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Sahithyan's S1 — Electrical Fundamentals

Basics

Charge

Quantized & conserved. Measured in Coulomb ().

Time invariant charge is denoted as . And time varying charge is denoted as .

Current

Amount of charge flowing through a point in unit time. Conventional current (opposite to electron flow) flows from positive to negative potentials.

Time invariant current is denoted as . And time varying current is denoted as .

Voltage

Voltage at a point is the work that must be done against the electric field to move a unit positive charge from infinity to that point.

Time invariant voltage is denoted as . And time varying voltage is denoted as .

Voltage difference between 2 points is the work that must be done against the electric field to move a unit positive charge from one point to another.

Double subscript notation

-CurrentVoltage
Double subscriptDSN of currentDSN of voltage
Equation
DescriptionCurrent is flowing from point to point Voltage is higher at point and lower at point

Electric Circuit

Types of circuits

  • Closed circuit - the electricity flows
  • Open circuit - the electricity doesn’t flow. current = . resistance.
  • Short circuit - very large current. resistance.

Power

Total Work

When v and i are constant

Electrical Load

Something that consumes electrical energy.

Linear loads

Loads that have a linear relationship between the applied voltage and the current. Can be expressed using a combination of resistors, capacitors and inductors only.

Non-linear loads

  • Diodes
  • Superconductors
  • Varistors (voltage-dependent resistors)
  • Non-linear inductors