Chapter 2

Basic
Components and
Electric Circuits

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The SI System
Base units:
• meter (m), kilogram (kg), second (s), ampere (A)
• also: kelvin, mole, and candela

Derived units:
• work or energy: joule (J)
• power (rate of doing work): watt (W)
• 1 W = 1 J/s

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SI: Units and Prefixes

Any measurement can be expressed in terms
of a unit, or a unit with a “prefix” modifier.
FACTOR NAME SYMBOL
10−9 nano n
10−6 micro μ
10−3 milli m
103 kilo k
106 mega M

Example: 12.3 mW W 1.23 × 10−2 W

= 0.0123=
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Charge
charge is conserved: neither created nor
destroyed.
symbol: Q or q; units are coulomb (C).
the smallest charge, the electronic charge, is
( −19
carried by an electron −1.602 × 10 C )
(
or a proton +1.602 × 10−19 C . )
in most circuits, charges in motion are
electrons.
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Current and Charge 1

Current is the rate of charge flow:

1 ampere = 1 coulomb/second (or 1 A = 1 C/s)

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Current and Charge 2

Current (designated by I or i) is the rate of

flow of charge
Current must be designated with both a
direction and a magnitude
These two currents are the same:

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Current and Charge: I = dq/dt

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Voltage
When 1 J of work is
required to move 1 C of
charge from A to B,
there is a voltage of 1
volt between A and B.

Voltage (V or v) across
an element requires
both a magnitude and a
polarity.

Example: (a)=(b), (c)=(d)

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Power: p = vi
The power required to
push a current i (C/s)
into a voltage v (J/C) is p
= vi ( J/s = W).

When power is positive,

the element is absorbing
energy.

When power is negative,

the element is supplying
energy.
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Example: Power Absorbed

How much power is absorbed by the three

elements above?

Pa =
+6 W, Pb =
+6 W, Pc =
−20 W.
(Note: (c) is actually supplying power)
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Energy (w)
Power is rate of work/energy
Energy is integral of power
t t
w(t)
= ∫=
p dt ∫ vi dt
t0 t0

Energy determines total electricity need or

how long your battery will last

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Energy Example: Battery

Energy in units of joules (J) or watt-hours (Wh)
1 Wh = 3600 J

Battery capacity often given in amp-hours (Ah)

w = (battery voltage) × (capacity in Ah)

A 1.5 V battery with capacity of 2 Ah:

• Has total energy of 3 Wh = 10.8 kJ
• Can supply a circuit drawing 200 mA for 10 h
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Circuit Elements
A circuit element usually
has two terminals
(sometimes three or
more).

The relationship
between the voltage v
across the terminals and
the current i through the
device defines the circuit
element model.

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Voltage Sources
An ideal voltage source is a circuit element that will
maintain the specified voltage vs across its terminals.

The current will be determined by other circuit elements.

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Current Sources
An ideal current source is a circuit element that
maintains the specified current flow is through its
terminals.
The voltage is determined by other circuit elements.

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Battery as Voltage Source

A voltage source is an idealization (no limit on current) and
generalization (voltage can be time-varying) of a battery.
A battery supplies a constant “dc” voltage V but in practice a
battery has a maximum power.

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Dependent Sources
Dependent current sources (a) and (b) maintain a current
specified by another circuit variable.
Dependent voltage sources (c) and (d) maintain a voltage
specified by another circuit variable.

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Example: Dependent Sources

Find the voltage vL in the circuit below.

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Ohm’s Law: Resistance

A (linear) resistor is an element for which
v = iR
where the constant R is a resistance.
The equation is known as “Ohm’s Law.”
The unit of resistance is ohm (Ω).

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Resistors
(a) typical resistors (b) power resistor
(c) a 10 TΩ resistor (d) circuit symbol

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The i-v Graph for a Resistor

For a resistor, the plot of current versus
voltage is a straight line:

In this example, the

slope is 4 A / 8 V or
0.5 Ω−1.

This is the graph for

a 2 ohm resistor.

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Power Absorption
Resistors absorb power: since v = iR
2 2
p= vi= v R= i R
Positive power means the device is
absorbing energy.
Power is always positive for a resistor!

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Example: Resistor Power

A 560 Ω resistor is connected to a circuit
which causes a current of 42.4 mA to flow
through it.
Calculate the voltage across the resistor and
the power it is dissipating.

v iR
= = ( 0.0424)( 560=) 23.7 V

p i=
= R 2
( 0.0424) ( 560
2
= ) 1.007 W
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Wire Gauge and Resistivity

The resistance of a wire is determined by
the resistivity of the conductor as well as the
geometry:
R = ρl A

[In most cases, the resistance of wires can be assumed to

be 0 ohms.]
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Conductance
We sometimes prefer to work with the
reciprocal of resistance (1/R), which is called
conductance (symbol G, unit siemens (S)).

A resistor R has conductance G = 1/R.

Ohm’s law (i-v equation) can be written as

i = Gv

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Open and Short Circuits

An open circuit between A and B means I = 0.
Voltage across an open circuit: any value.
An open circuit is equivalent to R = ∞ Ω.

A short circuit between A and B means v = 0.

Current through a short circuit: any value.
A short circuit is equivalent to R = 0 Ω.

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