Fundamentals of

Electrical Engineering
2009

Electronic & Communication Engineering

Danang University of Technology
Course Administration (1)
 Courses sequence:
 Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering (215)
 Circuit Theory (233)
 The prerequisite of this course:
 Fundamental physics (PHYS 122), including concepts of power,
energy, force, electric current, and electric fields
 Fundamental mathematics (MATH 126), trigonometric and
(complex) exponential functions, introductory differential and
integral calculus, 1st and 2nd order linear differential equations
 Grading policies:
 HW (25%) + Lab (25%) + Midterm (20%) + Final exam (30%)
Course Administration (2)
 Goals:
 To develop the fundamental tools of linear circuit analysis which will
be useful to all engineers. 
 To learn the "alphabet" of circuits, including wires, resistors,
capacitors, inductors, independent and dependent voltage and
current sources, and operational amplifiers. 
 To prepare students for more advanced courses in circuit thoery
(EE233).
 Textbooks:
 James W. Nilsson and Susan A. Ridel, “Electric Circuits”, 8 th edition,
Prentice-Hall, 2008.
 References:
Lessons in Electric Circuits (a free series of textbooks,
http://www.faqs.org/docs/electric/ )
 EE 215, Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering, EE Dept., UW
 Acknowledgement: Materials of EE Dept., UW is re-used here
Objectives
 At the end of the course, you will be able to :
 Identify linear systems and represent those systems in schematic form
 Explain precisely what the fundamental circuit variables mean and why
the fundamental laws governing them are true.
 Apply Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws, Ohm's law, and the terminal
relations describing inductive and capacitive energy-storage elements to
circuit problems.
 Simplify circuits using series and parallel equivalents and using
Thevenin and Norton equivalents
 Perform node and loop analyses and set these up in standard matrix
format
 Explain the physical underpinnings of capacitance and inductance.
 Identify and model first and second order electric systems involving
capacitors and inductors
 Predict the transient behavior of first and second order circuits
How to cooperate ?
 Instructors:
 Pham V. Tuan (phamvt1976@yahoo.co.uk)
 Office hours: 1 hour right after each class, at ECE office
 Teaching assistants:
 Nguyen Q.N. Quynh (nqnquynh@yahoo.com)
 Tran T.M. Hanh (t2mhanh@yahoo.com.vn)
 TA hours: 2 hours per HW
 Lab assistants
 Nguyen T. Kien (kienntrung83@gmail.com)
 Vu Van Thanh (vuvanthanh85@gmail.com)
 Support you during Lab hours: 1 Lab per week
 Collaboration policy
 HWs are assigned to each individual student
 Labs are assigned to each group of 4 students
 Allow to discuss solving methods, compare results
 Copy answers from anything you has not generated: CHEATING
 Lecture 1
Circuit Variables
(chapter 1)
Preview
 Know some applications of electrical engineering
 Know and be able to use the definitions of voltage and
current
 Know and be able to use the definitions of power and
energy
 Be able to use the passive sign convention to calculate
the power for an ideal basic circuit
Overview of EE
 Electrical engineering deals with systems that generate, transmit and
measure electric signals.
 Signals: functions of one or many independent variables.
 Electrical signals: Voltage signals & Current signals
 Electrical engineering
 combines the physicist’s models of natural phenomena with the
mathematician’s tools
 manipulate these models
 produce systems that meet practical needs
 Electrical systems: communication, computer, control, power and signal
processing systems
Communication systems
Communication systems
Computer systems
 Process information:
- Use electric signals to process information ranging from word
processing to mathematical computations
 Size and power:
- From pocket calculators, personal computers to
supercomputers
 Examples: calculators
- Mechanical motion  sensor  electrical signals
 electric circuit
Control systems
 Regulate processes:
- From word processing to mathematical computations
 Examples:
- Control of temperature
- Control of pressure
- Control of flow rate in an oil pipeline
- Elevators
- Autopilot and autolanding systems
Power systems
 Generate and distribute electric power
 Generate electric power by:
- Nuclear generators
- Hydroelectric generators
- Thermal (coal, oil, gas…) generators
 Distribute electric power by:
- Grid of conductors
 Example: South-North 500kV power system
 Signal Processing Systems

APPLICATIONS
APPLICATIONS Noise removal
Spectrum analysis Interference separation
Feature extraction Signal compression
Signal detection Analog/Digital Signal coding
Signal estimation Analysis Signal synthesis
Signal verification
Filter Spectrum shaping
Signal recognition
Signal modeling

Measures Processed
Video Clips of Interest
 Interaction takes place among the engineering disciplines involved in
designing & operating them
 Communication engineers use computer to control sys
 Computers contain control systems
 Control systems contain computers
 Power systems require extensive communication sys
 A signal-processing system may involve communication links,
computers & control systems
 Examples: Commercial airplanes, robots
One thing in common: Electric Circuits
Electric circuits
 An electric circuit is a mathematical model that
approximates the behavior of an actual electrical
system
 Example: car battery
What is electric circuit?
 Goals of electric system theory:
 To analyze electrical systems
 To determine/interpret/compare system specifications and
performance
 Require mathematical model  electric circuit
 Mathematical model provides:
 An important foundation for learning
 The way to design systems
 The way to operate systems
 From now on: talking about an electrical circuit  we mean a model
!
Circuit analysis
 Concepts:
 A commonly used mathematical model for electrical systems
is a circuit model
 Ideal circuit components:
 Has only two terminals, used to connect to other terminals
 Be described mathematically in terms of current i / voltage v
 Cannot be subdivided into other elements
 General representation:
i
 The type of element determines the
mathematical relationship between v & i 1
v
2
 Voltage and Current
Water system: Electricity system:
- Pipes to carry water - Wires to carry electricity
- The flow of water through - The flow of electricity
pipes is caused by pressure through wires is caused by
differences VOLTAGE differences
- Water flows from high - Electricity flows from high
pressure to low pressure voltage to low voltage

What flows in electricity? CHARGE

How do we measure this flow? BY CURRENT
Current
 In most circuits what moves are electrons, which have a
negative charge. The movement of negative charge in
one direction corresponds to the flow of positive current
in the opposite direction.
(The reason for this is that Ben Franklin had to pick a
direction for current flow. He had no idea what actually
moved. He guessed wrong.)
 The rate of charge flow is the electric current
- i = the current in amperes (A)
dq 1C
i - q = the charge in coulombs (C) 1A 
dt - t = the time in seconds (s) 1s
Voltage
 The energy per unit charge created by the separation
between positive and negative charges
- v = the voltage in volts (V)
dw
v - w = the energy in joules (J)
dq - q = the charge in coulombs (C)

Voltage is measured between two points, a high

point (+) and a low point (-). Knowing which
point is the high point and which the low is
called polarity. Often the points are given letters
or numbers to identify them. These can then be
used in subscripts.
Voltage
 Another definition of voltage, which is consistent with calling it electrical pressure, is
that voltage is the amount of work (which is energy, of course) needed to move one
unit of charge from the negative to the positive terminal.

- v = the voltage in volts (V)

dw
v - w = the energy in joules (J)
dq - q = the charge in coulombs (C)
Assessment Problem 1.3
 The current at the terminals of the following element is
given below. Calculate the total charge (in micro-
coulombs) entering the element at upper terminal.

0, t0
i   5000 t
20e (A), t  0
Assessment Problem 1.3
Assessment Problem 1.4
 The expression for the charge entering the uper terminal is
given in the equation. Find the maximum value of the
current entering the terminal if a = 0.03679s-1

1  t 1  at
q  2    2 e ( C)
a a a 
Assessment Problem 1.4
Power and Energy
 Often, the useful output signal of the electrical system
is non-electrical
 output of an image processing system?
 output of a telephony system?
 output of a light lamping?
 Often, the useful output signal of the electrical system
is expressed in terms of power and energy
 Also, all practical devices have limitations on the
amount of power that they can handle
 Voltage and current calculation are not sufficient
Power calculation
 Power is the time rate of expending or absorbing energy
 A lot of the general public get power and energy mixed
up. Power, p, is the change in energy with time.
- p = the power in watts (w)
dw
p - w = the energy in joules (J)
dt - t = the time in seconds (s)
 Play with a trick: apply the Chain rule:

dw dw dq
p   v.i
dt dq dt
 Note: Power may be delivered to the pair of terminals or
extracted from it
Passive sign convention
 It is useful to establish an agreement about the voltage
drop, the direction of current, the sign of voltage and current
 The sign of voltage/current is indicated by plus/minus sign
 The direction for the current is shown by the arrow placed alongside
the current
 The voltage drops from “1” to “2”
i
1
 Passivevsign convention:
 2 sign in
If current flows in direction of voltage drop, then use plus
any expression relating voltage to current. Otherwise, use a minus
sign
PSC and Examples
 If current flows in direction of voltage drop, then use positive sign in any expression relating voltage to current.
 If p > 0, power is being delivered to the circuit inside the box. If p < 0, power is being extracted from the circuit
inside the box

- Plus sign: the current reference is in the direction of the reference voltage drop across the terminals. Minus sign: vice verse
Car battery example (1)
 What is the developed power or dissipated power ?
 Ohm’s law: i = v/R = 12V/3Ω = 4A

 At resistor: p = v.i =
 Conclude

 At battery: p = v.i =
 Conclude
Car battery example (2)
 Which car has the dead battery?
30A

 1. Model the real system by a

circuit model.
 2. Calculate powers:
Car battery example (2)
 Which car has the dead battery?
30A
Assessment Problem 1.6
 The current at the terminals of the following element is
given below. Assuming the voltage at the terminals
corresponding to the given current is provided.
Calculate the total energy (in joules) delivered to the
element.
i 0, t0
1 i   5000t
v 20e ( A), t  0
2
0, t0
v   5000t
10e (kV ), t  0
Assessment Problem 1.6
Problem 1.27
 a. Is the interconnected circuit passed the power check?
 b. Find the error and propose your solution.
Problem 1.27