

when it is connected to a power supply.

This causes a build-up or store of electrons

within an electric field.

When the power supply is cut or interrupted,

these charges will then be released,

flow up, and meet again.

This provides a power source but only for a few seconds

until the charges have paired back up again.

It's slightly similar to a battery,

but capacitors are very common

and they're in almost every single circuit board.

We'll cover this obviously in more detail

in a future video.

Just be aware of these.

So the last part I want to cover in this video

is that there are two types of current electricity.

That being alternating current, or AC,

and then direct current, or DC.

Alternating current simply means

that the current flows backwards and forwards

in a circuit as the terminals are constantly reversed.

This is a bit like the tide of the sea.

It goes in and out, in and out, in and out.

So there is reversing constantly.

Now, alternating current is the most common source

of power and the plug sockets in your homes,

in your buildings, in schools, and work places, et cetera,

these will all be providing alternating current, AC.

Now, on the other hand, we've got direct current, or DC,

and that simply means that the current flows

directly in only one direction.

It is not alternating.

This is what's provided from batteries

and almost all your handheld devices

are from this, as well.

So we can convert AC to DC and vice versa

using power electronics.

And this is how we charge and power,

you know, small devices,

and it's also how solar panels can be used

to power our homes.

Because solar panels produce DC power

and our homes need AC power.

So we have to convert this for it to be usable.

So both AC and DC have pros and cons to it,

but, you know, for sure we'll look at this

in another later video.

It's a bit more advanced.

And there's also quite an interesting history

behind why we use AC, DC, and the inventors behind that.

If you've got 10 minutes, I definitely recommend

having a Google or a YouTube of this, too.

All right, that's it for this video.

Thank you very much for watching.

I hope you enjoyed this and it helped you.

If you have any questions,

please leave me in the comments section below.

Also don't forget to subscribe and check out our website,

[Link].

Voltage is the pressure from an electrical circuit power source that pushes charged electrons (current) through a
conducting loop, enabling them to do work such as illuminating a light [2].

--------

Voltage Explained - What is Voltage? Basic

electricity potential difference
Hey, there, guys.

Paul here from [Link].

In this video, we're going to be discussing voltage.

We'll learn what is voltage and potential difference,

how to measure voltage, the difference between direct

and alternating voltage as well as current,

and finally, we'll briefly look at why

and how voltages vary around the world.

In our last video, we learned that electricity is the flow

of free electrons between atoms.

Voltage is what pushes the free electrons around a circuit.

Without voltage, the free electrons will move around

between atoms but they move around randomly,

so they aren't much use to us.

It's only when we apply a voltage to a circuit

that the free electrons will all move in the same direction,

causing current.

It's easy to imagine voltage like pressure in a water pipe.

If we have a water tank completely filled with water,

then the mass of all that water is going

to cause a huge amount of pressure at the end of the pipe.

If we have a water tank that's only partly filled,

then there will be much less pressure in the pipe.

If we open the valve to let the water flow,

then more water will flow at a faster rate

from the high-pressure tank compared

to the low-pressure tank.

The same with electricity; the more voltage we have,

then the more current can flow.

Voltage can exist without current.

For example, we can measure the pressure in the pipe

with the valve shut with no water flowing,

and from this, we can tell that the pipe is pressurized.

What we're really measuring is the pressure difference

between what's inside the pipe compared

to the pressure outside.

The same thing if we have a battery connected

to a circuit with an open switch.

The voltage is still present, we can measure that,

and as soon as the switch closes,

it's going to push the free electrons around the circuit.

We sometimes hear voltage referred

to as potential difference.

This really means how much work can potentially be done

by a circuit.

Coming back to our water analogy,

if we have two lakes at the same level,

then there is no potential to do work

because the water isn't flowing,

but if we raise one lake higher than the other,

then this higher lake now has the potential

to flow down to the second one,

and if we give it a path, then it will flow.

If we place a turbine in its path,

then we can use its energy to power a light

or even an entire town.

Back to the electrical circuit,

this battery has a potential difference

of 1.5 volts between its negative and positive terminal.

If we connect a piece of wire

to both terminals of a battery,

then the pressure of the battery will force electrons

to flow all in the same direction, along the same path.

We can then place electrical components in the path

of these electrons to do work for us.

For example, if we place a lamp into the circuit,

then this will light up as the electrons flow through it.

If we then added another battery to the circuit in series,

then the electrons will effectively be boosted

by my second battery because they can only flow

along this path, and there is more energy being added.

This will combine the voltages so we get 3 volts.

More volts equals more pressure,

which means more pushing force.

That will mean more electrons will flow

and the lamp will glow brighter.

However, if we were to move the battery

and connect it in parallel, then the path

of the electron splits.

Some will flow to the first battery

and some will flow to the second battery,

therefore, the batteries will both provide the same amount

of energy, so the voltage isn't combined,

the voltage isn't boosted, and we only get 1.5 volts.

So, the workload is split by the batteries

and the lamp will be powered for longer,

but it will be dimmer.

We've covered this in much more detail

within our Electrical Circuit series.

Do check that out, links are in the video description below.

We measure the potential difference of voltage

with the units of volts, and we use the symbol

of a capital V to show this.

If you look on your electrical appliances,

you will see a number next to a capital V,

indicating how many volts the product is designed for.

In this example, the manufacturers

of this USB hard drive are telling us

that the device needs to be connected

to a five-volt DC, or direct current supply

and it needs one amp of current for the device to work.

The term volt comes from an Italian physicist

named Alessandro Volta, who invented the voltaic pile,

which was the first electrical battery

that could provide an electrical current

in a steady rate in a circuit.

Voltage and volts are different.

Remember, voltage is the pressure

and volts is just the units we use to measure it in.

The same as we know the pipe has pressure

but we use units to measure this pressure,

such as bar, PSI, kPa, et cetera.

As we saw earlier, we can measure volts with a voltmeter.

This can be separate or part of a multimeter.

If you don't have a multimeter yet,

you can pick one of these up really cheaply.

I highly encourage you to have one in your tool kit.

I will leave a link in the video description down below

for where to get one for a good price.

To measure voltage, we have to connect

to the circuit in parallel across the two points

we would like to know the voltage,

or potential difference, for.

So, for a single battery in a circuit,

then we measure 1.5 volts across the battery

and we also measure 1.5 volts across the lamp.

The battery is providing providing 1.5 volts to the lamp,

and the lamp uses 1.5 volts to produce light and heat.

In a two-lamp series circuit,

we measure 1.5 volts across the battery,

1.5 volts across the two lamps combined,

but 0.75 volts across the lamps individually.

The voltage, or potential, has been shared between the lamps

to both provide light and heat.

The lamps are dimmer because the voltage has been shared

or divided.

Again, we'll cover this in more detail

in our Electrical Circuits Tutorials.

So, we saw earlier that voltage and volts are different.

Voltage is pressure and volts is the unit of measurement.

So, what does one volt mean?

One volt is required to drive one coulomb,

or approximately 6 quintillion, 242 quadrillion electrons,

through a resistance of one ohm in one second.

That's still a little confusing,

so another way to explain this is that,

to power this 1.5-watt lamp

with a 1.5-volt battery would require one coulomb,

or 6 quintillion,242 quadrillion electrons,

to flow from the battery and through the lamp every second

for it to stay on.

To power this 0.3-watt lamp

with a 1.5-volt battery would require 0.2 coulombs,

approx 1 quintillion,872 quadrillion,600 trillion electrons

to flow from the battery and through the lamp every second

for it to stay on.

If we try to use a lower voltage, the lamp would turn on

but it decreases in brightness as the voltage decreases.

That's because there is less pressure

to force electrons through it.

Less electrons flowing, less light that can be produced.

The lamps are only rated for a certain voltage and current.

If we use a higher voltage,

then the lamp will become brighter

because more electrons are flowing through it,

but if we add too much voltage and current,

then the lamp will blow because too many electrons tried

to pass through at once.

If we look at some typical batteries,

we can see that this AA battery has a voltage of 1.5 volts,

and this one has a voltage of 9 volts.

These are sources of direct voltage,

meaning, the pressure it provides moves the electrons

in a constant current in one direction,

much like the flow of water down a river.

We cover this in our last video on electricity basics,

so do check that out if you haven't already.

Links are in the video description below.

Direct voltage is usually represented with a capital V,

with some dots above this and a small horizontal line.

You can see an example of this on the multimeter

for the setting we would need

in order to measure the voltage in a DC supply.

If we plotted this voltage against time,

it would produce a straight line because it is constant;

it is direct in one direction.

The voltage in our wall sockets is alternating voltage.

This is a different type of electricity.

In this type, the electrons alternate

between flowing forwards and backwards

because the polarity of the circuit is changing,

much like the tide of the sea.

If we plotted this voltage against time,

we would get a sine wave as it moves forwards

and rises to its maximum and then starts to decline.

It passes through zero, and now the current

is flowing backwards but it then hits its minimum

and reverses direction again.

This is usually represented with a capital V

with a wave line above it.

You can see that on the multimeter here, also,

for measuring AC voltage.

The voltage at these sockets varies depending on

where in the world we are.

The majority of the world uses 220 to 240 volts,

but North, Central, and some of South America,

as well as a few countries

scattered across the planet will use 110 to 127 volts.

We can measure the voltage at our sockets

and see that it actually changes slightly throughout the day

as the demand on electricity network varies,

and we can do that using one of these cheap energy meters.

Again, links in the video description down below.

If you want one of these,

you can pick them up fairly cheaply,

and they're a great device for your toolbox.

The reason for different voltages around the world

goes all the way back to the beginning,

when electricity first started being distributed.

At first, there was no standardization,

so each distribution network had it's own voltage

and frequency for whatever their engineers felt was best.

Eventually, over time, some companies grew

and dominated the market, and so voltage

and frequency standardized as their products

and services expanded.

Governments also had to step in and pass laws

and regulations to help standardize their countries

so that people could buy products easily

but also trade products with other countries.

This is still a problem to this day,

but it's pretty much too late to fix,

as everyone is now so reliant on their electrical devices

and we would need to replace or modify them all

to solve the problem.

For example, if we take a hair dryer from the U.S.,

which is rated at 110 volts,

and we plug it into a wall socket in Europe,

which has 220 volts, the hairdryer will burn out

at full power because there is just simply too much voltage,

or too much pressure, and the device just can't cope.

If we took a hair dryer from Europe

and plugged it into a U.S. socket,

it probably won't turn on, but if it does,

it's not going to be very strong; it's gonna be pretty weak

because there just isn't enough pressure for it to function.

Some products can be used in different voltages, though.

You need to check the manufacturer's labels on the product

to first see if the product has been designed

to cope with different voltages.

For example, this laptop charger shows

that it can be used on voltages between 100 and 240 volts,

whereas this charger is only rated

for 220 volts or 240 volts.

Okay, guys, that's it for this video,

but if you want to continue your learning

with your electrical engineering,

then check out these videos here

and I'll catch you there for the next lesson.

Leave your questions in the Comment section down below,

and don't forget to follow us on Facebook,

Instagram, Twitter, as well as [Link].

Once again, thanks for watching.

Current is the rate at which electrons flow past a point in a complete electrical circuit. At its most basic, current = flow.

An ampere (AM-pir), or amp, is the international unit used for measuring current. It expresses the quantity of electrons
(sometimes called "electrical charge") flowing past a point in a circuit over a given time [4].

-----What is CURRENT– electric current explained, electricity basics

Hey there, guys,

Paul here from [Link].

In this video,

we're going to be discussing electrical current.

We'll be looking at what is current,

the different types of current,

how to check the ratings of your electrical devices.

As well as how we use safety features

to save you from being electrocuted.

Current is the flow of electrons in a circuit.

To use electricity,

we need electrons to flow

in the same direction around a circuit.

We usually use copper cables to form the circuit

because the atoms that make copper

have a loosely bound electron in their outermost,

or valance shell,

which is free to move around inside the metal.

This free electron is very easy to move,

which is why copper is so popular.

It's so easy to move

that it will naturally just move

to other copper atoms by itself,

but this occurs randomly in any

and all directions which isn't useful for us.

For us to make use of this,

we need lots of electrons to flow

in the same direction along the circuit.

We can then place things like lamps

in the way of these electrons so that they flow through it

and then they generate light and heat, etc.

To do this, we need to force the electrons to move

and we can do that by applying a voltage.

Voltage is the pushing force.

It's like pressure in a water pipe.

The more pressure we have,

the more water can flow,

the more voltage we have,

the more electrons can flow.

We covered the basics of voltage

in detail in a previous video.

Do check that out,

link's in the video description down below.

So we need a lot of electrons to flow along a circuit

and through our lamps to get them to shine brightly.

However, the cable and lamps can only handle

a certain amount of electrons passing through them.

Just like a pipe is rated to handle a certain amount

of water passing through it or a certain pressure.

If it exceeds this,

then the pipe will burst.

Likewise, if too many electrons

pass through the cable or the lamp,

then they will just burst or burn out.

We refer to the flow of electrons as current,

and we measure this in the unit of Amperes,

although you'll usually just hear people say Amps.

This is represented with a capital A.

For example, this fuse has a three and a capital A,

which means it's rated for three amps of current.

We'll look at how we use fuses later on in this video.

If you look on the plugs of your electrical devices,

you should find labels from the manufacturers,

which tell you what the product is designed to handle.

For example, this laptop charger

tells us that for the device to work,

it needs an input of between 100 and 240 volts

and 1.5 amps of AC, or alternating current.

The charger will then convert this

to give an output of 19.5 volts

and 3.3 amps of DC, or direct current.

AC and DC are different types of electricity.

The plugs in your homes will provide AC,

or alternating current.

In this type,

the electrons do not flow in a continuous loop.

They instead alternate between

moving backwards and forwards,

just like the tide of the sea.

Your electrical devices,

like laptops and mobile phones,

will use DC electricity, or direct current.

In this type, the electrons do flow in only one direction,

much like the flow of water in a river.

We transport electricity from

the power stations in AC, alternating current,

and send this to our cities and homes.

We use AC here because it can

be transported very efficiently

and over much greater distances

than if we were to use DC, direct current.

We can also very easily increase

or decrease the voltage using simple transformers.

We've covered how transformers work in our previous videos.

Links down below for that,

do check them out.

We mostly use DC, direct current,

in the circuit boards of small electronic devices,

like laptops, mobile phones and televisions.

That's because DC is easier to control

and allows circuits to be smaller and more compact.

Many appliances will use a combination of AC and DC.

For example, a washing machine

will use AC for the induction motor,

which is used to spin the tub with the clothes in,

but the circuit board which controls the settings,

the lights, the timers,

as well as how fast the motor spins,

will use DC power.

We can convert AC to DC using an invertor.

This is extremely common in electronics.

We covered how inverters work previously.

Links down below if you want to watch

and learn about that also.

People often refer to a river

or the tide of a sea as having a strong current.

It's very similar to electricity.

A river with a lot of fast flowing water

is said to have a strong current.

The same with electricity.

A cable with a lot of electrons

flowing through it has a high current.

A river is able to handle a certain

amount of water flowing through it,

but if more water enters

than the river can handle,

then the river will burst its banks.

The same with electricity.

A cable will burst and burn out.

Therefore, manufacturers need to be able to test cables

and lamps to find out how much current they can handle.

We also want to be able to see how much current

is flowing through our circuits

as well as being able to calculate this.

We can measure this using an ammeter

where we measure the flow of current

in the circuit using the units of amps.

So what is an amp?

One amp is equal to one coulomb,

and one coulomb is equal to approximately

six quintillion, 242 quadrillion electrons per second.

What does that mean?

Another way to look at this is that

to power this 1.5W lamp with a 1.5V battery,

approximately, six quintillion, 242 quadrillion

electrons need to flow from the battery

and through the lamp

every second for the lamp to stay on.

If we reduced the voltage,

then less electrons will move

and the lamp will become dimmer.

If we increase the voltage,

then more electrons will flow

and eventually the lamp will not be able to cope

so it will burst or burn out.

So to measure the current in a circuit,

we need to connect an ammeter in series

so that the current flows through it.

Think of it like a water meter.

The water need to flow through the water meter

for us to know how much water is flowing in the pipe.

Likewise, we need the electrons to flow through our ammeter

so that we know how much electricity

is flowing in our circuit.

Instead of using an ammeter,

we're going to use a multimeter

as we can do a lot more with this device.

I'll leave some links down in the video description

where you can pick up a good multimeter cheaply.

I highly encourage you to get one of these for your toolkit.

They're pretty cheap and are very useful.

If we connect a lamp to a battery in series,

then we can measure the current using

a multimeter by connecting it in series.

If we connect this 1.5 volt battery

and this lamp,

which has a resistance of one Ohm,

then we get a current of 1.5 amps,

which means nine quintillion, 636 quadrillion electrons

are flowing through the lamp every second.

Because it's in series,

all the electrons in the circuit

are flowing along the same path.

So that means we can move the multimeter to here

and we get the same reading.

If we add another lamp to the circuit connected,

again, in series,

the lamp also has a resistance of one Ohm,

then we are adding more resistance to the circuit,

so the electrons are slowed down.

In this case, we get a reading of 0.75 amps,

which means four quintillion, 818 quadrillion electrons

are flowing per second.

This is in series,

so again we can move the multimeter

and we get the same reading.

If we now connect the circuit with two lamps in parallel,

both with a resistance of one Ohm

and connect this to a battery of 1.5 volts,

then in the main wire,

to and from the battery,

we get three amps.

But on the branch of each lamp,

we get 1.5 amps.

That's because the path for the electrons has split,

so the electrons are shared

with some flowing through lamp A

and some flowing through lamp B.

In this example,

both lamps have an equal resistance

so the current is split equally.

But if the lamps are of different resistance,

then the current is split unequally.

For example, if lamp A has a resistance of one Ohm

and lamp B has a resistance of three Ohms,

then in the main wire,

we get an amp reading of two amps.

In the branch for Lamp A,

we get 1.5 amps,

and in the branch for lamp B we get 0.5 amps.

As you can see,

lamp B is dimmer because there is a higher resistance

so less electrons can flow through it.

In both cases,

the amps in the branches will add up

and are equal to the total current flowing

in the main wire to and from the battery.

Now, I mentioned that lamp B was dimmer

because the resistance was higher.

If you remember,

I also said that cables and lamps, etc.,

are only rated to handle a certain amount of current.

If it exceeds this,

then they can burn out.

So restrict the amount of current that can flow,

we can add resistors into the circuit

or into part of the circuit.

These act like speed bumps and slow the electrons down.

Resistors are like putting a bend into a garden hose.

The kink adds resistance to the flow of water,

which reduces the amount of water

that can flow out of the hose.

Similarly, we can add resistors to the circuit

and it slows down the electrons.

For example, this LED is rated at 25 mA and 3.3 volts.

But our battery is rated at nine volts.

So if we were to connect the LED to the battery,

it would just burn out because it can't

handle that much voltage and current.

So to stop the battery from burning out,

we need to place a resistor into the circuit.

In this case, we'll use a 270 Ohm

resistor to bring the voltage

and current down to a safe level for the LED.

If you want to see how much current

is flowing through your electrical devices at home,

then you can use one of these cheap energy meters.

You simply plug your appliances into it,

and it'll measure the voltage,

amps, watts, power factor, etc.,

and you can then even calculate

how much it costs to use the appliance.

I recommend you have one of these.

They're a great little device for your toolkit.

I'll leave some links down below

for where you can get a good one very cheaply.

So we saw earlier that we can use resistors

to reduce the amount of current flowing in the circuit

and protect our devices.

Another thing we can use is a fuse.

Fuses in a basic sense,

have a thin piece of wire inside them,

which is rated to handle a certain

amount of current flowing through them.

In this case, this one is rated to handle three amp,

or 19 quintillion, 272 quadrillion electrons per second.

The fuse acts as a weak point

and it's very cheap to replace.

So if too much current flows in the circuit,

it will burn out and open to break the circuit

and protect the more expensive electrical components.

You can find these melted on circuit boards

and you can also find these built into some plugs.

For example, this plug from the UK has a fuse

built into it to protect the electrical device.

Another device we use,

and you've probably seen these in your homes,

this is the circuit breaker.

It's essentially a switch that will automatically

open to break the circuit if it detects too much current

or too many electrons flowing through it.

It's rated to handle a certain amount

of electrons flowing through it per second,

but it measures this using heat

or an electromagnetic field to detect

and act on if too many electrons are passing through it.

If it exceeds this,
then it will open to break the circuit.

If for example, we slowly add load to a circuit,

then the bimetallic plate will detect

this slow rising current because

the current causes it to heat up.

As it approaches the designed rating,

it will break the circuit to cut the power

and protect the cables and devices.

The load can then be reduced

and the circuit breaker reset,

unlike a fuse.

Another extremely important function is if for example,

you touch a live component

and receive an electrical shock.

There will be a sudden surge in current

and the circuit breaker can detect this

and cut the power almost instantly

to stop you being electrocuted

and save your life.

Okay, that's it for this video,

but if you want to continue learning about electricity

and electrical engineering,

then just click one of these videos on the screen now

and I'll catch you there for the next lesson.

If you have any questions,

let me know in the comment section down below.

English

AllElectric currentSwitchesResistorListenableRelatedFrom The Engineering Mindset

How 120V / 240V electricity is distributed from the power station and to your property?

In the following video we will look at how it is connected to power domestic appliances as well as the main components
such as the electricity meter, main service panel, main breaker, circuit breaker, bus bars, neutral ground bar, light
switches and lighting circuits, transformers, GFCI circuit breakers, AFCI circuit breakers. The purpose of the hot wire,
neutral wire and ground wire as well as the ground rod and the water pipe bonding.

----- 120V 240V Electricity explained - Split phase 3 wire electrician

- Hey there guys.

Paul here from [Link].

In this video we're going to be learning

how three wire split phase electricity supplies

work to get 120 and 240 volts.

We'll look at how the electricity gets

from the power station over to the property

and then how it's connected around the property

and each of the main components.

Now, this system is used in North America

so we'll be using their terminology and colour coding.

If you're from outside this region,

then you can still follow along

but your electrical system will work differently.

We've covered that in a separate video.

Do check that out.

Links are in the video description down below.

Remember electricity is dangerous and can be fatal.

You should be qualified and competent

to carry out any electrical work.

So, electricity is generated at the power station

which is usually located far away.

The power station generates AC alternating current

and is connected to a step-up transformer.

This transformer increases the voltage to reduce losses

and is connected to the grid.

The grid carries high-voltage electricity

over long distances, over to the towns and cities.

Once it reaches the towns and cities,

it will enter a step-down transformer

which will decrease the voltage to a safer level.

From here it will be distributed locally

into smaller circuits on different streets

or groups of properties.

Connected to these distribution cables

will be smaller transformers,

usually pole-mounted which again reduce the voltage down

even further to a level safe enough for residential use.

On the property will be an electricity meter

which will quantify how much electricity

has been used and the electricity company will use this

to invoice the property.

The transformer will be connected to the electricity metre

by some cables which will either run

above ground or underground.

These cables will be two hot wires and a neutral wire.

Inside the transformer we have two coils of wire.

The primary coil is connected to the power station

and the second coil will be connected to the property.

The two hot wires are connected to each end

of the secondary coil

and the neutral is connected to the centre of the coil.

Now, don't worry about that too much for now.

We're going to look at this again later in the video

to understand it.

So, if we zoom into the property,

we find a main service panel which is sometimes called

a load centre or breaker box.

If we remove the cover and look inside,

we first find the main breaker.

This is usually at the top of the panel

but it might be at the bottom.

The two hot wires from the electricity metre

will connect directly to the lugs on the main breaker.

Coming out of the main breaker will be two main bus bars.

These are basically exposed metal sheets

which carry electricity to the circuit breakers.

Notice I've shown the current flowing

backwards and forwards.

That's because this is AC or alternating current.

These bus bars as well as the lugs are not insulated,

they are live or hot.

The main breaker can be manually flipped to cut the power

to everything downstream of the main breaker.

The main breaker will also provide over current protection

to the property.
It is rated to handle a certain amount of electrical current

passing through it, typically between 100 and 200 amps.

If this value is exceeded then it will trip automatically

to try and protect the property and its electrical circuits.

Inside the panel, we also have a neutral and ground bus bar.

This is basically a strip of metal with lots of holes

and screws in it.

The neutral and ground wires will sit in the holes

and the screws will lock them in place.

In this example, we have a block

on either side of the panel.

As this is a main panel,

the two bus bars can be joined together

so we have a connector bar between them.

That way we have a shared neutral ground bus bar.

Sub panels must have their bar separated

but that's a topic for a separate video.

From the electricity metre,

we'll have the neutral wire connected to the lug

on the top of the neutral ground bar.

Notice the green screw.

This is bonding the neutral bar to the metal casing

of the service panel.

The purpose of the neutral bar is to return

the used electricity back to the transformer.

It does actually get a little bit more advanced than that

but we're gonna look at that

in a more advanced complex video,

this is just covering the basics.

So, the two hot wires will provide the electricity

and once it is used it will return to the transformer

via the neutral bar.

It is still AC alternating current

but to make it easier to visualize,

I've only animated the current flowing in one direction

so you can see the path it will take.

Now, if we were to take our multimeter

and connect one lead to the bus bar

and the other lead to the neutral bar,

we would get the reading of around 120 volts.

If you don't already have a multimeter

then I highly encourage you to get one for your toolkit.

It's essential for any electrical testing and fault-finding.

Links down below for which one to get and from where.

If we connect the multimeter leads to the other bus bar

and the neutral bar, we would again get

a reading of around 120 volts

but if we connect the multimeter leads to the two bus bars

then we get a reading of double that at around 240 volts.

So, why is that?

What's happening here?

So, when we look at how the transformer

is connected to the main panel,

we have the two hot bus bars connected to either end

of the secondary coil in the transformer

and then we take the neutral bus bar

connected to the centre of the secondary coil.

So basically, when we connect across the bus bar

and the neutral bar,

we're only using half of the coil.

So, we are only picking up half the electrical voltage

the transformer can provide.

So, that way we get 120 volts.

When we connect to the two bus bars,

we're connecting to the full length of the coil.

So, we're picking up the full voltage

which the transformer can provide.

Therefore, we get 240 volts.

If you want to learn how transformers work,

then check out our video on transformer basics.

Links for that down in the video description below.

Now, coming back to the panel connected to the bus bar,

we'll have our circuit breakers.

These will look something like this

with is black plastic casing and a toggle switch on top.

The circuit breaker controls the flow of electricity

into individual circuits in the property.

It can be manually tripped to cut the power

but it also has two important features.

The first feature is overload protection.

The circuit breaker is rated to handle

a set amount of electrical current.

When appliances or lights are connected to the circuit

they will each increase the current in the circuit.

If too many things are plugged in and turned on

then eventually the current will be

more than the breaker can handle and the breaker

will automatically trip to cut the power off to the circuit

and protect the property.

The second feature is short-circuit protection.

When the hot and neutral come into direct contact

with each other,

the current will dramatically increase almost instantly.

When this occurs, it creates a magnetic field

which will trip the breaker and cut the power automatically.

Let's have a look at how the circuit breaker

is connected to the electrical circuit.

In this example, we will connect to a simple light fitting

which is controlled by a switch.

We take the hot wire from the circuit breaker

and run this to the switch.

We then run another wire from the switch

and over to the light fitting.

From the light fitting we have a neutral wire

which carries the return current

back to the neutral bus bar.

We take the ground wire from the metal casing

of the sealing box and the switch

and we also join this to the neutral bus bar

as in this case it's shared.

The purpose of the hot wire is to carry

the electrical current over to the light fitting.

The purpose of the neutral wire is to carry

the used electrical current back to the main panel

and then back to the transformer.

The purpose of the ground wire is to provide protection

for a fault current.

If for example, the hot wire came loose

and touched the metal casing of the light fitting,

the ground wire provides a low resistance path

back to the panel.

Without this path electricity could flow through you

if you touch the metal box.

As the current flows through the ground wire,

it would increase the current

and that will trip the breaker automatically.

So, the electricity flows through the hot wire,

through the main breaker, down the main bus bar

and into the circuit breaker.

From there it flows along the hot wire,

across the switch and light

then back along the neutral wire

and into the neutral bus bar along the neutral bus bus wire

and back to the transformer.

I've animated this using AC alternating current

but to make it easier to understand the path,

I've shown it flowing in a single direction now.

We've covered lighting circuits in detail

in a separate video.

Do check that out.

Links in the video description below.

Okay, so what else might we find here?

Well, we might find a double pole circuit breaker

which will let us connect to both bus bars to get 240 volts

which we can use the power larger appliances

like dryers, ranges and air conditioning units.

If we look at the dryer circuit example,

we run the red hot wire from the circuit breaker

which is connected to the main bus bar number two

and we run this to the receptacle.

Then we run our black hot wire from the other terminal

of the circuit breaker which is connected to bus bar one

and we connect that to the receptacle also.

In this case, we have the neutral wire

connected between the neutral bus bar and the receptacle

which will allow us to get either 120 or 240 volts

from the outlet.

Then we have a ground wire to provide a safe route

for any fault current.

Now, we can either connect across the two hot wires

for our 240 volt connection

or between the hot wire and the neutral wire

to get 120 volt connection.

We'll also very likely find a GFCI circuit breaker

which stands for ground fault circuit interrupter.

This will look something like this

and depending on the model you buy,

you will usually have a pigtailed neutral wire

connected to it.

GFCIs are required on certain circuits

where outlets are used for places like kitchens, bathrooms,

hot tubs et cetera.

You should check with the National Electric Code

for exact details.

The GFCI breaker has both the hot and the neutral

flowing through it.

This way you can measure the current flowing from both wires

and ensure they are equal.

If we took a standard outlet,

we would take a hot wire from the breaker

and connect this to the outlet terminal.

Then we take the neutral wire and run this back directly

to the circuit breaker to a specific neutral terminal.

We then connect the pigtail wire into the neutral bus bar.

This will provide the return path.

And of course, we run the ground wire from the outlet

back to the neutral ground bar.

If we look at this example, the current is flowing normally

until the guy sticks a screwdriver into the socket.

The electricity then flows through him

instead of the neutral wire.

The GFCI is measuring the current in the two wires

and notices that these are not equal.

It then automatically trips the breaker to cut the power

and save the man's life.

We might also come across an AFCI circuit breaker.

This stands for arc fault circuit interrupter.

These are required for circuits feeding bedrooms,

hallways, kitchens et cetera.

Again, check with the National Electric Code

for exact details.

AFCIs work also by being connected

to both the hot and neutral wires.

Inside this circuit breaker is a circuit board

which is measuring the circuit

and monitoring for patterns which indicate

an arc fault is occurring.

These are installed pretty much identically

to how we saw the GFCI breaker.

Under normal conditions, the current flows through the hot

back through the neutral into the breaker

and through the pigtail and back through the neutral bar.

But if for example, a screw was accidentally inserted

very close to the cable and removed the insulation

to expose the copper wires,

the electricity could now potentially jump

across or arc from the hot wire and into the neutral.

The arc is incredibly hot

and causes most residential electrical fires.

As the arc occurs, it creates a unique signal

in the electrical cable.

The circuit breaker can detect this

and will automatically trip to cut the power.

Connected to the neutral ground bar

will be a thick uninsulated copper wire

which runs out of the bottom of the panel

and off to the ground rod which is pushed into the earth

near the property.

Under normal circumstances, no electrical current

will flow through this wire.

Its purpose is to dissipate high static voltages

from things like lightning.

This way the electrical systems and equipment

is protected from damage.

Additionally, we will also find a bonding wire

to metal pipe work in the property.

This is to provide a safe route for electricity to flow

should a hot wire come into contact with a metal pipe

and this way will prevent a person being electrocuted

if they were to touch the pipe work.

Okay guys, that's it for this video

but if you want to continue your learning

then check out one of the videos on screen now

and I'll catch you there for the next lesson.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

as well as [Link].

English

AllCircuit breakersAlternating currentElectric currentSwitchesListenableRelatedFrom The Engineering MindsetWatched

Hey there guys, Paul here from [Link].

In this video we're going to be looking at

three way switches for lighting circuits

in North America.

We're going to look at three different circuit designs,

depending on if you want to light fitting

to be at the beginning, the middle or the end

of the lighting circuit.

Now I've included a handy PDF wiring guide

for this video with detailed illustrations

of each circuit as well as step by step

instructions and part list for all three types.

You can keep this guide on your PC or mobile

and access them anywhere at anytime.

Links for that in the video description down below.

Now we're covering the theory in this video,

but remember electricity is dangerous

and can be fatal.

You should be qualified and competent

before carrying out any electrical work.

So how do three way switches work?

If we look at a three way switch

we have four screw terminals.

One is for ground, one is our common terminal,

and the other two are our traveler terminals.

Inside the switch we have a track

which electricity flows along.

This is connected to the switch handle.

When we flip the switch handle,

the track will flip between the two traveler terminals.

This will change the path electricity can take,

and that's how we'll control the light.

The first circuit we're going to look at

is where the light fitting is last in the circuit.

For this circuit, we're going to need to following parts;

some three wire cable, some two wire cable,

four wire connectors, a ceiling box,

a light fitting, two three-way switches

and two switch boxes.

For the incoming power supply,

we take the black hot wire and connect this

into the common terminal of switch one.

We then run the black traveler wire

from the left traveler terminal of switch one

and take this over to the left traveler terminal

of switch two.

Then we run the black hot wire from the

common terminal of switch two,

over to the ceiling box and into the light fitting.

Then we take the red traveler wire

and run that from the right hand traveler terminal

of switch one and take this over

to the right traveler terminal of switch two.

Now for the incoming neutral,

we run that into the wire connector

which would sit within the switch box for switch one.

We then connect from this wire connector

and run the white wire to a wire connector

in switch box two.

Then we run the final white wire

from the wire terminal of switch two

and take this over through the ceiling box

and onto the light fitting

which will complete the circuit.

To provide some safety, we run a ground wire

from the incoming supplier and connect this

into a wire connector within switch box one.

Then we run a ground wire from the ground terminal

of switch one, and connect this

to the ground wire connector.

We connect the next ground wire

between the wire connector of switch box one,

and the wire connector in switch box two.

Then we run a ground wire from switch box two,

to the ground wire connector also.

Finally as the ceiling box is metal,

we will run a ground wire from the ground screw

in the box and connect this to the ground wire connector

in switch box two.

So there we have a complete circuit

with a two wire cable on the incoming power supply,

a three wire cable between the two switches

and another two wire cable from switch two

over to the light fitting.

Now if we power this circuit we see

the electricity comes in through the hot wire

and passes across switch one and along

the black traveler wire to switch two.

The switch two is in the off position

so the switch is broken and the light is off.

When we flip switch two, the tracks change direction

and electricity can now flow across switch two,

through the light and back along the neutral wire.

If we were to flip switch one,

electricity can now flow across switch one

and in to the red traveler wire

but it stops at switch two as the tracks are disconnected.

But by flipping switch two we again complete the circuit.

The next circuit we'll look at

is where the light fitting is between the two switches.

For this circuit we'll need some two and three wire cable,

five wire connectors, a ceiling box, a light fitting,

two three-way switches and some black electrical tape.

So from the incoming power supply,

we will connect the black hot wire

to the common terminal of switch number one.

Then we run the black traveler wire

from the left traveler terminal of switch one

and take this over to the wire connector in the ceiling box.

Then we run another black wire

from the wire connector and connect this

into the left traveler terminal of switch two.

Then we run the red traveler wire

from the right traveler terminal of switch one

and connect this to the wire connector in the ceiling box.

Then we run another red wire from the wire connector

and connect this to the right traveler terminal

of switch two.

Now we bring our neutral wire

in from the incoming supply

and connect that into a wire connector

within switch box one.

Then we run another neutral wire

and run this from the wire connector

through the ceiling box and connect it

into the light fitting.

Then we run a third white wire

from the other light fitting terminal

and we run this to the common terminal of switch number two.

We must mark both ends of this wire

with black electrical tape to warn it is hot.

Now to make the circuit safe,

we bring our ground wire into the wire connector.

Then we connect to the ground terminal of switch one

and into the wire connector.

Then we run another ground wire

from the wire connector and bring

this to the wire connector within the ceiling box.

As the ceiling box is made of metal

we will need to connect this to ground also.

Then finally we want to ground switch two

so we run a ground wire from the ground terminal

and bring that over to the ground wire connector

within the ceiling box.

So there we go, a complete circuit

where we have a two wire cable on the incoming supply

into switching box one

and between both switches one and two

and the light fitting we have three wire cable.

Now if we power the circuit

we see that electricity can flow through the hot,

across switch one, through the ceiling box

and to the terminal of switch two.

But the circuit is broken at switch two

so the light is off.

When we flip switch two,

electricity can now flow across the switch,

through the light and back through the neutral wire.

If we flip switch one,

electricity will again be able to make it to switch two

by the red traveler but it can't get across switch two.

But if we flip switch two,

then we complete the circuit and the light will turn on.

The final circuit we'll cover is where

the light fitting is before the two switches.

For this type of circuit we'll need some

two and three wire cable, a ceiling box,

some wire connectors, two switch boxes,

two three-way switches, a light fitting

and some black electrical tape.

So for this circuit, we'll bring the incoming supply

hot black wire into the ceiling box first

and connect this into a wire connector.

Then we run a white wire from the wire connector

and connect this into a wire connector

within switch box one.

We must mark both ends of this wire

with black electrical tape to warn it is hot.

Then we run another white wire

from the wire connector and connect

to the common terminal of switch two.

Again marking the ends with black electrical tape.

Now we run a red traveler wire

from the right traveler terminal of switch two

and connect this to the right traveler terminal

of switch number one.

Then we run a black traveler wire

between the left traveler terminals

of the two switches.

From switch one, we connect a black wire

from the common terminal and connect this

to the light fitting terminal.

Now to complete the circuit we will bring our

incoming neutral and connect this

to the other light fitting terminal.

To make the circuit safe,

we bring our incoming ground wire

and connect this to a wire connector within the ceiling box.

As the ceiling box is metal

we will need to ground that also using the ground screw.

Then we run another ground between this wire connector

and another within switch box one.

From there, we will connect the switch ground terminal

to the wire connector.

And finally, we run a ground wire

from the ground terminal of switch two

and over to the ground wire connector.

So there we have a complete circuit,

with a two wire cable for the incoming supply

into the ceiling box.

A two wire cable to the first switch

and a three wire cable between the two switches.

When we power this circuit,

electricity can flow through the hot wire

and into the white wire and over to switch two.

Then it travels along the red traveler

but stops at switch one.

If we flip switch two,

the electricity can now flow over

and across switch two, then through the light fitting

and back through the neutral.

When we flip switch one,

electricity can't make it past the switch,

so the light is off.

If we flip switch two, the circuit is again complete

so the light will turn on.

Okay guys, that's it for this video

but if you want to continue your learning

then check out one of the videos on screen now

and I'll catch you there for the next lesson.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram and of course

[Link].

English

AllSwitchesListenableRelatedFrom The Engineering Mindset

---- 3 Way Switches Explained - How to wire 3 way light switch

Hey there guys, Paul here from [Link].

In this video we're going to be looking at

three way switches for lighting circuits

in North America.
We're going to look at three different circuit designs,

depending on if you want to light fitting

to be at the beginning, the middle or the end

of the lighting circuit.

Now I've included a handy PDF wiring guide

for this video with detailed illustrations

of each circuit as well as step by step

instructions and part list for all three types.

You can keep this guide on your PC or mobile

and access them anywhere at anytime.

Links for that in the video description down below.

Now we're covering the theory in this video,

but remember electricity is dangerous

and can be fatal.

You should be qualified and competent

before carrying out any electrical work.

So how do three way switches work?

If we look at a three way switch

we have four screw terminals.

One is for ground, one is our common terminal,

and the other two are our traveler terminals.

Inside the switch we have a track

which electricity flows along.

This is connected to the switch handle.

When we flip the switch handle,

the track will flip between the two traveler terminals.

This will change the path electricity can take,

and that's how we'll control the light.

The first circuit we're going to look at

is where the light fitting is last in the circuit.

For this circuit, we're going to need to following parts;

some three wire cable, some two wire cable,

four wire connectors, a ceiling box,

a light fitting, two three-way switches

and two switch boxes.

For the incoming power supply,

we take the black hot wire and connect this

into the common terminal of switch one.

We then run the black traveler wire

from the left traveler terminal of switch one

and take this over to the left traveler terminal

of switch two.

Then we run the black hot wire from the

common terminal of switch two,

over to the ceiling box and into the light fitting.

Then we take the red traveler wire

and run that from the right hand traveler terminal

of switch one and take this over

to the right traveler terminal of switch two.

Now for the incoming neutral,

we run that into the wire connector

which would sit within the switch box for switch one.

We then connect from this wire connector

and run the white wire to a wire connector

in switch box two.

Then we run the final white wire

from the wire terminal of switch two

and take this over through the ceiling box

and onto the light fitting

which will complete the circuit.

To provide some safety, we run a ground wire

from the incoming supplier and connect this

into a wire connector within switch box one.

Then we run a ground wire from the ground terminal

of switch one, and connect this

to the ground wire connector.

We connect the next ground wire

between the wire connector of switch box one,

and the wire connector in switch box two.

Then we run a ground wire from switch box two,

to the ground wire connector also.

Finally as the ceiling box is metal,

we will run a ground wire from the ground screw

in the box and connect this to the ground wire connector

in switch box two.

So there we have a complete circuit

with a two wire cable on the incoming power supply,

a three wire cable between the two switches

and another two wire cable from switch two

over to the light fitting.

Now if we power this circuit we see

the electricity comes in through the hot wire

and passes across switch one and along

the black traveler wire to switch two.

The switch two is in the off position

so the switch is broken and the light is off.

When we flip switch two, the tracks change direction

and electricity can now flow across switch two,

through the light and back along the neutral wire.

If we were to flip switch one,

electricity can now flow across switch one

and in to the red traveler wire

but it stops at switch two as the tracks are disconnected.

But by flipping switch two we again complete the circuit.

The next circuit we'll look at

is where the light fitting is between the two switches.

For this circuit we'll need some two and three wire cable,

five wire connectors, a ceiling box, a light fitting,

two three-way switches and some black electrical tape.

So from the incoming power supply,

we will connect the black hot wire

to the common terminal of switch number one.

Then we run the black traveler wire

from the left traveler terminal of switch one

and take this over to the wire connector in the ceiling box.

Then we run another black wire

from the wire connector and connect this

into the left traveler terminal of switch two.

Then we run the red traveler wire

from the right traveler terminal of switch one

and connect this to the wire connector in the ceiling box.

Then we run another red wire from the wire connector

and connect this to the right traveler terminal

of switch two.
Now we bring our neutral wire

in from the incoming supply

and connect that into a wire connector

within switch box one.

Then we run another neutral wire

and run this from the wire connector

through the ceiling box and connect it

into the light fitting.

Then we run a third white wire

from the other light fitting terminal

and we run this to the common terminal of switch number two.

We must mark both ends of this wire

with black electrical tape to warn it is hot.

Now to make the circuit safe,

we bring our ground wire into the wire connector.

Then we connect to the ground terminal of switch one

and into the wire connector.

Then we run another ground wire

from the wire connector and bring

this to the wire connector within the ceiling box.

As the ceiling box is made of metal

we will need to connect this to ground also.

Then finally we want to ground switch two

so we run a ground wire from the ground terminal

and bring that over to the ground wire connector

within the ceiling box.

So there we go, a complete circuit

where we have a two wire cable on the incoming supply

into switching box one

and between both switches one and two

and the light fitting we have three wire cable.

Now if we power the circuit

we see that electricity can flow through the hot,

across switch one, through the ceiling box

and to the terminal of switch two.

But the circuit is broken at switch two

so the light is off.

When we flip switch two,

electricity can now flow across the switch,

through the light and back through the neutral wire.

If we flip switch one,

electricity will again be able to make it to switch two

by the red traveler but it can't get across switch two.

But if we flip switch two,

then we complete the circuit and the light will turn on.

The final circuit we'll cover is where

the light fitting is before the two switches.

For this type of circuit we'll need some

two and three wire cable, a ceiling box,

some wire connectors, two switch boxes,

two three-way switches, a light fitting

and some black electrical tape.

So for this circuit, we'll bring the incoming supply

hot black wire into the ceiling box first

and connect this into a wire connector.

Then we run a white wire from the wire connector

and connect this into a wire connector

within switch box one.

We must mark both ends of this wire

with black electrical tape to warn it is hot.

Then we run another white wire

from the wire connector and connect

to the common terminal of switch two.

Again marking the ends with black electrical tape.

Now we run a red traveler wire

from the right traveler terminal of switch two

and connect this to the right traveler terminal

of switch number one.

Then we run a black traveler wire

between the left traveler terminals

of the two switches.

From switch one, we connect a black wire

from the common terminal and connect this

to the light fitting terminal.

Now to complete the circuit we will bring our

incoming neutral and connect this

to the other light fitting terminal.

To make the circuit safe,

we bring our incoming ground wire

and connect this to a wire connector within the ceiling box.

As the ceiling box is metal

we will need to ground that also using the ground screw.

Then we run another ground between this wire connector

and another within switch box one.

From there, we will connect the switch ground terminal

to the wire connector.

And finally, we run a ground wire

from the ground terminal of switch two

and over to the ground wire connector.

So there we have a complete circuit,

with a two wire cable for the incoming supply

into the ceiling box.

A two wire cable to the first switch

and a three wire cable between the two switches.

When we power this circuit,

electricity can flow through the hot wire

and into the white wire and over to switch two.

Then it travels along the red traveler

but stops at switch one.

If we flip switch two,

the electricity can now flow over

and across switch two, then through the light fitting

and back through the neutral.

When we flip switch one,

electricity can't make it past the switch,

so the light is off.

If we flip switch two, the circuit is again complete

so the light will turn on.

Okay guys, that's it for this video

but if you want to continue your learning

then check out one of the videos on screen now

and I'll catch you there for the next lesson.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram and of course

[Link].

English

AllListenableRelatedFrom The Engineering Mindset

----Ground Neutral and Hot wires explained - electrical engineering grounding ground fault

In this video, we're going to be looking at the difference

between the hot, neutral and ground wires

as well as the function of each with some worked examples.

This video is for homes in North America.

If you are outside this region then

you can still follow along but your system will work

and look a bit different, so do check out our other videos.

Remember, electricity is dangerous and can be fatal.

You should be qualified and competent

to carry out any electrical work.

Before we get into this video,

there are three things I need you to remember.

Number one, electricity will only flow

in a complete circuit.

If you come into contact with an electrical conductor,

your body might complete the circuit.

Number two is that electricity always tries

to return to its source and number three,

electricity will take all available paths

to complete a circuit but it will take preference

to a path with less resistance and so more current

is going to flow in that path.

So we're going to be looking

at the hot, neutral and ground wires

for a typical North American residential electrical circuit.

First we'll see a really simple circuit

to understand how it works,

then we're going to apply this knowledge

to a complex residential installation.

When we look at a simple electrical circuit

with just a battery and a lamp,

we know that to turn the lamp on

we need to connect both ends of the wires

to the terminals of the battery.

Once we connect these wires,

the circuit is now complete and electrons can flow

from the negative through the lamp

and then back to the positive terminal.

So for the circuit to be complete,

we need a wire to carry the electrons from the power supply

and over to the light.

This wire is our hot wire,

then we need to connect another wire from the lamp

and back to the battery for the electrons

to get back to their power supply or from their source,

and this wire is our neutral wire.

The hot wire carries electricity from the power supply

and then will take this over to the load.

The neutral wire carries the used electricity

back to the power supply.

If we look at a residential electrical system

in North America, then we will find two hot wires

a neutral wire and some ground wires.

If you want to see in detail how this all works

then check out our video for that,

links in the video description below.

Now, imagine for a second, the homes electrical system

is connected to a battery and we have just one hot wire

and a neutral wire.

And as we saw with the simple circuit,

for the light to turn on, we need a hot wire

to the supply of the current to the load

and we need the neutral wire

to return the current to the source.

Electricity therefore flows through the hot,

through the busbar

and the circuit breaker and into the light.

It then travels back through the neutral

and over to its electrical source.

Now, of course homes are not connected to a battery,

they are connected to transformers.

So we're gonna replace the battery with a transformer

and there we go, we have a complete circuit.

The electricity in this circuit is AC, alternating current,

which is different from the DC, direct current,

which we saw with the battery.

With DC, the electrons flow directly

from A to B in only one direction,

much like the flow of water down a river,

but in our homes we have AC, alternating current,

which means the electrons alternate their direction

between forwards and backwards

much like the tide of the sea.

Now, in North America, we have a split phase supply

to most residential properties.

So we have the two hot wires and one neutral wire.

We simply have two 120V coils which are connected together

in the transformer.

The neutral is then connected to the centre

between the two coils.

When we connect our multimeter

between a hot and the neutral,

then we're going to get a reading of around 120V,

and we get the same reading for the other one.

That's because we're only using half of the coil

in the transformer.

But then when we connect between the two hots,

we get 240V because we're using the full length

of the transformer coil.

Now, if you don't have a multimeter,

I highly encourage you to get one,

links down below for which one to get and from where.

Now, if we have a load on only one half of the coil

and the load is, for example, 20Amps,

then the hot wire will carry 20Amps to the load

and the neutral wire will carry 20Amps back to the source.

You can measure the current in a cable

using a current clamp meter.

Again, links down below for which one to get and from where.

If you don't know what current or amps are,

then check out our video on electrical current,

link to that in the video description below also.

Now, if we have another load on our other half of the coil

and the load is a different value,

say for example just 15Amps,then the neutral will only carry

the difference between these two values back

to the transformer or back to the electrical source.

So in this case, one side we have 20Amps

and the other side we have 15Amps,

so the difference between these is five amps.

So the neutral will carry five amps.

Where does the rest of this go?

Well, it will pass through the two hot wires.

And this is what we have in most cases

because there are multiple circuits with different loads

in the residential property.

However, if we had a load on both coils

and they're of equal value, say for example 15Amps each.

Then there will be no current flowing in the neutral wire.

So where is it going?

Well, it's flowing back and forth on the two hot wires

between the load and the source.

That's because it's AC, alternating current,

and the transformer is centre tapped with a neutral.

So while one half is moving forwards,

the other half is moving backwards

and the current will flow into the other circuit

instead of back via the neutral.

Hopefully, that hasn't confused you too much.

If it has, then don't worry about it too much for now,

we're gonna cover that in a more advanced video.

So the hot wires carry the electrical current

from the supply and over to the load

and the neutral wires carry the electrical current

from the load and back to the supply.

So what does the ground wire do?

The ground wire, under normal operating conditions,

will not carry any electrical current.

This wire will only carry electrical current

in the event of a ground fault.

Hopefully, this wire will otherwise never ever be used

at all in its entire life.

It's just there for an emergency path

for the electricity to get back to the power source

instead of it passing through you.

The ground wire in most cases is a bare copper wire,

it's uninsulated, but in some cases it is covered

with a green insulation.

This wire has a very very low resistance

so electricity will prefer to travel along it

because it's easier and can get back quicker.

Now if we go back to the simple circuit

with a battery and a lamp, if we now run another wire

and run this from the positive terminal over to the lamp

and we connect this to the metal of the lamp holder,

then this is effectively our ground wire.

As you can see, it's not being used to carry electricity.

If the hot wire touches the metal casing

then the electricity will now flow

through the ground wire instead.

If the hot wire is connected to both the neutral

and the ground, then it will now flow

through both wires back to the source.

But as the ground wire has less resistance,

then more current will flow through it.

When electricity finds a way to leave its circuit

and return to the source through a different way

than its neutral wire, this is called a ground fault.

Coming back to the house,

the electricity flows through the hot wire

and into the light and then back through the neutral,
but if the hot touches the metal casing,

then it will instead flow through the ground wire

back to the panel, through the busbar

and then back to the transformer via the neutral wire.

The ground wire has a very low resistance

which causes a huge and instantaneous increase in current

which will trip the breaker.

We therefore connect the ground wires to anything

that could potentially become a potential path

for electricity to leave its circuit,

such as the metal pipes, the metal plates

and the light switches and the outlets of the boxes,

we also need to run one to the outlets

because often our appliances are made of metal

or they're covered with a metal casing,

the things like washing machines and microwaves.

When you look at a receptacle and plug,

you'll see that there is a hot terminal,

a neutral terminal and a ground terminal.

The casing of something like a washing machine

is connected to a ground wire in the lead

which goes to the plug, through the receptacle

and back to the panel to save you from an electric shock.

Now, let's say you're outside with no shoes on

and the ground or the soil is moist.

If you touch a hot wire, you could complete the circuit

and current may pass through you to get back to the supply.

In this case, the resistance is going to be very high.

So the current might not be high enough

to automatically flip the breaker and cut the power.

This will likely lead to the person's death.

Luckily we have the GFCI receptacle or the GFCI breaker.

GFCI stands for Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter.

We're gonna look at a circuit breaker version

but essentially they're gonna work the same.

This GFCI breaker is going to be connected

to both the hot and the neutral of the circuit,

and so we can monitor the wires and ensure

that the current running in the hot wire of the circuit

is equal to the current running

in the neutral wire of the circuit.

If the current is not equal in these two wires,

then it's clearly flowing back to the source

via another route, we then have a ground fault.

The breaker will realize this and very quickly

and automatically flip to cut the power

and kill the circuit.

Connected to the main panel,

we will find a thick copper wire

which leads out to a ground rod.

A ground rod is buried into the ground

outside near the property.

This rod is not used for ground faults.

Its purpose is to dissipate static electricity

and external high voltages like lightning strikes.

There is also a ground rod connected to the neutral

at the transformer.

Many people think that during a ground fault

electricity flows through the ground rod

and into the earth.

Now, remember electricity tries to get back to its source.

It doesn't just go into the earth.

Unless there is a ground rod at the transformer,

then there is a potential path for the electricity

to get back to the source, but this path will have

a very high resistance for impedance.

And as we know, electricity will take preference

over the path with the least resistance.

So as we already have a very low resistance ground wire

which provides a path directly back to the source,

the ground fault is going to take this route instead.

When it comes to lightning,

the source of lightning is essentially the earth.

So lightning is always trying to get back to its source

which is the earth.

If lightning strikes the utility cables,

it will flow along the wires to get to the ground rods

of both the transformer and also your main panel.

It's gonna do this to try and get back into the earth.

If it wasn't for this, then it's going to blow

all our circuits then it's gonna cause house fires.

Now, if the hot wire came into direct contact

with the ground rod, then electricity will flow

through the soil, back to the transformer,

but the resistance is very high so the current will be low.

This means the circuit breaker

will not likely detect the fault

and the circuit breaker will not automatically flip

to cut the power.

Okay guys, that's it for this video

but to continue learning,

then click on one of the videos onscreen now

and I'll catch you there for the next lesson.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

as well as [Link].

English

AllAlternating currentElectric currentElectronic componentsListenableRelatedFrom The Engineering MindsetWatched

----How Receptacles Work - The basic working principle explained grounding

We all use receptacles every day

to power our electronic devices,

but how do these work?

Hey there guys, Paul here from [Link].

In this video we're going to be

looking at how receptacles work,

the different parts,

how they're wired,

as well as the purpose of the ground wire,

and we're going to be using the color coding

and terminology for North America in this video.

But if you're from outside this region,

you can still follow along and learn how they work,

or you can check out our other videos.

Now, we are just covering the theory in this video,

but remember electricity is dangerous

and can be fatal.

You should be qualified and competent

to carry out any electrical work.

So if we take a typical receptacle,

we're going to find two neutral terminals on the left,

which are silver in color.

And then, there'll be two brass colored hot terminals

on the right.

We'll also find a green ground terminal also.

Between these respective sets of terminals

we have a jumper, but we're gonna come back

a little later in this video and look at them.

Inside the outlet we'll find some tracks

which will carry the electricity.

The two neutral and the two hot terminals

are currently joined together by the jumper,

so both hot terminals will become energized

if either one of the two were wired into the circuit.

We can remove the jumpers by using some pliers

to just snap them off, but these can't be replaced.

By snapping these off we can isolate the terminals

and connect them to different circuits.

We'll look at this in detail a little later in this video.

For now, I'm going to leave these jumpers in place.

We can connect this receptacle into the electrical system

by first bringing in our hot wire

and connecting that to the hot terminal.

Then, we bring the neutral wire in

and connect this to the neutral terminal

on the opposite side.

To make the circuits safe,

we bring in our ground wire also.

If we now turn on the power,

the electricity will flow along the hot wire

and into both the tracks for the hot terminals.

The electricity wants to reach the neutral terminals

to return back to the service panel,

but it can't at the moment

because there is no path to complete the circuit.

As I said, with the jumper in place

both hot terminals are now hot.

But, if we remove the jumper between these two

then only the terminal connected to the hot wire

will be energized.

In this case, that's the top outlet.

Coming back, to complete the circuit

we need to plug something into the receptacle.

For this example I'm just gonna plug in

a simple light fitting.

With the light plugged in, the electricity can now flow

through the hot terminal into the plug.

It will then flow along the cable and into the lamp.

From there it will return

to the neutral terminal of the outlet,

and then return to the service panel

and off to the transformer outside the property

where it will complete its circuit.

With the jumper in place, the lamp will also light up

if we were to plug it into the lower socket.

But, when we remove the jumper the circuit is broken

and the lower hot terminal, in this example,

is no longer hot and will not power the lamp.

With the jumper still removed,

we can still plug the lamp into the top circuit

to complete the circuit and power the lamp.

So, then why would we want to remove the jumper?

One application is when using switched receptacles

like this circuit here,

which allows half of the receptacle to remain hot

while the other half is controlled by a switch.

For this we bring the hot wire in

and connect this to the wire nut.

We then run another hot wire from there

and over to the top hot terminal.

We can then run our neutral wire back to the service panel.

Of course, we need to also include our ground wires too.

If we power this circuit,

then only the top half of the circuit would be hot.

The lower half would have no power.

So to connect the lower half to the switch

we run a a white wire from the hot wire nut

and take this over to the lower terminal of the switch.

We then need to place some tape on this wire

to warn that it is hot.

Then, from the top terminal of the switch

we run a black wire

over to the lower terminal of the receptacle.

To make the circuit safe we bring in our ground wire also.

And then, when we power this circuit

we again get electricity to the top terminal

and we have given it a second path,

which leads over to the switch.

The switch is off currently, so electricity can't pass it.

But when we flip the switch, the circuit is now made

and electricity can flow over to the lower half also.

If something was plugged in to either of the sockets,

then electricity can flow through

and into neutral side to get back to the service panel.

If we flip the switch off,

then the power is cut again to the lower half

but the top half will remain hot.

Another application is to connect to

two different hot wires.

If we remove the jumper

and then bring in a red hot wire

as well as the black hot wire,

we can connect the top half and the bottom half

to different circuit breakers.

This will spread the electrical demand over two breakers,

instead of just one,

so it's less likely to overload and trip the breaker.

So far, I've animated the flow of electricity

using DC, or direct current,

which flows in one direction,

like the water flowing down a river.

I've used this method

because it's simple to visualize and understand.

But electricity in your home flows forwards

and backwards because it's AC, or alternating current.

It flows like the tide of the sea,

back and forth constantly.

But don't worry too much about this for now.

If you want to learn how electricity works,

then check out our simplified tutorial on that,

link's down below.

Additionally, we've also covered split-phase electricity

in great detail.

Do check this out, link's down below.

The next thing I want to briefly cover

is the purpose of the ground wire in the circuit.

This wire is an emergency path

to try and save you from an electric shock.

Ideally, the ground wire in the circuit will never be used.

But should a ground fault occur,

then the wire is on standby ready to take over.

Under normal operating conditions

the electricity will flow into your home

through the service panel and circuit breaker,

and then into the hot terminal of the receptacle.

If we plug something in,

then it could make its way over to the neutral wire,

and then out through the neutral incomer

and over into the transformer outside the property.

Again, I'm just animating the flow of electrons

in one direction for simplicity.

In the event of a ground fault,

which is where the electricity took an unexpected route

back to the source,

instead of passing through an electrical device,

for example the hot wire came into direct contact

with the metal casing,

then the electricity will flow through the metal body

and into the connected ground wire

where it will continue over

and it'll either passed through the neutral

or a separated ground busbar,

and then up through the neutral wire

and over to the transformer.

As this occurs, the current in the circuit is going to

increase dramatically, and almost instantly.

In most cases, the sudden and large rising current

is detected by the circuit breaker,

which will trip to cut the power to the individual circuit.

The electricity will continue to flow into the building

and into the other circuits on the service panel.

The fault will then need to be corrected,

and the circuit breaker flipped again.

We've covered ground, hot and neutral wires,

and faults in great detail in our previous tutorial,

link's down below for that.

Okay guys, that's it for this video,

but to continue your learning,

then check out one of the videos on screen now,

and I'll catch you there for the next lesson.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

as well as [Link].

English

---DC Series circuits explained - The basics working principle

- [Instructor] Hey there guys, Paul here

from [Link].

In this video we're going to be looking at DC series

circuits.
We'll cover voltage, current, resistance,

and power consumption, as well as using a multimeter

and a chance for you to test your knowledge at the end.

When we connect components in electrical circuit,

we can connect them either in series, or parallel,

or we can combine these to make a series parallel circuit.

We're going to start with the series type,

which is the most basic.

We will cover the other types in other tutorials,

do check those out, links down below.

So if we place two components in a line end to end,

or with some wires in between, then these are connected

in series, the electrons only have one path they can take,

so they would all flow through each of the components.

By the way in these animations I use electron flow

which is from negative to positive.

You might be used to seeing conventional current,

which is from positive to negative.

Electron flow is what's actually occurring.

Conventional was the original theory

but it's still taught because it's easy to understand.

Just be aware of the two, and which one we're using.

Resistance in series circuits.

Each component will have a certain resistance,

the resistance opposes the voltage being applied.

We measure resistance in a unit of ohms.

In series circuits, we find the total resistance

for the circuit by simply adding together

all resistances.

We label each resistor with a capital R,

and number them R1, R2, R3, et cetera.

The total resistance is shown with a capital letter R

and a subscript T, which represents the resistance total

or the total resistance.

To calculate the total resistance of a series circuit

is super easy.

You simply add together the resistance value of each

resistor.
Let's say we have a circuit with a single resistor,

that's our R1, and this has a value of 10 ohms,

so what is our total resistance?

Well that's easy, the total resistance is just 10 ohms,

if we then add in the second resistor, R2,

with five ohms of resistance into the circuit,

the total resistance is now 15 ohms.

That's because 10 ohms plus five ohms.

If we added another five ohm resistor,

then the total resistance is now 20 ohms,

in reality the wires too will add some resistance

but this is very small, you might need to account for this

depending on how accurate your design needs to be.

Current in series.

Current is the flow of electrons, it's like water

which flows through a pipe, the higher the current,

the more electrons are flowing.

We measure current in the unit of Amperes,

but engineers tend to shorten this to just amps.

Now we have covered current in detail

in our previous video, do check that out, links down below.

We measure current by placing an ammeter into the circuit

for the electrons to flow through.

This is like a water meter, in the sense that water

must pass through it for us to measure it.

We can connect a multimeter into the circuit

to also read the current.

The multimeter must be placed into the circuit

for us to take a reading, because the current

will flow through this.

The meter will add some resistance to the circuit

but it's such a small amount that we can usually

just ignore this.

If you don't have a multimeter yet

then I highly recommend you get one, they are essential

for troubleshooting and also building your understanding.

I'll leave some links down below for which one to get

and from where.

We can calculate the total current of the circuit

by dividing the voltage by the resistance.

So if we connect a 10 ohm resistor to a nine volt battery,

nine volts divided by 10 ohms give us 0.9 amps.

If we added another five ohm resistor to the circuit

that gives us 15 ohms of resistance,

so nine volts divided by 15 ohms equals 0.6 amps,

and if we added another five ohm resistor

that gives us 20 ohms of resistance,

so nine volts divided by 20 ohms equals 0.45 amps.

So we can see that as we add more resistance to the circuit

the current reduces, so less electrons are flowing

and that means we can do less work.

We can visualize that by connecting an LED

with a resistor into a circuit.

The higher the resistance, the dimmer the LED will be.

We can also use resistors to protect components

in the circuit.

If I use a 100 ohm resistor with a nine volt battery,

the current will be around 0.09 amps, or 90 milliamps,

and that will be too much it will blow the LED.

If I use a 450 ohm resistor the current will be around

0.02 amps or 20 milliamps, so the LED should be okay.

If I use a 900 ohm resistor, the current will be 0.01 amp

or 10 milliamp, and the LED will be very dim then.

In a series circuit the current is the same throughout

the entire circuit, that's very important

so do remember that.

If we place the meter here or here we will get

the same reading.

That's because there is only one path

for the electrons to flow, and they would all move together

in the same direction, so the current must be the same.

It doesn't matter where we measure or where we place

the resistor, even if we swap the order of the resistors,

the current will be the same anywhere in a series circuit.

Voltage in series.

Remember voltage is the pushing force of electrons.

It's like pressure in a pipe, the higher the pressure

the more water can flow, the higher the voltage

the more electrons can flow.

We can see that by varying the voltage to a lamp

as illustrated here.

The lamp increases in brightness as the voltage increases.

When we measure voltage, we're measuring the difference

or potential difference between two points.

If we read across a 1.5 volt battery,

we get a reading of 1.5 volts.

But if we try to measure the same side

we wouldn't read any voltage,

we can only measure the difference between two points.

If we place a nine volt battery into the circuit

we apply nine volts to the circuit,

we can increase this by wiring the batteries in series.

So if we place two nine volt batteries in a circuit

in series, then we get 18 volts.

Three nine volt batteries will give us 27 volts.

Let's take a nine volt battery,

and add an R1 resistor of 10 ohms to the circuit.

If we use a multimeter to measure across the resistor,

we get a voltage reading of nine volts.

If we add another 10 ohm resistor,

we get a reading of nine volts across the two resistors,

but we get a reading of 4.5 volts if we measure across

either of the resistors individually.

So the resistors are dividing the voltage.

If we replace the R2 resistor with a five ohm resistor,

the total voltage would again be nine volts,

and that's what we see if we measure

across the two resistors.

But if we measure across the 10 ohm resistor,

we see a voltage of six volts, and if we measure

across the five ohm resistor, we see three volts.

We'll look at why that is just shortly.

If we added another resistor, R3, with five ohms

into the circuit, we again get a total voltage drop

of nine volts across the three resistors.

Across the R1 10 ohm resistor, we read 4.5 volts.

Across the R2 five ohm resistor, we read 2.25 volts.

And across the last R3 five ohm resistor we again

see 2.25 volts.

We can combine these readings to find the voltage

at different parts of the circuit,

for example if we measure from the battery across R1,

we see 4.5 volts.

If we measure from the battery across R1 and R2,

we get 6.75 volts, because 4.5 plus 2.25 volts.

So unlike current where it's the same

throughout the circuit, the voltage will be different

throughout a series circuit.

This shows us the voltage is reduced by each resistor,

so the resistor creates a voltage drop,

that's the purpose of the resistor, to reduce the voltage

or the pressure.

What's happening is the resistor creates a more difficult

path for the electrons to flow through,

and as they flow through it they will collide

with other electrons.

This collision will convert the energy into heat,

the same amount of electrons will enter and exit

the resistor, they will just have less energy or pressure

as there's been a voltage drop.

We can calculate the voltage drop across each resistor

individually, by multiplying the total current

in the circuit, by the resistance of each component.

Remember in a series circuit, the current is the same

anywhere in the circuit.

The total voltage drop will be the total of all

the individual voltage drops combined.

The first circuit there was a 10 ohm resistor by itself,

the circuit had a current of 0.9 amps,

so 0.9 amps multiplied by 10 ohms, equals nine volts.

The voltage drop across the resistor is therefore

nine volts, and that's the same as the voltage source.

The second circuit had the 10 ohm, and a five ohm resistor

together, so the first resistor voltage drop is 0.6 amps

multiplied by 10 ohms, which gives us six volts.

The second resistor was five ohms,

and the current was the same, so 0.6 amps

multiplied by five ohms, equals three volts.

The total voltage drop is therefore six volts,

plus three volts which gives us our nine volts.

The third circuit has a 10 ohm and two five ohm resistors,

the circuit had a current of 0.45 amps, so R1 is 0.45 amps

multiplied by 10 ohms, which gives us 4.5 volts.

R2 and R3 will be 0.45 amps multiplied by five ohms

which gives us 2.25 volts on each.

The total voltage drop is therefore nine volts

which is 4.5 plus 2.25, plus 2.25.

Power consumption in series circuits.

How do we measure power consumption of a circuit?

Well we can use the following equations.

We can either use power, which is watts,

equals voltage squared, divided by resistance,

or we can use power equals voltage, multiplied by current.

You might be wondering how can a resistor consume power?

Well as the resistor is creating a voltage drop,

the electrons are losing some energy,

where is this energy going.

Well the electrical energy is being converted into heat,

and if we look at some resistors under a thermal imaging

camera we can see the heat is being generated.

So the power consumption is actually the heat

being dissipated from the circuit.

So in this circuit the resistance is 10 ohms,

the battery's providing nine volts,

the current is 0.9 amps, and the circuit

consumes 8.1 watts of power, how do we calculate that?

Using method one, nine volts squared

or nine multiplied by nine is 81,

divided by 10 ohms, is 8.1 watts.

Alternatively, nine volts multiplied by 0.9 amps

equals 8.1 watts.

In the circuit with a 10 ohms and the five ohm resistor,

the total resistance were 15 ohms,

and the current was 0.6 amps, so nine volts squared

is 81 divided by 15 ohms is 5.4 watts,

or nine volts multiplied by 0.6 amps equals 5.4 watts.

In the circuit with a 10 ohm and the two five ohm resistors

the total circuit resistance was 20 ohms,

and the current was 0.45 amps.

So nine volts squared is 81, divided by 20 ohms

gives us 4.05 watts, or alternatively,

we could use nine volts multiplied by 0.45 amps

which equals 4.05 watts.

Okay so now it's time for you to test your knowledge.

So this LED can't exceed a maximum current of 0.02 amps,

or 20 milliamps, otherwise it will burn out.

So if we connected it to these resistors

and a nine volt battery, what will the approximate current

in the circuit be, I will leave a link

in the video description down below for the answer.

Okay guys that's it for this video,

but to continue your learning then checkout

one of the videos on screen now, and I'll catch you there

for the next lesson.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter,

Instagram, LinkedIn, and [Link].

English

AllElectric currentDirect currentElectronic componentsListenableRelatedFrom The Engineering MindsetWatched

---DC parallel circuits explained - The basics how parallel circuits work working principle

Hey there guys,

Paul here from [Link].

In this video we going to be looking at parallel circuits

to understand how they work and how to calculate them.

There's also some problems at the end of the video,

for you to try and solve.

So we can connect components of a circuit

in either series, parallel

or a combination of series and parallel.

In this animations, we use electron flow,

which is from negative to positive.

You might be used to seeing conventional flow

which is from positive to negative.

Electron flow is what's actually occurring.

Conventional flow was the original theory

and it's still taught because

it's probably easier to understand.

Just be aware of the two and which one we are using.

When we place a lamp in series or parallel with the battery,

the electrons are going to flow from the negative terminal

of the battery along the wire through the lamp

and to the positive terminal of the battery.

In the series configuration, there's only one path

for the electrons to flow along.

If we place two lamps in a series circuit,

they will both shine, but if one of the bulbs breaks,

then the entire circuit stops working

because there's only one path

for the electrons to flow along.

You might have seen this with strings of light

such as fairy lights.

When one bulb pops,

the whole string of light stops working.

A solution to this is to wire the lamps in parallel.

When we do this, we provide the electrons multiple paths.

If one lamp stops working the circuit will continue to work

except for the one broken path.

Lets look at voltage first in parallel circuits.

Say we take a 1.5 volt battery.

If we use a multimeter to measure across the two ends,

we will read 1.5 volts.

But if we measure the same end, we get a reading of zero.

Why?
Because we can only measure the difference in voltage

between two different points.

Voltage is like pressure in a water pipe.

If you fill out the tank then the water pressure is higher.

And we can read the pressure at the pressure gauge.

The gauge is comparing two points

in order to know what the difference in pressure is.

This would be the pressure inside the pipe

compared to the pressure outside the pipe.

When the tank is empty, there's no pressure difference

because the pressure inside the pipe

is now equal to the pressure outside the pipe.

So therefore we get a reading of zero.

The same with voltage.

We can only measure the difference in voltage

between two different points.

When we connect a component to a battery,

it experiences the difference in voltage

between the two points or terminals of the battery.

The voltage or pressure

will force electrons to flow through the component.

In parallel circuits,

the voltage is the same anywhere in the circuit.

It doesn't matter if we connect a multimeter

here, here or here.

We get the same reading.

Why?

Because each component or path is connected directly

to both the positive and the negative

terminals of the battery.

So they receive the full pressure.

In series circuits

the components were connected to each other,

so the voltage reduced.

But with parallel there are multiple routes

and each is connected directly to the battery.

So when we use voltage in the formulas

for parallel circuits,

it's super easy, because it's the same value.

It's just the voltage of the connected battery.

For example,

in this circuit the total current is two amps

and the total resistance is three ohms.

So what is the voltage of the battery?

Well form Ohm's law, we know that we need the formula

voltage equals current multiplied by resistance.

So voltage equals two amps multiplied by three ohms,

which gives us six volts.

Another example.

This circuit is connected to a 12 volt battery,

what is the voltage drop across the end lamp?

Well that's easy.

We calculate voltage again by multiplying

the current and the resistance.

It has a current of 1.5 amps flowing through it,

and a resistance of eight ohms.

1.5 amps multiply by eight ohms gives us 12 volts.

If we connected two 1.5 volt batteries in series,

the voltage increases to three volts.

Why?

Because the electrons are being boosted

by the second battery

so the increase in pressure or voltage.

However, when we connect batteries in parallel,

the voltage doesn't increase.

We only get 1.5 volts.

Why?

Because the batteries can't boost each other

in this configuration.

The path of the electrons is joined and then it splits.

So the flow of electrons

are shared between the batteries.

The batteries therefore can't provide more voltage.

However the storage capacity has increased

so they can provide 1.5 volts for longer

than a single 1.5 battery by itself.

We've covered the basics of voltage in detail

in our previous videos.

Do check that out, link is down below.

So how does current flow in parallel circuits?

Remember current is the flow of electrons.

We need electrons to flow in the same direction,

to power things like lamps.

We apply voltage difference across a component

to force electrons to move.

As we apply more voltage, more electrons will flow.

The speed of the electrons remains the same

but the amount of electrons moving will vary.

The more electrons we have moving, the higher the current.

We represent current with the capital letter I,

and we measure current in a unit of Amperes.

But we usually just shorten this to say Amps.

If we connect a lamp with a resistance of one ohms,

to a battery rated at 1.5 volts,

the total current in the circuit will be 1.5 amps.

We can measure that by placing a multimeter

into the circuit.

Or we can calculate that using Ohm's law,

and the formula current equals voltage

divided by resistance.

We won't go into too much details on Ohm's law

as we've covered that in a separate dedicated video.

Do check that out, link is down below.

If we then connect a second

one ohm resistive lamp into the circuit while in parallel,

the multimeter reading the total current

sees an increase to three amps.

But if we measure the current

through the lamps individually,

we see the multimeter will read just 1.5 amps on each.

In the wire between the two lamps,

we also see a current of 1.5 amps.

We can see that the current will divide

and the electrons will flow

in all the different routes available

to get back to the battery.

And then they will recombine.

We can also see that the total current

is the sum of the current in each branch.

So we calculate the total current

using the following formula.

If we replace lamp one with a two ohm resistive lamp,

so that's now double the resistance on that branch,

then the total current decreases to 2.25 amps.

Lamp one sees a current of 0.75 amps

and would be less bright.

Lamp two continues to read 1.5 amps,

and the meter between lamp one and two

continues see 1.5 amps.

Therefore we can see that the current flowing in the branch

depends on the resistance of the branch

and again the total current in the circuit

is the sum of the currents in each branch.

If we add a third, one ohm lamp into the circuit,

and we change lamp one

back to a one ohm resistive lamp also,

so that's now three, one ohm lamps in parallel,

we see that the total current in the circuit

is now 4.5 amps.

Each lamp continues to see just 1.5 amps of current.

The multimeter on the wire between lamps one and two

has increased to three amps.

But the meter between lamps two and three

reads just 1.5 amps.

If we double the voltage from 1.5 volts to three volts,

then the current would double also.

The total current increases to nine amps,

the current between lamps one and two increases to six amps,

and each lamp now experiences three amps of current.

So from this we can see that the voltage applied

will vary the current.

The total current also varies

with the resistance of each branch

and how many branches are connected.

Let's see some more detailed explanations

on how to calculate this.

See if you can solve these before I do.

Take this simple parallel circuit

with two resistors and a 12 volt battery.

Resistor one is 15 ohms and has a current of 0.8 amps.

Resistor two is 24 ohms and has a current of 0.5 amps.

So what will the multimeter

read for the total current in the circuit?

What we know that the total current in a circuit,

is equal to the sum of the currents in all the branches.

Therefore, 0.8 amps plus 0.5 amps is 1.2 amps.

What if we know the total current

and the current in one branch.

How do we find the current in the other branch?

Well that's easy, we just subtract.

So in this example, we have a 12 volt battery

connected to two resistors.

The total current is three amps.

And branch one has a current of 1.8 amps.

The current in branch two is therefore three amps

subtract 1.8 which gives us 1.2 amps.

How do we calculate the current in a simple branch?

We use the formula

current equals voltage divided by resistance.

Let's say we have three resistors

one in parallel to a six volt battery.

Resistor one is 10 ohms, resistor two is two ohms,

and resistor three is five ohms.

What's the current flowing through each?

Well let's look at resistor one first.

Current equals voltage divided by resistance.

So six volts divided by 10 ohms gives us 0.6 amps.

Resistor two is six volts divided by two ohms

which is three amps.

And resistor three is six volts divided by five ohms

which is 1.2 amps.

So the current in this path will be 1.2 amps

because there's only the current from the single resistor.

The current in this wire will be 4.2 amps

because there's the current

of resistor two and three passing through.

The current here is the total current which is 4.8

because of the current of all three branches

flowing through it.

Okay so how do we calculate

the total resistance in a parallel circuit?

This is the part which people struggle with the most.

It looks difficult because of this formula,

but it's actually very easy and I'm going to show you how.

And to make it even easier,

we brought a free online calculator for you,

and this will help you

find the total resistance in your parallel circuit.

You can find link to this

in the video description down below.

In a series circuit, the total resistance of the circuit

was the resistance of each component just added together.

Why?

Because the electrons had to pass through each one.

So the more resistors they pass through,

the more total resistance increased.

But, with parallel circuits,

we are providing lots of different paths

for the electrons to flow through.

So we are instead going to work out

how conductive each branch is,

or how easy electricity can pass through each branch.

We then combine these values

and we convert that back into a resistance.

Let's take this simple parallel circuit

with two 10 ohms resistors.

How do we find the total resistance of the circuit?

Well we have to use that formula

which is RT or Resistance Total

equals one divided by one divided by R1

plus one divided by R2.

So we then replace the R1 and the R2 values

with our resistor one and our resistor two values.

So we start at the bottom,

and we divide one by our 10 ohms for both,

which gives us 0.1 plus 0.1.

So we add the two decimals together to get 0.2.

So then we just divide one by 0.2

to get five ohms of total resistance.

If you do this in your calculator or in Excel,

then just remember to use your brackets.

So although we had two, 10 ohms resistors,

the total resistance is only five ohms.

That's because the current has been split

and so the resistance has reduced.

If we had two, five ohm resistors,

then the total resistance is 2.5 ohms.

If we had a 10 and a five ohm resistor,

then the total resistance is 3.33 ohms.

If we have more resistors,

then we just keep adding them into the formula.

We input our resistor values and we get again 3.33 ohms.

For example a 10 ohm, a five ohm and a two ohm resistor

gives us a 1.25 ohms total resistance.

So why are we using all these one divided by resistor

fractions in the formula?

Well, you don't really need to remember why we do it,

you just need to remember how to use the formula.

But, I will just explain briefly why we do it this way.

Because there are so many paths

for the current to flow through,

we instead work out

how well electricity can pass through each path.

That's the conductance

which is the opposite or the reciprocal of resistance.

As we already know the resistance value of the resistors,

we can just invert this value to find the opposite.

Looking at the 10 ohm resistor,

we can also write 10 equals 10 divide by one.

Because 10 divided by one is 10.

And you can do that with any number.

Then we invert the number to find the conductance

or the reciprocal,

and we do that

by flipping the denominator and the numerator.

So we get one divided by 10, which is 0.1.

We can flip it back to resistance by again dividing by one,

because it's the opposite.

So one divided by 0.1 is 10.

If we had a one ohm resistor,

then we have a conductivity of one.

If we had a 1000 ohm resistor,

then we have a conductivity of 0.001.

So you can see that it's going to be easier

for the electricity to pass through the one ohms resistor,

because it has a better conductivity.

So once we work out how conductive each path is,

we add them together to find our total conductivity.

As we saw a moment ago,

we can convert that back to resistance

by taking the reciprocal.

So one divided by the total conductance

gives us our total resistance.

Hopefully that made sense,

if it didn't then don't worry about it too much,

you are never going to really need that,

you just need to use the formula.

Power consumption in parallel circuits.

The resistors and the components

will convert the electrical energy into thermal energy

as the electrons pass through

and collide within the component.

That's why they become hot

and we can see that using a thermal imaging camera.

So how much power are the individual components

in the circuit in total consuming?

We can use two formulas for this.

Either voltage squared divided by resistance,

or voltage multiplied by current.

Let's see some examples.

Say we have a 10 ohm and a five ohm resistor

connected in parallel to a six volts battery.

R1 has a current of 0.6 amps,

that's six Volts divided by 10 Ohms,

which gives us our 0.6 amps.

So the power consumption of the component is 3.6 Watts.

Ans six volts squared equals to 36,

so 36 divided by 10 is 3.6 Watts.

Alternatively, six volts multiplied by 0.6 amps

also gives us 3.6 Watts.

R2 is five ohms with a current of 1.2 amps.

That's six volts divided by five ohms

which equals 1.2 amps.

So the power consumption is 7.2 Watts.

We see that from six volts squared divided by five ohms.

Six volts squared is 36,

so 36 divided by five is 7.2 Watts.

Alternatively six volts multiplied by 1.2 amps

also gives us 7.2 Watts.

The total power consumption is therefore

3.6 Watts plus 7.2 Watts which is 10.8 Watts.

We could have also found this

by multiplying the voltage by the total current.

Or alternatively we could have used the voltage squared

divided by the total resistance.

Okay, now let's see if you can solve these problems.

I'll leave a link in the video description

for the answers and the solutions.

Question one.

We have four resistors in parallel,

a 10 ohm, a 20 ohm, a two ohm and a three ohm.

What is the total resistance of the circuit?

Question two.

We have three resistors connected on parallel

to a six volt battery.

The total current in the circuit is 2.5 amps.

Resistor one is 10 ohms with a current of 0.6 amps,

resistor two is 15 ohms with an unknown current,

and resistor three has an unknown resistance value

and an unknown current.

Calculate the current flowing in resistor two,

as well as the current and the resistance

of the resistor three.

Okay guys that's it for this video,

but to continue your learning

then check out one of the videos on screen now

and I'll catch you there for the next lesson.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

LinkedIn and of course [Link].

English