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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

Different ways to depict circuits

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