BASIC ELECTRONICS

Introduction to Electrical circuits

It is the study of flow of electron in electrical circuits.

Electronics is a branch of science that deals with the study of flow and control of electrons and
study of their behavior and effects in vacuums, gases and semi-conductors and in devices using
such electrons.

Application of Electronics

1. Entertainment and communications

Electronic gadgets/devices are widely used
2. Medical services
Electronic systems are widely used by doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of various
diseases.
3. Industrial application
Electronic circuits are used in industrial applications such as control of weight quality
and moisture content of material.

Basic Electrical Quantities and Their Units

Quantity Symbol Unit Unit symbol

Voltage V Volt V
Resistance R Ohm Ω
Current I Ampere A
Capacitance C Farad F
Charge Q Coulombs C
Impendence Z Ohm Ω
Inductance L Henry H
Power P Watt W

VOLTAGE

Electrical voltage is defined as electrical potential difference between two points of an electric
field.

Volt is the electrical unit of voltage

Voltage series

The total voltage of several sources or voltage drops in series is their sum.

V1= V1 + V2 + V3 + ……………………. Van

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Where Vi = voltage drop in volts (total voltage)

V1, V2…………Vn voltage source

Voltage is parallel

Voltage source/voltage drops in parallel have equal voltage

i.e. V1= V1 = V2 = V3 = ……………………. Vn

Where Vi = total voltage/equivalent voltage

Voltage calculations with Ohm’s law

Ohm’s law

Current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential
difference of voltages across the two points and inversely proportional to the resistance between
them.

The potential difference (voltage) across a conductor is proportional to the current through it.

Directly proportional means both variables increases and decreases at the same time.

Inversely proportion means one variable increases while the other decreases.

Ohm’s law is given by:

V= IR

Or E = IR

Where, V= voltage

I= Electrical current

R= Resistance in Ohms

I =2A
Battery
(V)

R= 7Ω

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The amount of voltage provided by the battery is:

V = IR

= 2 x 7 = 14 V

Examples

What is the potential difference across a resistor of 1000 Ω when current of 0.25 A flows through
it?

V = IR

= 0.25 x 100 = 25V

Materials that obey ohm’s law are called ohmic because the potential differences across it vary
linearly with the current.

Electrical Resistance

Resistance is an electrical quantity that measures how a device or material reduces the electric
current flowing through it.

SI unit of electrical resistance is the ohm (Ω). It is designated a Greek capital letter Omega (Ω).

Insulators have high value of electrical resistance. In order to express resistance of these
materials much bigger units are used such as: mega ohm (M Ω) and kilo ohm (K Ω)

1 Ω = 0.001 K Ω

1 Ω = 0.000001 M Ω

Smaller units of resistance are: milli ohm (m Ω) and micro ohm (µΩ)

1 Ω = 1,000,000 Ω

1 Ω = 1000 µΩ

Factors Affecting Electrical Resistance

1. Nature of material
Different materials have different numbers of free electrons available for producing
current.

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 2. Length of material
Resistance of any conductor is directly proportional to its length
3. Cross-sectional area of material
Resistance of any conductor is inversely proportional to its cross-sectional area of a
conductor, decreases its resistance and vice-versa.
4. Temperature of material
Resistance of any conductor increases with increase in temperature and vice-versa.
Resistance (R) = length (L)
Cross-sectional area (A)

R α L/A R= ϱL/A
ϱ = resistivity

Example

A potential difference of IOV is connected to a uniform resistance wire of length 3 meters and a
cross-sectional area of 0.09m2 with 0.01A current flowing in the wire. Determine the resistivity
of the material.

From R= ϱL/A

R= V/1 = 10/0.01 = 1000 Ω

1000 Ω = ϱx3/0.09

e = 1000 x 0.03/3

= 30

Electric Power

It is the rate of energy consumption in an electric circuit. Electric power is the rate at which
electric energy is transferred. SI unit of the power is watts (W)

P = I2R

Where,

P = Electric power in watts

I = current in watts

R = resistance non Ohms

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An ac voltage of 4V is connected to a 100 Ω resistance R. calculate the power in watts.

P = I2R I = V/R = 4/100 = 0.04

P = 0.042 (100)

= 0.16w

Electrical current

Current is a measure of amount of charges moving past a given point per unit time.

Electric current is designated by the symbol I; the SI unit of electrical current is ampere (A)

In electrical circuits, current is expressed in smaller units called:

Milliamperes (mA)

Microamperes (µA)

1A = 1,000,000 µA

1A = 0.000001 mA

Example

2 mA is equivalent to how many amperes?

Solution:

1A = 1000mA

? = 2mA

2/1000 x 1 = 0.002A

A current of 4mA flows through a resistor (R) when a potential difference (pd) of 16v is
connected. Determine the value of resistance.

1a = 1000 mA

? = 4mA

4/1000 x 1 = 0.004A

V = IR R = V/1 = 16/0.004 = 4000Ω

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Electrical charge

Tiny pieces of matter can sometimes attract or repel each other. Matter that behaves in this way
is said to possess electrical charge.

Amount of charge is measured in coulombs (c). symbol used to represent amount of charge is Q

Types of electric charge

1. Positive (+ve) charge: they have more protons than electrons

2. Negative (-ve) charge: they have more electrons than protons

Illustration not included

Materials that contain equal number of positive and negative is said to be neutral. Charge in
motion represents current.

Illustration not included

Capacitance

It is the ability of a material surface to store electrical charge.

A capacitor is a device formed with two or more separated conductors that store charge and
electric energy.

An SI unit of capacitance is farad (F) charge Ǫ on a capacitor is directly proportional to the

potential difference across the capacitor.

Ǫ = CV

Where,

Ǫ = charge measured in Columbus

C = capacitance measured in farads

V = voltage measured in volts

Farad is a large unit that capacitance is usually measured in smaller units such as micro farads
(µF), pico farads (pf), nano farads (nf) are used.

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Factors affecting capacitance of a capacitor

1. Surface area of the metal plate

2. Thickness of the di-electric between the plates (distance between the plates)
3. Type of dielectric used.

Inductance

It is the ability to store energy in a magnetic field and coils are a very common way to create
inductance.

An inductor is a passive electronic component that stores energy in the form of magnetic fields.

An indicator consists of a wire loop/oil

Factors affecting inductance

1. Number of turns in the coil

2. Radius of the coil
3. Type of material around which the point is wound (type of core material)

Electromotive force (EMF)

It is a measure of energy (voltage) that causes current passing through a circuit. It can also be
defined as voltage developed by any source of electrical energy such as a battery.

Magnetic Flux

It is the measure of magnetic field passing through a given surface such as conducting coil.

Flux lines

These are magnetic lines of force.

Currents through a conductor produces magnetic field around it.

Strength of this field depends upon value of current passing through a conductor.

If a changing flux line is linked with a coil over a conductor, an emf will be induced in it.

Factors affecting inductance

1. Number of wire wraps/turns in the coil

All other factors being equal, a greater number of turns of wire in coil result in greater
inductance.

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 Fewer turns of wires in a coil result in less inductance. More turns of wire means that the
coil will generate a better amount of magnetic field force for a given amount of coil.
2. Coil area: all other factors being equal, greater coil area results in greater inductance and
less area results in less inductance.

Passive electronic computer

These are components that cannot increase the strength of a signal i.e. by themselves they cannot
produce a gain in signal strength.

Passive components are not capable of producing wave forms for themselves nor when
connected with other passive components. They include: resistors, capacitors, diodes and
inductors.

Active components

These are those electronics components that require an energy source to operate e.g. transistors
which are integrated circuits.

Resistors

These are passive electronic components that are specially designed to have controlled amounts
of resistance.

Resistor symbols

One diagram not included

Uses of resistors

1. Limiting current: they limit the amount of current in part of a circuit. Too much current
can destroy many sensitive electronic components such as transistors, light emitting diode
(LED) and integrated circuits (IC’s). by putting a resistor at the input to a sensitive part,
current that reaches the point is controlled.
2. Reducing and controlling voltage
Resistors can also be used to reduce the voltage supplied to different parts of a circuit.

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Example

If you have a 9V power supply, but you need to provide 5V to power a particular integrated
circuit, then you can set up a circuit to divide the voltage in a way that provides 5V at the output.

You can use the output voltage volt of the voltage dividers as the supply voltage for the
integrated circuit.

Illustration not included

Types of resistors

1. Fixed resistors

These resistors supply a constant factor determined resistance but the actual resistance of any
given resistor may vary up/down from its normal value by some percentage known as the
resistance tolerance.

Categories of fixed resistors

a. High precision resistors

They come with just 1% of their nominal values
b. Standard precision resistors
They can vary from 2% to 20% of their nominal value.
Markings on the resistor packages tell you just how far off the actual resistance may be,
for instance 2%, or
2. Variable resistors

A variable resistor or a potential meter or a rheostat allows you to control, adjust the resistance
from virtually OΩ to a factory-determined maximum value.

A potential meter is used to vary the amount of current supplied to that part of the circuit.

Resistor Color Coding

Color coding identifies the nominal Value and tolerance of most resistors. Other resistors have
values stamped on them.

The color code starts near the edge of the one side of the resistor and consists of several stripes
or bands of color.

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Each color represents a number and the position of the band indicates how to use that number.

Standard-precision resistors use for color bands

The first three bands indicate the nominal value of the resistor and the forth indicates tolerance.

High precision resistors use five color bands.

The first four bands indicate the value and the fifth indicates the tolerance

Using a special decoder ring, you can decipher/identify the nominal value of a standard precision
resistor as follows:

a. The first band gives you the first digit

b. The second band gives you the second digit
c. The third band gives you the multiples as a number of zeros except when it is gold or
silver.
d. If the third band is gold, you multiply by 0.1
e. If the third band is silver, you multiply by 0.01s

You get the nominal value of the resistance by putting the first two digits together side by side
and apply the multiples. If no forth band exists, you can assume the tolerance is

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Color No Tolerance

Black 0

Brown 1

Red 2

Orange 3

Yellow 4

Green 5 n/a

Blue 6 n/a

Violet 7 n/a

Grey 8 n/a

White 9 n/a

Gold 0.1

Silver 0.01

Examples

a. Red, red, yellow, gold

AB x 10c

= 22 x 104

= 220,000Ω

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 b. Orange, blue, green, gold
AB x 10c
36 x 105
= 3, 600, 000Ω or 3.6 x 106Ω

Determine the color code of the following resistor

2.4 x 107 Ω

24 x 106 -2

2 = red, 4 = yellow, 6 = blue

10% silver

= red, yellow, blue, silver

Example

The following is an outline of the colors of two resistors. Determine the resistance in each case

i) White, red, yellow, silver

ii) Yellow, violet, brown gold
iii) Orange, white, gold, silver

Determine the color code of the following resistor

5.3 x 1010 -2

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