LECTURE 1

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Electrical engineering is an important branch of applied science. It is concerned

with energy production and delivery, electronics, communication, control,
instrumentation, computers etc.
Concept of current:
All matters in this universe are made up of minute particles
called molecules. Molecules are further subdivided into small
particles known as atoms.
Atoms are made up of 3 types of particles electrons ,

protons and neutrons . These particles have different

properties.
Electrons are tiny, very light particles that have a negative electrical charge (-).
Protons are much larger and heavier than electrons and have the opposite charge.
Neutrons are large and heavy like protons, however neutrons have no electrical
charge. Each atom is made up of a combination of these particles.
The central portion of an atom is called nucleus. Around the nucleus negatively
charged electron revolves in different circular or elliptical paths as shown in Fig. 1. The
path is known as orbit. The nucleus is made up of protons and neutrons.

(e.g)
The atom above, made up of one proton and one electron, is called hydrogen.
In a normal atom, the positive charge of the nucleus is exactly equal to the total
charges of the revolving electrons. Hence, atom is neutral.
 The electron can revolve only in certain allowed orbits
and also there is a limit for the electrons in every orbit. The
first nearest orbit to the nucleus can accommodate only two
electrons; the next orbit eight electrons and so on. The number
of electrons that can be accommodated in each orbit is
obtained by the formula 2n2 where, n = number of orbits.
When electrons are removed from a substance, the substance becomes positively
charged whereas, a substance with an excess of electrons is negatively charged. The
phenomena of transferring charges from one point in a circuit to another is described as
‘electric current’
Free electrons:
Electrons in the outer shell are important for establishing the electrical properties
of a substance. These planetary electrons, farthest from the nucleus, are very loosely
bound to the nucleus. It is easier to put them out of their orbit by an electric pressure. An
electron which has been pulled out of the orbit is called a free electron. An atom which
has lost an electron from the outer orbit is said to be positively charged.
Substances made of atoms having a large number of electrons in the outer orbit are
called insulators. Whereas those with a few electrons only are called conductors.
Electrical energy
Electrical energy is widely used due to the following reasons.
1. Clean form of energy – absence of smoke, ashes, dust etc.,
2. Easily convertible to light, heat, mechanical energy, chemical energy etc.
3. Easily and economically transportable by means of running cables.
Electrical energy must be centrally generated and transmitted to the place of use
and distributed to the individual loads. Electrical energy is generated in the various
generating stations namely.
Hydro power station – Potential energy of water is converted into electrical energy
Thermal power station – Heat energy obtained by burning coal or oil is converted
into electrical energy
Nuclear power station - Thermal energy obtained from atomic fission or fusion is
converted into electrical energy.
 The flow of current in an electric circuit is similar to the flow of water in a
system of water pipelines.
• A pressure difference must exist between the two ends of the pipe for
the water to flow from a higher potential point to a lower potential point.
Similarly, a potential difference must exist between two points in an electric
circuit to drive a current to flow from a higher potential point to a lower
potential point.
• More pressure is required to force water to flow at a specific rate
through a pipe with a small diameter than through a larger one. Similarly,
greater the resistance, the greater will be the voltage required to pass a given
current.
The various quantities related to electrical energy and electric circuits are:
Electrical energy is accounted in terms of
 Voltage Volts Voltmetet
 Current Ampere Ammeter
 Electrical power Watt Wattmeter
 Electrical energy WH
 Resistance Hom Homemeter
 Inductance and Capacitance Henry Farad
Voltage:
The potential difference between two points in an electric circuit is called
voltage.
It can be defined in two ways.
 Voltage or potential difference between two points is defined as the work
required to move a unit charge from one point to the other.
 One unit of voltage or potential difference is defined as that difference of
electrical potential between two points of wire carrying a constant (DC) current of 1
Ampere when the power dissipation between these two points is
1 watt.
The voltage is measured by a voltmeter. ‘U’ is the variable symbol used to
denote the voltage and the unit is ‘Volts’. (e.g) supply voltage U = 230 V.
Volt (V)
One volt is defined as the pressure difference required to carry a charge of one
coulomb of electricity from one point to another, so that the work done is equal to
1 Joule.
1 V = 1 J/C (Joules / Coulomb)
The Joule is the SI unit of work or energy.
Current (I)
Flow of electrons in a conductor constitutes a current. The direction of current
is conventionally considered as the opposite direction as that of electrons.
For a current to flow in a circuit, the following two conditions are to be
fulfilled
i. the circuit must be a closed one and
ii. there must be a source of voltage in the circuit.

Two standard definitions are

 Current is defined as the amount of charge Q (in coulombs) transfers over a
time t (in seconds).
I = Q/T
One ampere is the amount of charge in Coulombs transferred in one second.
1 A = 1C/sec
 One unit of current is defined as that constant (DC) current which, if
maintained in each of two infinitely long straight parallel wires of negligible cross
section places 1 metre apart, in vacuum, will produce between the wires a force of 2
x 10-7 newton per metre length.
18
One Coulomb is equal to the charge of 6.242 x 10 electrons. Hence, the
charge of one electron is 1/( 6.242 x 10 18) = 1.602 x 10-19 coulomb.
The current is measured by an Ammeter. ‘I’ is the variable symbol to denote
the current. The unit of current is ampere (A).
(e.g) Current in the circuit I = 5 A
Electric Power (P)
Electric power is defined as the rate of doing work by electrical energy. It is
measured using watt meter. The unit of power is watt.
In DC circuits Power (P) = Voltage (V) x Current (I)
P = VI ------ (1)
= (VQ)/T ------ (2)
In single phase AC circuits
P = VI cosφ
= √3 VL IL cosφ
Where V and I are phase voltage and phase current VL and IL is line voltage and line
current.
Electrical Energy (En)
This is defined as the work done over a time. It is measured by energy meter.
The unit of electrical energy is Watt-hour (WH).
En = P x t (power x time)
1000 Watt-hour = 1 KW – hr
1 KW – hr = 1 unit
Resistance (R)
It is defined as the property of a substance due to which it opposes the flow of
electricity (i.e., electrons) through it. The unit of resistance is ohm ( ).

A conductor is said to have a resistance of one ohm as it permits one ampere

current to flow through it when one volt is impressed across the terminals
R = V/I
Ohm
One unit of resistance (Ohm) is defined as the resistance of a conductor, when,
with a constant (DC) current of 1 ampere flowing through it, the potential difference
between the ends of the conductor is one volt.
One unit of resistance (Ohm) is defined as the resistance of a conductor, when,
with a constant (DC) current of 1 ampere flowing through it, electrical energy is
converted in to heat at the rate of 1 joule per second.
Inductance
It is a two-terminal storage element in which energy is stored in the magnetic
field. The symbol for inductance is “L” and the unit is Henry (H). e.g. L = 0.5 H.
Inductance is the property of a circuit element in which the changing magnetic
field setup by the time varying current through the inductance causes an EMF
induced in it, in a direction to oppose the change of current.
One unit of inductance, in Henry (H), is defined as the inductance of a closed
circuit in which an electromotive force (EMF) of 1 V is induced when the current in
the circuit varies uniformly at the rate of 1 ampere per second.
Capacitance
It is a two-terminal storage element in which energy is stored in the electric
field. The symbol of capacitance is “C”. The unit is Farad (F). e.g. C = 20 x 106 F.
Capacitance is the property of a circuit to store electric charge. Two
conductors separated from each other by an insulating material form a capacitor. The
material is called the dielectric.
One unit of capacitance in Farad (F) is defined as the capacitance of a capacitor
between the conducting plates in which there appears a potential difference of 1 V
when it is charged by 1 coulomb.