Bahir Dar Institute of Technology

Faculty of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Fundamentals of Electricity and Electronics
Chapter One
Basics of Electrical Engineering

By : Tenaw A. 1 04/02/22
 Outlines

 Commonly used prefixes

 Charge
 Coulomb's law
 Electric field
 Faraday’s law of self and mutual inductances
 Electrical circuit and components
 Electrical sources

By : Tenaw A. 2 04/02/22
 Commonly used prefixes
System of Units:
The system uses meters (m), kilograms (kg), seconds (s), ampere (A),
volt(V),degree kelvin (OK) and candela (cd) etc.

We use the following prefixes

tera (T): 1012
pica (p): 10-12
giga (G) : 109
nano (n): 10-9

mega (M): 106

micro (): 10-6

kilo (k): 103

milli (m): 10-3

By : Tenaw A. 3 04/02/22
Electric charge
Electric charge is the physical property of matter that causes it to
experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field.
Its SI unit is coulomb(C).
e = 1.6 x 10 -19 C
There are two types of charge:
Positive Charge: A shortage of electrons.
Negative Charge: An excess of electrons.
Conservation of charge :the net charge of a closed system remains constant.

Like Charges :Repel each other F F

+ +
Unlike Charges :Attract each other F F
By : Tenaw A. 4
- + 04/02/22
Coulomb's law
States that the electrical force between two charged objects is
directly proportional to the product of the quantity of charge on the
objects and inversely proportional to the square of the separation
distance between the two objects.
q1q2
Mathematically, it can be written as: F  k 2
r
Where, k = Coulomb’s Constant = 9.0x109 Nm2/C2
q1 = charge on mass 1
q2 = charge on mass 2
r = the distance between the two charges
The electric force is much stronger than the gravitational force.

By : Tenaw A. 5 04/02/22
 Example 1
Two 40 gram masses each with a charge of 3μC are placed 50cm
apart. Compare the gravitational force between the two masses to
the electric force between the two masses. (Ignore the force of the
earth on the two masses)
3μC 3μC
40g 40g

m1m2 50cm
Fg  G 2
r q1q2
11 (.04)(.04) FE  k 2
 6.67 10 r (3  10 6
)(3  10 6
)
(0.5) 2  9.0 10 9

(0.5) 2
 4.27  10 13 N  0.324 N
The electric force is much greater than the gravitational force

By : Tenaw A. 6 04/02/22
 Example 2
Three charged particles are arranged in a line as shown in figure below. Charge A
= -5 μC, charge B = +10 μC and charge C = -12 μC. Calculate the net electrostatic
force on particle B due to the other two charges.

Solution: the net force on particle B is the vector sum of the force FAB exerted on
particle B by particle A and the force FCB exerted on particle B by particle C.

The direction of the electrostatic force points to

The direction of the electrostatic force points to
particle C (point to right).
particle A (point to left).
FB = FAB – FBC = 675 N – 125 N = 550N
The direction of the net electrostatic force on particle B points to particle C (points to the right).

By : Tenaw A. 7 04/02/22
 Example 3
+Q1 = 10 μC, +Q2 = 50 μC and Q3 are separated as shown in the figure below.
What is the electrostatic charge on particle 3 if the net electrostatic force on
particle 2 is zero.

Solution: the net force on particle B is the vector sum of the force FBA exerted on
particle B by particle A and the force FBC exerted on particle B by particle C.

The direction of the electrostatic force points to

The direction of the electrostatic force points to
particle 1 (point to left).
particle 3 (point to right).
The net electrostatic force on particle 2 = 0

By : Tenaw A. 8 04/02/22
 Example 4
Find the net charge on q3?

Solution

By : Tenaw A. 9 04/02/22
Electric Field
It is the physical field  that surrounds each electric charge and exerts force on all
other charges in the field, either attracting or repelling them.
 It originate from electric charges, or from time-varying magnetic fields.
 It is a vector quantity and its SI unit is Newton per Coulomb (NC-1).
The charge q creates an electric field in the surrounding space. The electric field at
the point P at a distance r from the point charge q is the force experienced by a unit
charge and is given by:

If the charge q is positive then the electric field points away from the source charge
and if q is negative, the electric field points towards the source charge q

By : Tenaw A. 10 04/02/22
Cont.

By : Tenaw A. 11 04/02/22
 Example 1
Figure below represents the electric field lines for three charges. If q2 = -20 nC,
then calculate the values of q1 and q3?

Solution:
In the figure above, the electric field lines start at q1 and q3 and end at q2. This
implies that q1 and q3 are positive charges. The ratio of the number of field lines
is | q1 / q2 | = 8/16 = | q3 / q2 | = 1/2  , implying that q1and q3are half of the
magnitude of q2. So q1 = q3 = +10 nC.

By : Tenaw A. 12 04/02/22
 Example 2
Find the electric field at a point P located midway between the charges when both
charges are positive as shown?

Solution: Each point charge creates an electric field of its own at this particular
point, therefore there are two electric field vectors acting at point P:
 E1 is the electric field at P field due to q1.
 E2 is the electric field at P field due to q2.
Since the two electric field vectors are equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction, they cancel each other out so the net field at P is zero.

Exercise! Point charges in air are located as follows : + 5 × 10−8 C at (0, 0)

meters, + 4 × 10−8 C at (3, 0) meters and − 6 × 10−8 C at (0, 4) meters. Find
electric field intensity at (3, 4) meters?

By : Tenaw A. 13 04/02/22
 Example 3
Find the magnitude and direction of the total electric field at the origin of the
coordinate system due to the two point charges, q1and q2. The two charges are
located at the x-y coordinate position of (0.0, -2.0 cm) and (+4.00 cm, 0.0),
respectively, as shown in the figure.
Solution:
We first must find the electric field due to
each charge at the point of interest, which
is the origin of the coordinate system (O)
in this instance.

x
n eg ative
e e
a b o ve th ndicate th
t h e angle ant to i ise from
T hi s
is
a l ways w nterclockw
we cou
axis. measured
s.
angle itive x axi =
– 63.4
s
the po 180
=
By : Tenaw A. 14
So: θ 04/02/22
Exercise!
The distances on the graph below are in meters. The charges are Q1 = –3 μC, Q2 =
2 μC, and Q3 = 5 μC.
(a)Find the net force on charge Q1 due to charges Q2 and Q3
(b)Find the net force on charge Q2 due to charges Q1 and Q3 .
(c)Find the net force on charge Q3 due to charges Q1 and Q2 .
(d)Find the magnitude & direction of the total electric field at the origin when
positive test charge used at the origin?
(e)Find the magnitude & direction of the total electric field at the origin when
negative test charge used at the origin?

By : Tenaw A. 15 04/02/22
Faraday’s law of Electromagnetic Induction
First Law states : Whenever the magnetic flux linked with a circuit changes, an e.m.f. is
always induced in it. or
Whenever a conductor cuts magnetic flux, an e.m.f. is induced in that conductor. Second
Law states : The magnitude of the induced e.m.f. is equal to the rate of change of flux-
linkages.

Induced e.m.f. can be either (i) dynamically induced or (ii) statically induced. In the first
case, usually the field is stationary and conductors cut across it (as in d.c. generators). But
in the second case, usually the conductors or the coil remains stationary and flux linked
with it is changed by simply increasing or decreasing the current producing this flux (as in
transformers).
Example 1:The field coils of a 6-pole d.c. generator each having 500 turns, are connected
in series. When the field is excited, there is a magnetic flux of 0.02 Wb/pole. If the field
circuit is opened in 0.02 second and residual magnetism is 0.002 Wb/pole, calculate the
average voltage which is induced across the field terminals?
Solution: Total number of turns, N = 6 × 500 = 3000 ;Total initial flux = 6 × 0.02 = 0.12
Wb ;Total residual flux = 6 × 0.002 = 0.012Wb Change in flux, dΦ = 0.12 − 0.012 = 0.108
Wb; Time of opening the circuit, dt = 0.02 second.

By : Tenaw A. 16 04/02/22
Example 2:
The time variation of the flux linked with a coil of 500 turns during a complete
cycle is as follows :

where T represents time period and equals 0.04 second. Sketch the waveforms of
the flux and induced e.m.f. and also determine the maximum value of the induced
e.m.f.? Solution: The variation of flux is linear as seen from the following table.

By : Tenaw A. 17 04/02/22
Self inductances
The property of the coil due to which it opposes any increase or decrease or
current of flux through it, is known as self inductance. It is quantitatively measured
in terms of coefficient of self induction L. This property is analogous to inertia in a
material body. The unit of self-induction is henry(H).
We know by experience that initially it is difficult to set a heavy body into motion,
but once in motion, it is equally difficult to stop it. Similarly, in a coil having large
self-induction, it is initially difficult to establish a current through it, but once
established, it is equally difficult to withdraw it. Hence, self-induction is
sometimes analogously called electrical inertia or electromagnetic inertia.
Coefficient of Self-induction(L) can be calculated as:

By : Tenaw A. 18 04/02/22
Example 1:
The field winding of a d.c. electromagnet is wound with 960 turns and has
resistance of 50 Ω when the exciting voltages is 230 V, the magnetic flux linking
the coil is 0.005 Wb. Calculate the self-inductance of the coil and the energy stored
in the magnetic field? Solution

Example 2: If a coil of 150 turns is linked with a flux of 0.01 Wb when carrying current of
10 A, calculate the inductance of the coil. If this current is uniformly reversed in 0.01
second, calculating the induced electromotive force?
Solution

Exercise! A single element has the

current functions graphed in figure
below . Determine the element?

By : Tenaw A. 19 04/02/22
Mutual Inductance
It be defined as the ability of one coil (or circuit) to produce an e.m.f. in a nearby
coil by induction when the current in the first coil changes. This action being
reciprocal, the second coil can also induce an e.m.f. in the first when current in the
second coil changes. This ability of reciprocal induction is measured in terms of
the coefficient of mutual induction(M).
Coefficient of Mutual Inductance (M) can be defined as:
Let there be two magnetically-coupled coils having N1 and N2 turns respectively
current I1 ampere when flowing in the first coil produce a flux Φ 1 webers in it. It
is supposed that whole of this flux links with the turns of the second coil. Then,
flux-linkages i.e., webers-turns in the second coil for unit current in the first coil
are N2 Φ1/I1.
Coefficient of Coupling(k)=

Hence, two coils are said to have a mutual inductance of 1 henry is one ampere current
when flowing in one coil produces flux-linkages of one Wb-turn in the other.

By : Tenaw A. 20 04/02/22
Example 1:
Two identical coils X and Y of 1,000 turns each lie in parallel planes such that
80% of flux produced by one coil links with the other. If a current of 5 A flowing
in X produces a flux of 0.5 mWb in it, find the mutual inductance between X and
Y? Solution

Example 2: If a coil of 150 turns is linked with a flux of 0.01 Wb when carrying a current
of 10 A ; calculate the inductance of the coil. If this current is uniformly reversed in 0.1
second, calculate the induced e.m.f. If a second coil of 100 turns is uniformly wound over
the first coil, find the mutual inductance between the coils?
Solution

Example 3: Two identical 750 turn coils A and B lie in parallel planes. A current
changing at the rate of 1500 A/s in A induces an e.m.f. of 11.25 V in B. Calculate the
mutual inductance of the arrangement. If the self-inductance of each coil is 15 mH,
calculate the flux produced in coil A per ampere and the percentage of this flux which
links the turns of B?
By : Tenaw A. 21 04/02/22
Solution

Example 4:Two coils, A of 12,500 turns and B of 16,000 turns, lie in parallel planes so that
60 % of flux produced in A links coil B. It is found that a current of 5A in A produces a flux
of 0.6 mWb while the same current in B produces 0.8 mWb. Determine (i) mutual
inductance and (ii) coupling coefficient.
Solution

By : Tenaw A. 22 04/02/22
What is electricity?

One might define electricity as the separation of positive and negative electric
charge.
When the charges are separated and stationary we call this static electricity. The
charging of a capacitor is an example.
The separation of charge between clouds and the earth before a lighting discharge
is a static electricity.
Electrostatics is that branch of science which deals with the phenomena associated
with electricity at rest.
When the charges are in motion (changing with time relative to one another) we
have variable electricity.

By : Tenaw A. 23 04/02/22
 Current
 It is the rate of flow of electric charge in a circuit.
 It is often used to describe the flow of electric charge
 It is measured using ammeter by connecting in series with load
 It can be either alternating (time varying) or direct(constant)
 Its SI unit is ampere(A).
To maintain a current these two conditions must be fulfilled:
 the source must provide a driving force called the electromotive force
 the circuit must be complete
1 ampere = 1 coulomb/second= 6.25x1018 electrons flows through circuit in 1second
1

0.8

0.6

0.4

i(t)
0.2

i(t) 0

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

t -0.8 t
a c c urre nt
d c cu rren t
-1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

a c c u rre n t

By : Tenaw A. 24 04/02/22
Cont.
In solving for current in a circuit, we must assume a direction, solve for the
current, then reconcile our answer. This is illustrated below.
I1 = 4 A I2 = - 3 A

C ircui t 1 C i r c ui t 2

(a ) (b)

In the diagram above, current I1 is actually 4 A as assumed. The actual positive

direction of current I2 (equal to -3 A) in the opposite direction of the arrow for I2.
How you should be thinking about electric
circuits:
Current: the actual “substance” that is
flowing through the wires of the circuit
(electrons!)
By : Tenaw A. 25 04/02/22
Voltage
 It is also called potential (coming from the expression, “potential energy.”
However, voltage is not energy.)
 A potential difference of 1 volt (V) exists between two points if 1 joule (J) of
energy is exchanged in moving 1 coulomb (C) of charge between the two
points.
 The sign associated with a voltage is also called its polarity
 It can be either alternating (time varying) or direct(constant)
 It always measured between two points in the system
 It is measured using voltmeter by connecting parallel to load
 It indicates the energy lost per coulomb of charge passing through the load
Vab = 1 volt states that the potential of voltage at point a is l volt (positive) w.r.t. point b.
How you should be thinking about electric
circuits:
Voltage: a force that pushes the current
through the circuit (in this picture it would
be equivalent to gravity)
By : Tenaw A. 26 04/02/22
Cont.
As in the case for current, we must assume a positive direction (polarity) for the
voltage. Consider the three diagrams below.

Each of the above gives the same information.

We need to keep in mind that we assume a polarity for the voltage. When we solve the
circuit for the voltage, we may find that the actual polarity is not the polarity we assumed.

The negative sign for 6 v indicates that if the red lead of a

voltmeter is placed on + terminal and the black lead on the –
terminal the meter will read downscale or –6v.A digital meter
would read –6 v.

By : Tenaw A. 27 04/02/22
Cont.
Mathematically, V= W/ Q where, W: energy (work in J); Q (charge in C)
This can be expressed in differential form as,
dw
v
dq
Example1: Find the potential difference between two points in an electrical
system if 60 J of energy are expended by a charge of 20 C between these two
points?
Example2: How much charge passes through a battery of 22.5 V if the energy
expended is 90 J?
Exercise! Charge is flowing through a conductor at the rate of 420 C/min. If 840 J
of electrical energy are converted to heat in 30 s, what is the potential drop across
the conductor?
Exercise! The potential difference between two points in an electric circuit is 24
V. If 0.4 J of energy were dissipated in a period of 5ms, what would the current be
between the two points?
By : Tenaw A. 28 04/02/22
 Resistance(R):
 It is the ability of material to resist current flow
 Its SI unit is ohm(Ω) and measured using ohm meter
 A conductor is said to have a resistance of one ohm if it permits one
ampere current to flow through it when one volt is impressed across its
How you should be thinking about
terminals.
resistances:

Resistance: friction that impedes flow of

current through the circuit (rocks in the
river)

By : Tenaw A. 29 04/02/22
 Example1

By : Tenaw A. 30 04/02/22
Power

dw dq
dw p  vi
p We can write this equation as follows: dq dt
dt
In any closed electric circuit, power is both supplied and absorbed. The amount
that is supplied must be equal to the amount that is absorbed.
 p0
We adopt a passive sign convention in order to define the sign of supplied power
and the sign of absorbed power. Consider the following.
Power absorbed: If the
Power supplied: If the assumed direction of the current
assumed direction of the enters the assumed positive
current leaves the assumed polarity of the voltage, power is
positive polarity of the absorbed.
voltage, power is supplied.

By : Tenaw A. 31 04/02/22
 Cont.
We consider the following examples:

Energy:
 It is the ability (capacity) to do work
 It is the net change in energy of the system in joules
 It also known as work
When we pay our electric bills we pay for (watt)(hours) but because this is such as large
number we usually think kWH.
Cost of 1 kWH is approx. 50 – 75 cents.
By : Tenaw A. 32 04/02/22
 Cont’d
A profile of the power you use during a day may be as shown below.

The energy we pay for is the area under the power-time curve. t t
w   pdt  t vidt
to o

Example1: A 230 V lamp is rated to pass a current of 0.26 A. Calculate its power output. If a second
similar lamp is connected in parallel to the lamp, calculate the supply current required to give the same
power output in each lamp?

Example2: A current of 3A flows through a 10 Ω resistor. Find the power developed by the resistor&
Energy dissipated in 5 min?

Example3: A heater takes a current of 8 A from a 230 V source for 12 h. Calculate the energy
consumed in kilowatt hours.
By : Tenaw A. 33 04/02/22
Circuit Elements:
We classify circuit elements as passive and active.
Passive elements: cannot generate energy. Examples: resistors, capacitors and
inductors. capacitors and inductors can store energy but cannot generate energy.

Active elements: can generate energy. Examples: power supplies, batteries,

operational amplifiers.
We also will classified sources as Independent and Dependent sources

Independent source establishes a voltage or a current in a circuit without relying on a

voltage or current elsewhere in the circuit
Dependent sources establishes a voltage or a current in a circuit whose value depends on
the value of a voltage or a current elsewhere in the circuit
We will use circle to represent Independent source and diamond shape to represent
Dependent sources

Dependent sources
By : Tenaw A. Independent source 34 04/02/22
Ideal independent voltage source
 It is characterized as having a constant voltage across its terminals, regardless
of the load connected to the terminals.
 can supply any amount of current.
The standard symbols are:

Ideal independent current sources

 It is characterized as providing a constant value of current, regardless of the
load
 If the current source is truly ideal, it can provided any value of voltage and any
amount of power.
i(t)
+
The standard symbols are:
1 amp V 1 meg 
The ideal independent voltage and -
V=?
current sources are models.
As such, they are subject to For example, an independent voltage source, that one commonly works
limitations. with, cannot put-out 1x10320 volts.

Neither can an ordinary independent current source put out

4x10765 amps.
By : Tenaw A. 35 04/02/22
 Dependent voltage source
 It is characterized by depending on a voltage or current somewhere else in the circuit
10  20 
The symbol is:
Iy
30 

+
5V _ 1 0 Iy 12 

A circuit containing a dependent voltage

source is shown as follow
A circuit with a current controlled dependent
voltage source.
Dependent current source
 It is characterized by depending on a voltage or current somewhere else in the circuit.
The symbol is: 10  20 

30  A circuit with a voltage

A circuit containing a +
+_ 4 vx vx 12  controlled dependent
dependent current source 5V
_ current source
is shown as follow

By : Tenaw A. 36 04/02/22
Open and Short Circuits

Example: for each of the following connections establish which interconnections are
permissible and which violate the constrains by the ideal source

Connection is valid Connection is valid Connection is not permissible

Connection is valid

Connection is not permissible

By : Tenaw A. 37 04/02/22
Example
1) If the current in an electrical device is given by,
i(t) = 2t + 4
With q(0) = 1.5 C
Find the charge flowing through the device?
t t
Solution q (t )   i (t )dt  q (0)   (2t  4)dt 1.5
0 0

q (t )  t 2  4t  1.5
8V _ 20 V _
2) For figure shown below: + +

2A
(a) Calculate the power supplied by each
_
+ 0 .5 I x 4V
device. 2 4 V __ +

(b) Show that the

(c) Verify that Psup = Pabs = 104 W
Ix = 4 A

By : Tenaw A. 38 04/02/22
 Solution : Psup24  24 x 4  96 w; Psup8v   4 x8   32 w

Psup0.5 I   32 w; Psup20v   40 w
x

Psup4 v  8 w

r1
te
 Psup  0

ap
ch
of
d
En Any
Q??

By : Tenaw A. 39 04/02/22