Transcript Circuitsx
Electrical Circuits Electrical Circuits Nearly all branches of electrical engineering are fundamentally based on circuit theory. The only subject in electrical engineering that is more fundamental than circuit theory is electromagnetic field theory, which deals with the physics of electromagnetic fields and waves. Electrical Circuits Electrical Circuits The Ideal Basic Circuit Element Has Only two terminal It is described mathematically in terms of current and/or voltage It cannot be subdivided into other elements An electrical circuit may be defined as two or more Basic Circuit Elements interconnected by conductors. Electrical Circuits In electrical circuits, there are numerous types of electrical components such as resistors. capacitors. inductors, diodes, transistors, transformers, batteries, lamps. fuses, switches, and motors. The “conductors” that interconnect these components are usually wires or metal pathways integrated on a printed circuit hoard. Electrical circuits can be very simple. such as the circuit in a flashlight containing two batteries, a light bulb and a switch. Electrical Circuits Most electrical circuits. however, are much more complex than a flashlight. A standard television contains, among other things. power supplies, amplifiers speakers, and a cathode ray tube. The microprocessor in a computer may contain the equivalent of millions of transistors interconnected in a single chip that is smaller than a fingernail Electrical Circuits Examples Electrical Circuits The gravitational force is an attractive force that tends to move objects toward one another, the most common example being the earth’s gravitational force that attracts objects toward the center of the earth. Gravitational forces govern the motions of planets. stars, galaxies. and other celestial objects in the universe, and yet it is the weakest of all the natural forces. A type of force that is much stronger than gravity is electrical in nature. An electrical force is established between two charged particles when they are in proximity. The force between the particles is attractive if the charges are unlike (i.e.. if one charge is positive and the other is negative). The force is repulsive if the charges are alike, that is. if both charges are either positive or negative. (See Figure 5.4.) This force is referred to as an electrostatic force because the charges are static or stationary.The branch of electrical studies that deals with static charges is called electrostatics.