Basic Principles of Electrical Technology

Introduction –
There are some fundamental principles and concepts which must be known and clearly
understood by anyone who deals with electrical systems or equipment. These principles
and concepts form the basis of all electrical engineering and are essential for any
practicing professional who wishes to understand or utilise electrical systems.

Electric Current –
The motion or flow of electrical charges makes up an electric current. In quantitative
terms an electric current through a given area is defined as the quantity of charge
passing through that area per second. The unit of current is the ampere whose symbol
is A.

This concept is demonstrated in Figure 1 as follows:

 In Figure 1(a) - it takes 5 seconds for 10 coulombs of positive charge to move

through area A. The flow is uniform during that time interval and is in the positive
x-direction. Therefore the current flowing during the five seconds is constant and
is equal to 2 A (that is, 10 coulombs in 5 seconds = (10/5) = 2 A). If the positive
x-direction is chosen as the reference direction then the current is taken as
positive.

 In Figure 1(b) - it takes 5 seconds for 10 coulombs of negative charge to move

through area B. The flow is uniform during that time interval and is in the positive
x-direction. If the positive x-direction is chosen as the reference direction then
the current flowing during the five seconds is constant and is equal to -2 A.

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y

Area A Area B

(a) (b)

Figure 1: Electric Current

Mathematically this can be expressed as:

where and .

Important point to note –

 The definition given above allows us to calculate the current flow through a
given area. This is, the area is defined as that area through which the charge
flows and thus does not have a fixed or defined dimension in m2.

Electron Vs Conventional Current Flow –

During the early development of electrical theory it was assumed that current flow was
the result of positive charge carriers which flowed from the positive terminal of a source
to the negative terminal. Many years later it was found that this was in fact not correct
and this in fact electrons are the charge carriers. This means that in practice current flow
is from the negative terminal (which has an abundance of free electrons) to the positive
terminal. This lead to two definitions of current flow:

i.) Conventional current flow – assumes positive charge carriers flow from the
positive terminal to the negative terminal and thus current is assumed to flow
from the positive terminal to the negative terminal.

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ii.) Electron current flow – is based on the flow of electrons which results in current
flowing from the negative terminal to the positive terminal.

Because of the abundance of work which had been performed using conventional current
flow prior to the discovery of electron charge carriers and due to the fact that there is no
difference when analysing electric circuits or systems, it was decided that conventional
current flow would be retained as the standard for current flow. Based on this convention,
the following important outcomes are now fundamental to the study of electrical
engineering:

 Current flow is taken as positive when it flows from a higher potential to a lower
potential.
 Current flow is taken as negative when it flows from a lower potential to a higher
potential.

Voltage –
In an electric field, the electric potential at point A is 1 volt (V) higher than the electric
potential at point B if 1 J of work has to be done against the field to transfer 1 C of
charge from point B to point A.

Mathematically this relationship can be expressed as

1
1
1

Or more generally,

This concept is demonstrated in Figure 2.

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P2

P1

P3

Figure 2: Potential difference or voltage

Referring to Figure 2

 The concentric circles represent the shells of spheres with equal potential surfaces
set up by the positive charge at the centre.
 In moving a charge from point P1 to P2 work must be done which means that there
is a potential difference between these two points.
 In moving a charge from point P1 to P3 no work would be done and thus these two
points are at the same potential (as we would expect given that they lie on the
same equipotential surface).
 If moving a charge of one coulomb from point P2 to P1 required 1 joule of work to
be done then P1 would have a potential of 1 volt greater than that of point P2. We
would expect a positive “polarity” as a positive charge (which is what we moved,
that is, +1 C of charge) would be repelled by the electric field and thus it would
take a positive amount of work to move the charge. Conversely, if we moved -1
C of charge from P1 to P2 then it would take the same amount of energy (that is,
1 Joule) as the negative charge would need to overcome a force of attraction.

The term “voltage” is commonly used in place of the expression “potential difference”.
We must however be aware that voltage does in fact mean the difference in potential
between two points. For example, if it takes 20 J of work to transfer 5 C from point Y
to point X, then the electric potential difference between those two points is 4 V (that
is, 20 J/5 C = 4 V). Here we would say that the voltage between Y and X is 4 V.

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Symbolically we can write this as:
4

Note that in the above equation we have used double subscript notation. This is very
helpful because the value of a voltage by itself does not make complete sense. What
we call a voltage is actually the difference of electric potential between points which
are usually, but not always, two electrical terminals. The double subscript notation
incorporates information that identifies those two points or terminals. It also tell us
which terminal or point is at the higher electric potential. The notation can be read
as the voltage of point X with respect to point Y (that is, using point Y as the reference)
and thus in our example the point X is at the higher potential as the voltage is positive.

If someone states that VPQ is -60 V, this means that the electric potential at point P is
60 V below the electric potential at point Q.

Important point to note –

 If 4 , then 4 or more generally .

There are some cases where the double subscript notation is not necessary. For
example, if someone says that a battery voltage is 12 V, it is understood that the quoted
value is the potential difference between the two terminals of the battery with the
positive terminal of the battery being at the higher potential.
Double subscript notation can also be used when defining current flow. Here the
convention is as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Double subscript notation for current flow

As shown in Figure 3, the subscripts define the source and destination of the current
flow. Here we have which is the current flowing from terminal a to terminal b.

Point to note –

 If the current is taken to flow from terminal b to a then we would have .

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Electromotive Force (EMF) -
The potential difference set up by an electric source such as a battery, an electric
generator or a photo-voltaic (PV) generator is often termed an electromotive force or
EMF.

Contrary to its name, an EMF is not in fact a force. It is a potential difference, measured
in volts, set up by a source of electrical energy.

Electric Power -
By definition:

Power is defined as the rate at which work is performed or as the rate at which energy
is transferred, transmitted or produced.

We have seen from the definition of voltage that work is done against an electric field
when positive charges are transferred from a point of lower electric potential to a point
of higher electric potential. The work done over a period of time is the product of the
charge transferred over that time and the electrical potential difference. The electrical
power flow during that time is equal to the rate at which work is done, that is:

where W is work done against the electric field over the time period from time t1 to
time t2 and

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Now we also know that electric current is defined as the rate of flow of charge or

and thus we can write

The discussion that led to the above expression for electrical power was based on work
being done against the electric field. The same expression is valid for situations where
the electric field performs work on charged objects. That is, when work done is against
an electric field, energy is transferred to and is stored in the electric field (as electric
potential energy) and conversely, when the electric field performs work, stored energy
from the electric field is transferred to moving charges and converted to kinetic energy.
For example if electrons are being released from rest at point P1 in Figure 2, the electric
field will perform work on them as they accelerate towards point P2. As this is happening
electrical energy, previously stored in the electric field, is being converted to kinetic
energy. The rate at which this happens is equal to the power delivered by the electric
field and this power can be evaluated by using our power expression .

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Circuit Elements –
When performing circuit analysis there are only five (5) basic circuit elements which we
need to understand:

1) Resistor
2) Inductor
3) Capacitor
4) Voltage source
5) Current source

The most commonly used circuit symbols for these elements are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Basic circuit elements

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Resistance and the Resistor –
The resistivity of a material is a measure of its property to oppose the flow of
electric current and convert the electrical energy into heat.

Important points to note -

 The symbol for resistivity is ‘rho’ = which has the unit of Ω.

 The inverse of resistivity is called conductivity which is given the symbol ‘sigma’
= and has the unit of ‘siemens’ (S). The conductivity of a material can be
expressed mathematically as

If an electric potential is applied across an electrical conductor, the “molecular friction”

of the material obstructs the smooth flow of free and released electrons. However an
electric current can flow, as these electrons find paths towards the positive terminal of
the voltage source. The electrons collide with each other and with the material molecules,
converting the electrical energy into heat. This heat agitates and vibrates the molecules
about their mean positions, resulting in an increase in the resistivity of most common
conductor materials. This change in resistance is defined as the temperature
coefficient of resistance ( ).

The resistivity of a material at a given temperature depends upon the composition and
the annealing properties of the material molecules. Examples of some common materials
are given in Table 1.

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Temperature coefficient
Resistivity ( ) at
Material Application of resistance
20°C (Ω
( )(/K)

Silver Electrical conductor 16 x 10-9 0.0038

Copper Electrical conductor 17 x 10-9 0.00393

Aluminium Electrical conductor 28 x 10-9 0.00391

Carbon (graphite) Battery electrodes 3-100 x 10-6 -0.00046

Tungsten Ribbon or wire resistors 56 x 10-9 0.005

Manganin Ribbon or wire resistors 480 x 10-9 0.000008

Nichrome Ribbon or wire resistors 1000 x 10-9 0.00043

Carbon (amorphous) Block or rod resistors >200 x 10-6 -0.0005

Table 1: Common material electrical properties

An electrical conductor has a resistance (R), due to its physical design details and the
resistivity of the material at a given temperature. Mathematically the resistance of a
conductor is given by:

where = material resistivity in Ω. , = length in m and = cross sectional area in m2,

as shown in Figure 5. The unit for resistance is “Ohms” which has the symbol omega’
(Ω). The unit Ohm is named after Georg Ohm, a German physicist who identified the
linear relationship between voltage, current and resistance.

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l

Figure 5: Resistance of a conductor

As we can see from the equation for resistance, the resistance of a conductor is
proportional to the material resistivity and length and inversely proportional to its cross
sectional area.

The reciprocal of resistance is known as conductance (G) and has the unit of siemens
(S). Mathematically the conductance of an electric conductor is given by

Using or expression for resistance (R), we can see that

and recalling that we can see that the conductance of a conductor can be expressed

as

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Resistor –
A resistor is a device which dissipates electrical energy as heat and has only the property
of resistance across its two terminals. In essence we can say that a resistor opposes the
flow of current.

Voltage-Current characteristic of a resistor –

Consider a resistor of resistance, R, with a voltage, V, applied across it. If the resistance
is constant, then the voltage will be proportional to the current, , flowing in the resistor
(as described by Ohm’s law). That is, if we plot the current I against the voltage V we
will get a straight line as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Linear resistor V-I characteristic

Referring to Figure 6

 The voltage is the dependent variable (plotted on the Y-axis) and the current the
independent variable (plotted on the X-axis).
 Such a device is said to be a linear resistor where

Δ

Δ

If the V-I characteristic is not a straight line, then the resistance, R, is not constant and
the device is called a non-linear device. An example of a non-linear resistance is a Metal
Oxide Varistor (MOV) which has a V-I characteristic as shown in Figure 7.

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Figure 7: Idealised MOV V-I characteristic

Referring to Figure 7

 For voltages of magnitude less than the MOV does not conduct (that is, the
current is zero).
 For voltages greater than the MOV conducts with little to no resistance (that
is, the voltage across it is ideally zero).

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Temperature coefficient of resistance ( ) –
Experiments have shown that for most pure metals resistance increases linearly with
increasing temperature (note that for materials such carbon, silicon and germanium, the
resistance in fact decreases with increasing temperature). A typical resistance Vs
temperature characteristic is shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Resistance Vs Temperature characteristic for pure metals.

Consider a copper conductor which has resistance at temperature θ = 0°C. Let the
increase in resistance for a temperature rise of 1°C be equal to ( ) = slope of graph,
where = temperature coefficient of resistance of copper at 0°C. The graph of
resistance versus temperature θ is a straight line as shown in Figure 8.

For a copper conductor, if the graph is extended backwards, the point of intersection
with the temperature axis is at –234.5°C. At this temperature the conductor would have
zero resistance. The change of resistance for each 1°C change in temperature is =
(1/234.5) = 0.00426 per K (or 0.00426/°C).

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Point to note –

 The temperature at absolute zero (or zero kelvin) is -273.15°C. At absolute zero
it is assumed that all atomic motion stops. We can think of our conducting material
as a collection of ions forming a lattice structure with the ions vibrating about fixed
positions within this lattice structure. When current flows in the conductor the free
electrons (which form the current) collided with vibrating ions. As the temperature
decreases, the magnitude of the vibrations decreases and thus there are less
collisions and the “resistance” seen by the travelling electrons is less. Whilst this
is generally true, as the temperature approaches absolute zero the resistance of
the material may not converge to zero resistance due to other factors (such as
impurities, dislocations in the lattice structure, crystal boundaries, and electron
pair coupling (known as Cooper pairs)). Understanding these concepts is well
beyond the scope of this course. In terms of what we need to understand here, as
we can see from Figure 8 we can use the predicted extrapolation of the material
resistance to find the X-axis intercepts which in turn allows us to predict the
change in resistance for a changing temperature around practical operating points.

Because this is a linear relationship we will have the equation of a straight line, that is,

where the slope of the line is given by and the y-axis intercept (that is at 0) is
. Because the term is common to all the terms in the right hand side of our
expression this equation can be rearranged to give

We can now use this general expression to find the resistance at a different temperature.
That is, if is the resistance at 0°C then the resistance at temperature will be
given by

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Important points to note –

 The slope of the graph is given by

∆
∆

that is ⁄

 The temperature coefficient of resistance is a function of the material resistance

and may not be a constant for a particular material.
 Where the resistance-temperature characteristic for a pure metal is linear then
the slope must be constant (this must be the case otherwise the characteristic
would not be linear) and is given by the product of the temperature coefficient of
resistance and the resistance at that temperature (that is, as the temperature
rises then the temperature coefficient of resistance must fall proportionately so
that the slope remains constant).

In practice, it is not convenient to use a 0°C reference resistance and thus it is more
common to use the resistance at 20°C as the reference temperature. That is

where

20°

20°

20°

0.004/°

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Example problem –
The copper field winding of a D.C. motor has a resistance of 176 Ω at 35°C and is
connected across a constant 230 V DC source. After some hours, the motor temperature
has stabilised and the field current is steady at 1.15 A. Given that the temperature
coefficient of resistance of copper is 0.0039°C at 20°C, calculate the operating
temperature throughout the winding.

Solution –

Step 1 – find the slope of the resistance-temperature characteristic

As we know that the temperature coefficient of resistance at 20°C we need to find the
resistance at this temperature so that we have the slope of the characteristic. Let =
the temperature at 20°C and use = 176 Ω at 35°C to write

⟹ 176 1 0.0039 35 20

176
⟹ 166.273 Ω
1 0.0039 35 20

and thus the slope of the resistance-temperature characteristic is given by

0.0039 166.273 0.6485

Step 2 – find the steady state temperature

At steady state the field current is 1.15 A for an applied voltage of 230 V and thus the
resistance must be

230
200 Ω
1.15

As we know that the resistance-temperature characteristic is a straight line of slope

equal to 0.6485 and passes through the point 176 Ω at 35°C we have

∆ 200 176
0.6485
∆ 35

200 176
⟹ 35 72.01°
0.6485

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Resistive devices –
The following are some commonly encountered resistive devices in electric circuits.

i.) The resistor - Resistors are used to drop voltage, to limit current or to produce
heat at various operating voltages, temperatures and ventilation conditions.
The ratings of the resistor include the ohmic resistance value, the tolerance
range in the value, the power which it can dissipate without being damaged (in
watt), the type of material and the type of mounting or terminations.

Resistors of fixed resistance value are made of carbon, resistance wire, or

metal film on a ceramic base. Variable resistors are constructed using carbon
or may be wire-wound. Precision resistors for measurements are usually thin
film or wire wound. Liquid resistors are used in power testing loads. Cast-iron
and stainless-steel grid resistors are used for starting, braking and speed
control of electric motors. Low-power-type resistors are identified by colour
code (see Appendix A) and generally have resistance tolerance ranges
(common tolerances are 5%, 10% and 20%) and power ratings (commonly
0.25, 0.5 or 1 watt).The power rating of a resistor is based on its ability to
dissipate the heat generated.

ii.) Heaters – These are made of nichrome or manganin wire. The material
requirements include high resistivity, high-temperature operational stability,
low thermal expansion and good mechanical strength for durability. Heating
elements are used in cooking appliances, water heaters, industrial ovens,
annealing furnaces and pipeline heating in process industries. Resistance
heaters are mounted in electrical and instrumentation panels to prevent
moisture condensation during non-operating times.

iii.) Indicating lamps – Indicator lamps are used with colour bezels and lenses on
panels of equipment. They indicate on-off-standby-alarm status conditions.
Push buttons on control panels are also often provided with illuminated plastic
covers. Lamps are made in a variety of shapes, sizes, voltage and power
ratings. In most cases these are incandescent tungsten filament lamps. Light
emitting diodes (LEDs) are now commonly used in place of the old indicating
lamp technology.

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iv.) Thermistors – A thermistor is a semi-conductor, non-linear resistor, whose
resistance is dependent on temperature. Thermistors are used as a
temperature detectors. There are positive temperature coefficient (PTC) and
negative temperature coefficient (NTC) type thermistors.

v.) Varistors – These are voltage dependent resistors. In a varistor, the resistance
decreases rapidly if the voltage increases abruptly. A varistor is made of silicon
carbide or zinc oxide powder in the form of a disc. It has a non-linear
characteristic. Varistors are used as lightning surge diverters and placed across
critical components which may otherwise be damaged. It bypasses the surge
currents from the protected component to earth. (At normal voltages, the
varistor has very high resistance and does not affect the performance of the
protected component.)

vi.) Photoconductive resistors – The resistance of this semi-conductor device

depends on light and has a negative temperature coefficient. Photo-diodes are
one type, extensively used in fibre optic receivers.

Ohm’s Law –
The relationship between the voltage (V) across and current (I) flowing through a
resistance (R) is given by Ohm’s law. The general form of Ohm’s law is:

Ohm’s law can also be written using conductance in place of resistance as follows,

and thus

and

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Important point to note –

 Ohm’s law is one of the most fundamental relationships of electrical engineering

and should be known and understood by all who claim to have a knowledge of
electrical engineering. It is equally important that those who claim to know Ohm’s
law can correctly manipulate and apply it to practical electric circuits.

Joule’s law –
In the mid nineteenth century, James Joule, an English physicist, experimentally deduced
that the heat energy ( ) dissipated in a resistor ( ) carrying an electric current ( ) for a
period ( ) was given by,

This concept is demonstrated in Figure 9.

V R

Figure 9: Heat energy dissipated in a resistor

Referring to Figure 9

 The voltage source of V volts supplies a current of I amperes to a resistive load of

R Ω. The heat energy dissipated by the resistor in the period from to is given
by

Using Joule’s law and that fact that

we can see that

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and from Ohm’s law we also know that and thus we have:

Power dissipated
Current (ampere) Voltage (volt) Energy (Joule)
(Watt)

Important point to note –

 Here we have used constant values of voltage, current and resistance. This
outcome is equivalently true when our current and voltage changes with time.
That is, the general expression for electric power is given by

and is one of the fundamental expressions used in electrical engineering. The

expression is just a special case of the general expression for electric
power where the voltage and currents are constant.

Point of interest –

 Joule’s law should not be surprising to us as we can in fact derive this outcome
using Ohm’s law and our definition of electric power as follows:

We know that by definition and using Ohm’s law we know that

and thus . Given that Joule’s law is the heat energy

dissipated in the resistor we need to multiply our expression for power by time
to give which is Joule’s law.

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Inductance and Inductors –
In theory we say that an inductor is a device which has pure inductance between its
terminals. In practice, inductors are constructed using turns of wire wound around a
suitable core as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Practical inductors

Due to its physical construction, an inductor will also contain some resistance. When
performing circuit analysis a practical inductor can be represented using the equivalent
circuit shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11: A practical inductor equivalent circuit

By definition inductance ( is ratio of magnetic flux linkage to inductor current, that is

where = the number of turns linking the magnetic flux (that is, the flux linkage ( )
is the amount of flux linking all the turns of the coil) and the inductance is measured
in henry ( ). This means that the characteristic of an inductor can be represented as
shown in Figure 12.

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Figure 12: Definition of inductance

Here we can see that the gradient (which defines the relationship between the flux
linkage and the current) is defined as the inductance.

The unit henry is named after Joseph Henry, an American scientist. Henry made
discoveries about induction around the same time as Faraday, though the two worked
independent of each other. Among other things, Henry played a key role in the
development of the electromagnet.

In order to understand inductors and inductance we first need a basic understanding of

magnetic fields. This is because and inductor stores energy in it magnetic field. For this
reason, we will cover the concept of inductance in more detail when we study
electromagnetics.

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Capacitance and Capacitors –
A capacitor is formed by two parallel plate conductors with an insulating material (or
dielectric) in between. The general physical construction principle for a capacitor is shown
in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Capacitor physical construction

If a voltage source is connected to the capacitor plates then an electric field will be
established between the plates and in the dielectric. In this way, a capacitor has the
ability to store electrical energy in its electric field. This can be visualised as shown in
Figure 14.

Figure 14: Capacitor stored charge

By definition capacitance is the constant of proportionality between the charge stored

(Q) and the voltage (V) across the capacitor plates. This is shown graphically in Figure
15.

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Q

∆Q
∆V

Figure 15: Defining Capacitance

Here we can see that the constant of proportionality between the charge and the voltage
is the gradient of the straight line and is defined by the expression

OR

The unit of capacitance is the farad (F). The unit farad is named after Michael Faraday,
an English physicist who made many important discoveries in the field of
electromagnetism.

Energy stored in a capacitor –

We know that a capacitor stores electrical energy in its electric field. The amount of
energy stored can be calculated by recognising that there must be work done to charge
a capacitor from 0 to V volts. If we recall from our definition of voltage we had

OR

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and thus

Using this voltage equation we can express the instantaneous capacitor voltage (which
changes in time as the capacitor is being charged) as

That is, the instantaneous capacitor voltage will be given by the instantaneous change
in work done divided by the instantaneous change in charged stored across the capacitor
plates. This expression can be rearranged to give

Thus the work done in charging a capacitor from 0 to V volts will be given by

Using the fact that , we can see that we have

and thus (as the work done is given by

1
⟹
2

1
⟹
2

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Points of interest –

 If we recall that current is the rate of flow of charge which we can write
mathematically as

then using the relationship we can write

That is, the current flowing into or out of a capacitor is given by the capacitance
multiplied by the rate of change of voltage seen across the capacitor.

 The expression for the energy stored in a capacitor (that is, ) can also be

found by using our general expression for electric power,

and the relationship between capacitor voltage and current

as follows: Substituting the capacitor current expression into the power expression
we have

Now by definition (that is, power is the rate of doing work) and thus

which gives

This means that the work done in charging a capacitor from to volts will be
given by

1
⟹
2

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and thus if 0 (that is, we charge the capacitor from 0 to ) then the work
done = energy stored in the capacitor is given by

1
2

which is the same as we found previously.

 In reality current cannot flow through the dielectric of the capacitor, however,
from the perspective of the circuit it appears as if it does. When we talk about
current flow in this course we are in fact talking about what is known as
“conduction current”. In a capacitor the current flow is referred to as
“displacement current”. The concept of displacement current in a capacitor is
further discussed in Appendix A.

Important point to note –

 Using the expression for the capacitor current we can see that in order for

current to flow in a capacitor the voltage across the capacitor must be changing

with time (that is, 0). For a D.C. circuit at steady state the voltage is fixed

or constant and thus no current will flow in a capacitor under these conditions.

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Electrostatics and Capacitors –
Consider two parallel plate conductors separated by a dielectric of thickness with a
potential difference across the plates. Given that the charge (Q) on the conductive
plates will be uniformly distributed over the plate area, A, the dielectric medium will be
subjected to electric stress E given by

where E is the electric field strength (measured in V/m). Similarly, for a uniform charge
density the electric flux density, D, will be given by

Now the electric flux density is related to the electric field strength in the dielectric
through the permittivity of the material ( ) by

and thus

But we know that by definition which means that

where A = capacitor plate area, d=plate separation and =permittivity of the

dielectric. This expression allows us to determine the capacitance of a capacitor based
on its physical construction properties.

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Voltage source -
A voltage source is not really practical because the term “voltage source” theoretically
means a source which has a constant voltage at its output terminals independent of the
load connected to it. In practice we will often see the terminal voltage reduce or fall as
we draw more current from the source. In an ideal world, the voltage-current
characteristics for a voltage source would be as shown in Figure 16.

Figure 16: Ideal voltage source characteristic

Here we can see that the terminal voltage is constant independent of the current flowing
from the source.

Important point –

 If we had a perfect voltage source then what would happen if we applied a short
circuit across it? As the voltage at the terminals is constant then using Ohms’s law
we can see that

∞
0

That is, we would create infinite current.

In practice we can represent a real voltage source as “perfect voltage source” connected
in series with a resistance which represents the voltage drop which occurs as the load
current changes. This practical representation is shown in Figure 17.

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Figure 17: Practical voltage source

Current source –
An ideal current source has a constant current flowing out of its terminals independent
of the load connected to it. That is, the voltage-current characteristic of an ideal current
source would be as shown in Figure 18.

Figure 18: Ideal current source characteristic

Here we can see that the current is constant and as a result of this the voltage can
become infinitely large. For this reason we should never open-circuit a device which
behaves like a current source (such as a current transformer).

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For example, using Ohm’s law we can create the following table of the terminal voltages
across the current source for different load resistances:

Current Resistance Voltage

(I) (R) (V=IR)
10 0.1 1
10 1 10
10 100 1000
10 1000 10,000
10 10,000,000 100,000,000

In practice this would not be practical as such high voltages could result in the break-
down of insulation.

Important concepts, notation and conventions –

When practicing electrical theory it is essential that correct terminology is used. Failure
to do so can cause misunderstandings and incorrect results which can have catastrophic
consequences. The following concepts, notation and conventions are some of the most
fundamental and important elements used in electrical theory.

Letter Symbols –
There are a number of conventions which are used to allow us to identify the nature of
quantity within an electric circuit or system. These include:

i.) For steady state, fixed, mean (or average) and effective (or rms) values – italic
capital letters are used, for example:

Quantity Symbol
current I
voltage V
charge Q
power P
energy W

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Circuit elements are also considered to be fixed values and thus we also use
italic capital letters to denote them:

Quantity Symbol
resistance R
inductance L
capacitance C

ii.) For instantaneous or time vary quantities – lower case italic letters are used,
for example:

Alternate
Quantity Symbol
symbol
current i i(t)
voltage v v(t)
charge q q(t)
power p p(t)
energy w w(t)

iii.) For unit abbreviations – non-italicised Roman and Greek letters are used, for
example:

Quantity Symbol
Ampere A
Volts V
Watts W
Ohms Ω
Farads F
Henry H

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Losses and efficiency –
In practice no electrical system is “perfect” in that there are no losses. Losses are
generally considered to be the power dissipated within a device (often as heat, noise or
mechanical vibration) and can be found using the equation:

Given that losses > 0 then we must have

this means that we never more energy out than we put into a system. This is a fact of
life!

Some common form of losses in electrical devices include –

a) In a light bulb – we want light but unfortunately we also produce heat which is a
loss.
b) In an electric motor – we want mechanical rotation but unfortunately we also
generate noise and heat. Some of the heat will be due to friction in bearings and
some will be in the electric circuit, but all are losses. The same applies for
generators.
c) In a transformer – we want to “transform” the voltage and/or current but
unfortunately we also generate heat which is a loss.
d) In microprocessors – we want digital switching but unfortunately we generate heat
which is a loss.
e) In a conductor such as a power line – we want to transport electric power but
unfortunately we generate heat which is a loss.

This brings us to the important concept of Efficiency. The efficiency of a system is a

measure of the losses relative to the input power. Mathematically this can be expressed
as

100%

Note that the symbol for efficiency is = ‘eta’

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Given the fact that we can express the efficiency of a system
as

100%

From this expression we can see that if 0 then 100% which would mean that
. In practice we never fully achieve this.

Point to note –

 As power and energy are closely related, we can also express the efficiency of a
system in terms of its input and output energy, that is,

and thus

From this expression we can also see that

⟹ 1 1

Polarity –
There are two main concepts we need to understand very well when it comes to voltages
and currents in electric circuit:

 When we talk about voltages within a circuit we need to define the polarity of the
voltage.
 When talking about currents within a circuit we need to define the direction of
current flow.

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How do we achieve this in practice -

i.) Voltage polarity – the voltage across a circuit element can be represented using
an arrow as follows

I R

Important points to note –

 The arrow points to the positive terminal of the device for it to be considered
positive.
 The use of the terminology “voltage across” the circuit element or device. This
is in alignment with the fact that voltage represents the potential difference
between two points.

ii.) Current direction – the current which flows through a circuit element can be
represented using an arrow as follows

Important points to note –

 The arrow represents the positive direction of current flow.

 The terminology “current through” the circuit element which reflects the fact
that the current flows in the circuit element.

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General Rules –
 Resistors, capacitors and inductors are called passive elements as these elements
are not sources of electrical energy.
 Voltage and current sources are called active elements as these elements supply
electrical energy.
 For passive elements the direction of current flow will always be in the opposite
direction to the voltage seen across them. That is, if we consider the case of a
resistor we will have

I R

Here we can see that the current flows through the resistor from left to right and
the voltage across the resistor is from right to left (that is the voltage arrow points
to the left). The reason for this is that current flow from a point of higher potential
(or voltage) to a point of lower potential.

 For active elements the direction of current flow is the same as the voltage across
them. That is, if we consider the case of a voltage source we will have

Here we can see that the current flow out of the positive terminal of the voltage
source (equivalently, we could show the current flowing into the negative terminal
of the voltage source). The reason for this is that it is the source which “drives”
the current flow within the circuit.

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If we now consider the simple circuit shown in Figure 19, we can see all these conventions
being applied.

Figure 19: Simple D.C. circuit

Here we can see that the voltage source drives current, I, through the resistor which
causes a voltage, V, to be seen across the resistor (by Ohm’s law). We will analyse this
circuit further later, however, we should note some important concepts at this time:

a) The active element is said to be the source for the circuit. This means that it
supplies the energy (and thus power) to the passive elements of the circuit.
b) The passive elements are said to be the loads of the circuit. This means that they
consume energy (or power) from the source.
c) The active element is said to supply electrical power to the load OR equivalently
we can say that the load draws power from the source. This is because passive
elements are said to draw or consume power. As we shall see, the electrical power
“supplied by the source” OR “drawn by the load” can be found using the voltage
across the load and current flowing through the load.

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Commonly used terminology –
The following terminology is commonly used when discussing electric circuits and/or
systems:

1) Source - a device capable of supplying electrical energy. Common examples include

batteries and generators. A source may be considered to be a current source or a
voltage source.
2) Load or Sink - a device receiving energy for conversion, storage or dissipation into
other forms. Common examples include resistors, capacitors, inductors and motors.
3) Active or Dynamic load – a load which has a source included in it.
4) Passive load – a load with no source in it.
5) System – an orderly arrangement of devices.
6) Line or Link - the transmission or conduction medium which defines the path of
energy flow. A line or link connects the source to the load.
7) Directional device – a device which only allows current or energy to flow in one
direction. A common example is the diode.
8) Earth or Ground - a reference point of assumed zero electric potential.
9) Conductor - any medium or device permitting passage of electric current.
10) Cable - a formation of electrical conductors usually with electrical insulation and a
protective covering.
11) Busbar – a short length of thick electrical conductor (usually copper, aluminium or
copper-clad iron flat bars or tube) used to carry and distribute electric current.
12) Switch - a mechanical device used to complete (close or ON) or break (open or OFF)
the path of electric current.
13) Resistor – a device which dissipates electrical energy as heat. It does not store
electrical energy nor does it produce magnetic or electric fields. Resistance is the
property of a resistor.
14) Capacitor – a device capable of storing energy in its electric field. Capacitance is
the property of a capacitor.
15) Inductor – a device capable of storing electrical energy in its magnetic field.
Inductance is the property of an inductor.
16) Input – a quantity received by a device. Common examples include voltage, current,
power and energy.
17) Output – a quantity supplied by a device. Common examples include voltage,
current, power and energy.

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18) Losses – are generally considered to be the power dissipated within a device and
can be found using the equation:

19) Generator – takes an input of mechanical energy and converts into electrical energy
output.
20) Motor – takes an input of electrical energy and converts into mechanical energy
output.
21) Transformer – a device which converts electrical energy from one potential level to
another level.
22) Rectifier – converts electrical energy from alternating current to direct current.
23) Inverter – converts electrical energy from direct current to alternating current.
24) Electrode - usually a metallic conductor of definite shape and size used as a
termination point or plane for applying electric potential, or the passage of electric
current.
25) Anode – the electrode (held at positive potential) from which electric current flows
(i.e. electrons move towards it).
26) Cathode – the electrode (held at lower potential) towards which the electric current
flows (i.e. electrons are released from it).
27) Diode - a two-terminal semi-conductor device. It permits flow of electric current
only in the forward direction (from the anode (A) towards the cathode (K)).

Point to note –

 When we talk about loads and sources then the following terminology is commonly
used:
a) The current drawn by the load = current supplied by the source which flows
into or through the load.
b) The current supplied by the source = the current flowing from the source
through the load = the current drawn by the load.
c) Power drawn by a load = power supplied by the source to the load.
d) Power supplied by the source = power delivered from the source to the load
= power drawn by the load.
e) Load voltage = voltage seen across the load. This is not always equal to the
source voltage as there may be voltage drops between the source terminals
and the load.

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The following symbols are commonly used to represent some of these devices:

Device Symbol

earth

load

switch

Generator G

Motor M

Transformer

rectifier

inverter

diode

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Connectors, switches and fuses –
The following devices are commonly found in electrical systems:

Cables: For cables, the main considerations are voltage, number of

conductors, cross-sectional area (or diameter), material, insulation,
covering and temperature limits. The design parameters include the
resistance of the conductor, the voltage drop for the specified current
rating, power loss, leakage current through the insulation and
temperature profile for the chosen method of installation. Much of the
insulation is some type of plastic, e.g. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Cross-
linked polyethylene (XPLE). Use of impregnated paper and steel armour,
lead or steel- tape sheath may be specified for high voltage cables.

Connectors and contacts: Busbars, terminations, links, plugs, and

sockets are connectors. Busbars are short lengths of exposed tubular or
rectangular conductors mounted on insulated supports. These are made
of copper and its alloys. The main requirements are very low contact
resistance, and protection from arcs, corrosion, mechanical vibration, and
thermal stresses. Other considerations include electrical safety and
environmental factors (e.g. hazardous environment, outdoor).
Connections may be fixed, removable or permanent. Proper identification
methods are necessary for inspection, maintenance and repair or
replacement.

Switches: There is quite a large variety of switches, push buttons and

circuit isolators for control, isolation and security. The details to specify
are: voltage and current ratings, number and types of contacts and
specific operational requirements (such as on-load, off-load, over-
voltage, under-voltage, fault interruption, manual or automatic). The
main cause of failure is arcing at contacts and welding of contacts.

Bimetallic thermal switches: These are used to interrupt the current

flow if the current exceeds a pre-set value, or the thermal rating is
exceeded. Bimetallic strips are made of two dissimilar metals with
different thermal expansion coefficients. When heated, the strip bends
and opens or closes the contact.

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Earthing conductors and electrodes: Earthing of all metallic frames of
electrical appliances ensures safety of operation. In case of accidental
contact between the live conductor and earth, the current takes the path
of lowest resistance. Earthing conductors for lightning discharge are made
of thick copper straps. The earthing electrodes are copper conductors
driven into the soil to sufficient depth. The soil resistivity depends on the
nature of the soil (class, sand, gravel), the moisture level and the
temperature. The contact resistance between the earthing electrode and
the soil can be improved by using porous clay or salts. In some cases,
earthing electrodes are arranged as a grid or mesh of wires buried in the
soil. Earthing also permits protective devices to be operated in case of
leakage currents.

Fuses. If the current through a short length of bare conductor is high

enough to melt the material, then that current is termed the
fusing current (If). The fusing current is given by
If = Kd3/2
If = fusing current (A)
d = diameter of the conductor
K = fusing coefficient for the material
For copper, K = 70; silver, K = 60; zinc, K = 15; lead, K = 6.
If depends on the melting point of the material and the enclosure
surrounding it. When the conductor melts, it can produce an arc and
splash the material.
A fuse is a short length of fusible conductor in an arc-containing
enclosure. The conductor is called a fuse link, and it is designed to have
a definite fusing current-time characteristic. The fuse is placed in series
with the conductor carrying current to a circuit. In the normal operation
it has no effect on the circuit. If a sudden short circuit occurs in the
current-carrying circuit and the current exceeds the pre-designed value,
the fuse will melt and interrupt the current flow. Since the current and
the thermal explosive force may be very high for a very short duration,
the link may explode and, if not properly contained in its enclosure cause
a fire.
Fuses are designed for a specific voltage rating and time delay for nominal
operating current, as well as for the maximum interrupting value.
High rupturing capacity (HRC) fuses have fusible thin elements of copper
or silver wire arranged in a silica sand medium and a ceramic enclosure.
The fuse link is mounted with bolted blade edges, to have very low contact
resistance and non-oxidising surfaces.

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