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# Basic Electrical

## Capacitors in AC and DC Circuits

Capacitors in DC Circuits             When a capacitor is placed in a DC circuit that is closed (current is flowing) it begins to charge. Charging is when the voltage across the plates builds up quickly to equal the voltage source. Once a capacitor reaches its fully charged state, the current …

## Power in an AC Circuit

In an alternating-current circuit, power is dissipated in a resistor, but not in a pure inductor or a capacitor. Because the current in an RL circuit lags the supply voltage by an angle ϕ, the amount of useful power supplied to the circuit is proportional to Cosϕ. Similarly, in an …

## Conductors and Insulators Definition and Examples

Conductors carry electric current. Insulators protect conductors and protect people from conductors. Whether a material is a conductor or an insulator depends on its atoms and on the relationship of each atom to its surrounding atoms. Insulators may break down if subjected to excessive voltages. Similarly, conductors may be destroyed …

## Passive Components in AC Circuits with Equations

There are three key passive elements used in many electrical and electronic circuits such as: Resistor, Inductor, and Capacitor. All these three elements limit the current flow but in a dissimilar manner. Since passive elements exhaust energy, they cannot amplify the electrical signals power employed to them and will always …

## Series Parallel Circuit | Series Parallel Circuit Examples

Series-Parallel Circuit Definition Not all circuits are simple series or parallel arrangements. Many are combinations of parallel resistors connected in series with other resistors or combined with other parallel groups. These can be described as a series-parallel circuit. The simplest approach to analyzing a series-parallel circuit is to resolve each …

## Parallel Circuit Definition | Parallel Circuit Examples

Parallel Circuit Definition Resistors are said to be connected in parallel when the same voltage appears across every component. With different resistance values, different currents flow through each resistor. The total current taken from the supply is the sum of all the individual resistor currents. The equivalent resistance of a …

## Series Circuit Definition | Series Circuit Examples

Series Circuit Definition  Resistors are stated to be in series configuration once they are linked in such a way that there is ONLY one path for current flow which means that the current stays the same in all parts of the series circuit. Series Circuit Characteristics  The voltage drop across …

## Linearity in Circuits

Consider the relationship between voltage and current for a resistor (Ohm’s Law). Suppose that c current I1 (the excitation or input) is applied to a resistor, R. then the resulting voltage V1 (the response or output) is ${{V}_{1}}={{I}_{1}}R$ Similarly, if I2 is applied to R, then V2=I2R results. But if …

## Electrical Symbols | Electrical Drawing Symbols

A symbol is a simple graphical representation of some type of component, device, and load that can be drawn easily on a two-dimensional scale. On electrical or electronic diagrams, symbols are used to represent electrical components. Electrical symbols used in industry today are what engineers use to identify parts of …

## Sinusoidal Waveform or Sine Wave in Electricity

Because of the importance of sinusoidal functions, I will devote this section to a review of some of their properties. Let us being with the sine wave, $\begin{matrix} v(t)={{V}_{m}}\sin (\omega t) & \cdots & (1) \\\end{matrix}$ Which is sketched in figure (1). The amplitude of the sinusoid is Vm, which …

## Electric Current | Unit of Electric Current

The primary purpose of an electric current is to move or transfer charges along specified paths. This motion of charges constitutes an electric current, denoted by the letters i or I, taken from the French word “intensite”. Formally,   The basic unit of current is the ampere (A), named after …

## Phasors in Electric Circuits

The phasor method of analyzing circuits is credited generally to Charles Steinmetz, a famous electrical engineer with the General Electric Company in the early part of this century. To begin, let us recall the general sinusoidal voltage, $\begin{matrix} v={{V}_{m}}\cos (\omega t+\theta ) & \cdots & (1) \\\end{matrix}$ If the frequency …

## RMS Voltage and Current | Definition | Formula

Periodic currents and voltages deliver an average power to resistive loads. The amount of power that is delivered depends on the characteristics of the particular waveform. A method of comparing the power delivered by different waveforms is therefore very useful. One such method is the use of RMS or effective …

In linear networks which have inputs that are periodic functions of time, the steady-state currents and voltages produced are periodic, each having identical periods. Consider an instantaneous power $\begin{matrix} p=vi & \cdots & (1) \\\end{matrix}$ Where v and i are periodic of period T. that is, \$\begin{align}  & v(t+T)=v(t) \\ & …