Electrical Circuits

Static electricity is the accumulation of electric charges on the surface of a material, usually an insulator or nonconductor of electricity. The term static means standing still or at rest, and static electricity refers to an electric charge at rest. The result of this buildup of static electricity is that objects may …

Direct current flows in only one direction. Alternating current changes its direction of flow at times in the circuit. In DC, the source voltage does not change its polarity. In AC, the source voltage changes its polarity between positive and negative. Figure 1 shows the magnitude and polarity of an …

Power in an electric circuit is equal to the product of the voltage and the current. To devise a meter that measures watts, a movement similar to the D’Arsonval movement can be used. The permanent magnetic field found in the D’Arsonval movement, however, is replaced with coils from an electromagnet. …

Electric Current, voltage, and resistance are three of the fundamental electrical properties. Stated simply, • current: is the directed flow of charge through a conductor. • Voltage: is the force that generates the current. • Resistance: is an opposition to current that is provided by the material, component, or circuit. …

Electrical and electronic systems contain circuits. Loosely defined, a Circuit is a group of components that performs a specific function. The function performed by a given circuit depends on the components used and how they are connected together. Nearly all circuits, no matter how complex, are made up of the …

One of the most common components encountered in the study of electronics is the resistor. The resistor is used to create desirable voltage drops and limit current values in electronic circuitry. Figure 1 shows several molded composition, fixed resistors. They are manufactured in many sizes and shapes. The schematic symbol …

There are several common circuit devices that are present in most electrical and electronic circuits. They provide a means of controlling electron flow through the conductor paths and provide for safe operation of circuits. The three important items discussed here are switches, connectors, and circuit protection devices. Switches Switches are …

Frequency response plots of linear systems are often displayed in the form of logarithmic plots, called Bode plots after the mathematician Hendrik W. Bode, where the horizontal axis represents frequency on a logarithmic scale (base 10) and the vertical axis represents either the amplitude or phase of the frequency response …

Using the same principles and procedures in the case of low and high pass filters, it is possible to derive a band pass filter frequency response for particular types of circuits. Such a filter passes the input to the output at frequencies within a certain range. The analysis of a …

There are many practical applications that involve filters of one kind or another. Modern sunglasses filter out eye-damaging ultraviolet radiation and reduce the intensity of sunlight reaching the eyes. The suspension system of an automobile filters out road noise and reduces the impact of potholes on passengers. An analogous concept …

The aim of this article is to introduce the concept of frequency domain analysis of signals, and specifically the Fourier series. Later in this article, we explain how it is possible to represent periodic signals by means of the superposition of various sinusoidal signals of different amplitude, phase, and frequency. …

In general, a second-order circuit has two irreducible storage elements: two capacitors, two inductors, or one capacitor and one inductor. The latter case is the most important in terms of new fundamentals; however, the important aspects of all second-order system responses are discussed in this section. Since second-order circuits have …

First-order systems are important in all engineering disciplines and occur frequently in nature. Such systems are characterized by a single state variable, where the system energy is proportional to the square of the state variable. That energy is dissipated by the system such that the rate of change of the …

Maximum Power Transfer Theorem Definition Maximum power transfer theorem states that maximum power output is obtained when the load resistance Ro is equal to Thevenin resistance RT as seen from load Terminals. The reduction of any linear resistive circuit to its Thevenin or Norton equivalent form is a very convenient conceptualization, …

The principle of superposition is a valid and frequently used, analytic tool for any linear circuit. It is also a powerful conceptual aid for understanding the behavior of circuits with multiple sources. For any linear circuit, the principle of superposition states that each independent source contributes to each voltage and …

Node voltage analysis is the most general method for the analysis of electric circuits. Its application to linear resistive circuits is illustrated in this article. The node voltage method is based on defining the voltage at each node as an independent variable. One of the nodes is freely chosen as …

Another method of circuit analysis employs mesh currents. The objective, similar to that of node analysis, is to generate one independent equation for each independent variable in a circuit. In this method, each mesh in a circuit is assigned a mesh current variable and Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL) is applied …

The Oxford online dictionary defines a network as “a group or system of interconnected people or things”. In an electric network, elements, such as resistors, are connected by wires. The same dictionary defines a circuit as “a complete and closed path around which a circulating electric current can flow” or …

In order to classify materials as magnetic or non-magnetic, it must be determined whether or not forces act on the material when a material is placed in a magnetic field. If a bar of any given material is suspended in a magnetic field, it will either turn at a right …

This article covers the key differences between Conductor, Semiconductor, and Insulator on the basis of Conductivity, Resistivity, Forbidden Gap, Conduction, Band Structure, Current Flow, Band Overlap, 0 Kelvin Behavior, and Examples. The following table covers the key Differences between Conductor Semiconductor and Insulator. You May Also Read: Difference between Electric and …