Electricity – The Meterman Basics

Basic Electricity
• Voltage, current, power, energy
• Circuit components
– Resistors, Inductors, Capacitors, Transformers
– Ohm’s Law : Current is directly proportional to the voltage and
inversely proportional to the resistance (impedance)
• AC vs. DC
– AC Circuits  Two characteristics: Magnitude and frequency
• Electrical Degrees”  measurement of time
– Resistance, Reactance, Impedance
– Active Power vs. Reactive Power
– Power Triangle  Helps us understand AC circuit theory
 Where does electricity come from?
• Electricity is produced when electrons leave their atoms
• Normally the positive attraction of the nucleus counteracts
the centrifugal force on the electron to keep the electron in
orbit.
• However, an outside force can push or free the electron out of
orbit which produces electricity
• There are a number of ways that an outside force can attempt
to free the electron out of orbit:
– Friction
– Chemicals
– Heat
– Pressure
– Magnetism
– Light
It starts at the elements…

• Also the same reason why

most good conductors are
also NOT transparent…

• Or, why many insulators are

transparent…
 VOLTAGE or Electromotive Force
• Electrical charges are measured in Coulombs
• When two different objects have different charges then a
difference of potential exists between those two objects
• This potential of difference causes a force to be exerted
between those two objects and we call this resultant force
“electromotive force” or “EMF”
• The unit used to measure EMF is the volt (V)
• 1 volt = 1 EMF = 1 Coulomb (C) doing 1 joule of work
• Some typical voltages that you are probably familiar with are:

1.5 volts for a flashlight battery 12 volts for a car battery

120/240 volts in your home 12,470v on a distribution power system
 AMPERE (measure of current)
• The quantity current flowing in a wire is determined by the
number of electrons that pass a given point in one second
• When 1 coulomb passes a point in 1 second that equals 1
ampere
• Thus, 1 ampere = 1C/s
• And, 1C = 6.24 x 1018 electrons
• Therefore, 6.24 x 1018 electrons must pass one point in one
second to have one ampere of current
 Resistance
• Resistance relates Voltage to Current
• A conductor is said to have a resistance of 1 OHM when an
EMF of 1 volt causes a current of 1 ampere to flow through
that conductor
• Resistance is a conductor’s opposition to current flow. It is
similar to friction.
• Furthermore, the higher the resistance the harder it is to
make current flow and thus the current is dissipated and it’s
energy is turned into heat
• The Greek symbol upper-case omega, “”, is used to indicate
resistance which is measured in ohms
 Summary: Useful electrical terms
• Voltage (V/U)
– The value of an electromotive force or potential difference, expressed
in volts
– It represents the potential to do work
– Similar to pressure in a hydraulic or gas system (think garden hose)

• Current (I)
– The rate of movement of charge, expressed in amperes or “amps”
– Similar to water flow rate in the garden hose

• Resistance (R, )
– Opposition to the flow of electric current
– Similar to how friction opposes mechanical (physical) movement 
like pinching the garden hose
 Example: V, I, R using the water analogy
• http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/java/currentflo
w/index.html
 Ohm’s Law
• Since Voltage causes current to flow in a closed circuit and
resistance opposes the flow of current, a relationship exists
between voltage, current and resistance
• This relationship was discovered by Georg Ohm so we call
this formula “Ohm’s Law”
• V= I × R
– Voltage equals Current times Resistance
• Other algebraic manipulations :
– I=V/R
– R=V/I
• Remember that V is voltage and some people will use an E to
represent EMF which is voltage in this equation
 Ohm’s Law (cont’d)
• Ohm’s Law: “The current, I, flowing in a conductor is directly
proportional to the applied voltage and inversely proportional
to its resistance, R”
• I = V / R or V=I×R or R=V/I
• Ohm’s Law means:
– In a circuit if you increase the voltage and resistance stays the same,
the current or I will go up
– If you lower the voltage, the current will go down
– If you raise the R, the current will go down
– If you lower the R, the current will go up
 Quiz time!

5
I = ___ A?

V = 15 VDC R = 3
 Quiz time!

I = 30A

V = 240 VDC 8
R = ___ ?
 Quiz time!

I = 3000A

0
V = __ VDC? R = 0
“short circuit”
 Quiz time!
I = 3A


V = __ VDC? R=
“open circuit”
“infinite R”

 Why you NEVER want to open the secondary of a CT loop

 Infinite V  arcing  injury  bad
 Kirchhoff’s Current and Voltage Laws
• Kirchhoff’s Current Law: The sum of the currents at a
junction point equals zero
• Also another way to remember this law is: What goes in must
come out when talking about a current node

A current node or
junction

I1 = 10 Amps I2 = 2 Amps
Two ways to look at it:
I1 + (-)I2 + (-)I3 = 0
or,
I1 = I 2 + I3
I3 = 8 Amps
 Kirchhoff’s Current and Voltage Laws
• Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law: The sum of all the voltage drops
and voltage rises around a closed loop is equal to zero

Vs + V1 +V2 = 0

V1 = 3V drop
Vs = 10V 10v + (-)3v + (-) 7v = 0

V2 = 7V drop
Quick quiz:
What’s the current?
 Power
• Power = Work over a period of time
– Work (energy) per unit time
– Work / Time or Energy / Time

• Units of Power: WATTS!

• P=I×V

• In case of resistive (Ohmic, or linear) loads, combine P = I × V

with Ohm’s Law V = I × R:
P = I × I × R = I2 × R
P = V2 / R

• Sometimes you need to convert watts to hp : 746 watts = 1hp

 Familiar example of Power and Resistance
An incandescent lamp is made by enclosing a resistance element called a filament, in a glass
bulb. When a lamp is connected into a circuit, current flows through the filament, and I2R
heating takes place. The heat is so severe that the filament becomes white-hot and gives off
light. The more the filament is heated the more light the lamp gives off. When you buy a lamp
according to its wattage rating you are really selecting it according to its light output. Looking at
the power equation P = V x I you can see that either the voltage has to increase of the current
has to increase to have more power or a brighter light. Since the power company normally
doesn’t vary the voltage much coming into your home that means that the current has to
increase on a higher wattage bulb. Now thinking about both a 100w bulb versus a 40w bulb you
can now see that the 100w bulb has to conduct more current. Also this means that the
resistance of the filament of the 100w bulb is less than the resistance for the 40w bulb.

Using a 120V I = P/V = 4/120 = 0.8333A

supply:
0.3333A
40 watt
360  100 watt
bulb 144
filament bulb
filament
Typical power ratings of Electrical Appliances
 Energy
• If Power = Energy / Time

• Then Energy = Power × Time

– Units of Power: Watts

• Units of Energy: Watt × Hours

• Or, simply: Wh

• Examples:
– 1W used for 1000 hour = 1 kWh
– 1000W used for 1 hour = 1 kWh
– 100W bulb burning for 1 hour = 100 Wh or 0.1 kWh
The Power Circle
DC and AC circuits
 The War of Currents
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents

VS.
Thomas Edison
DC

Other factors:
• GE
• Niagara Falls George Westinghouse
AC
 Direct vs. Alternating Current
• Direct Current (DC) – and electric current whose magnitude
and direction are constant in time
• Alternating Current (AC) – an electric current that moves first
in one direction for a fixed period of time and then in the
opposite direction for the same period in time
– If a “sine” wave, the current changes from zero to a maximum positive
value to a maximum value and back to zero over a fixed period of
time called a “cycle”
– In the USA, basic AC has 60 complete cycles per second
• Changes direction 120 times per second
– “Cycles per second”  “Hertz”  60 Hz frequency
– 1 cycle = 1/60 = 0.01667 sec = 16.67 msec

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

1857 - 1894
 Examples
from Handbook for Electricity Metering
 AC signal
• An AC source has two general characteristics:
Magnitude and Frequency

Magnitude:
how tall

Frequency:
how fast
 • Frequency
• Time
• Degrees
• Radians
…are just different ways
to describe the horizontal
X-axis

0 /3 /2  2 radians

 • Peak-to-Peak
• RMS
…are just different
ways to describe the
vertical Y-axis
(magnitude)

0 /3 /2  2 radians

 Peak vs. RMS
• For AC current or voltage, its average value over time is zero.
• A more practical measure is its equivalent DC (direct current)
heating effect on a resistor
– P = V2 / R
• It is calculated as the square Root of the Mean (average) of
the Squared values of the current or voltage over one (or
more) cycles
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_mean_square
Peak vs. RMS for Household 120 VAC
 Resistors in AC
• Quick quiz: What’s R?

1.00
0.80 Voltage
Current
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
-0.20 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
-0.40
-0.60
-0.80
-1.00
 Capacitors (C)
• A device that stores charge on conducting plates through the
action of an electrostatic field between the plates
• In an AC circuit, the current leads the applied voltage on a
capacitor
• Capacitance is measured in Farads (F)

1.00
Voltage
0.80
Current
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
-0.20 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
-0.40
-0.60
-0.80
-1.00
 Inductor (L)
• A conductor whose property is to oppose any change in the existing
current
– Is present only when the current is changing
– A coil of wire in an AC circuit would be one example of an inductor
• In an AC circuit, the current lags the applied voltage on an inductor
• Inductance is measured in Henrys (H)
1.00
0.80 Voltage
Current
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
-0.20 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
-0.40
-0.60
-0.80
-1.00
 Lead, lag, whatever  how do I remember?
ELI the ICE man
• Looking at ELI:
– E = Voltage, I = Current, and L = Inductive Circuit
– The Current LAGS the Voltage in an Inductive circuit because I
comes after E in the word ELI
• This can also be said that the Voltage leads the Current
• Look at ICE:
– I = current, E = voltage, and C = Capacitive circuit
– The Current LEADS the Voltage in a Capacitive Circuit because the I
comes before the E in the word ICE
• This can also be said that the Voltage lags the Current
 Demonstration of R, C, L
• http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/java/ac/index.h
tml
 The Transformer

Is = V / R = 120V / 10 = 12A Another way:

Vs × Is = Vp × Ip Vp:Vs = 4:1

 Ip = 120V × 12A / 480V = 3A  Ip:Is = 1:4

 Ohm’s Law for AC
• V= I × R becomes V = I × Z (Z = Impedance)
• Quick quiz: What’s R in the graph below?

1.00
0.80 Voltage
Current
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
-0.20 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360
-0.40
-0.60
-0.80
-1.00
 Resistance, Reactance, Impedance:
Related, but not the same
• Z = R + jX
Z = Impedance
R = Resistance
X = Reactance

• Reactance of an inductor:
– XL = 2fL

• Reactance of a capacitor:
– XC = -1/2fC
 Resistance, Reactance, Impedance
• Resistance (R, )
– Opposition to the flow of electric current
– Similar to how friction opposes mechanical (physical) movement

• Reactance (X, )
– Opposition to the flow of alternating current (associated with
capacitors and inductors)

• Impedance (Z, )
– Similar to resistance, but used in AC circuits
– It is the vector sum of resistance and the capacitive and inductive
reactance
 Okay, okay, I get the Resistance, Reactance, Impedance thing.
Now what about Power?
• DC: P = I × V (Watts) V
• AC: It’s all about  (phase angle)
I



V
A “Reactive power”
Reactance

 R

Resistance Watts
“Real or Active power”
VA  Watts
 VA, Watts, VARs

V MIA
A
R

Watts
What the consumer gets billed for

I.e., utilities pay to generate VARs but no energy is transferred!

 AC circuits
• Right triangle  Pythagorean Theorem
a = “run” or “adjacent”
b = “rise” or “opposite”
c = “hypotenuse”
b
 90°

a
V
A “Reactive power”
 R

Watts
= cos 
“Real or Active power”
By definition Power Factor PF = VA  Watts
 Power triangle: Example

V
30 kVARs
A “Reactive power”

 R

Watts
“Real or Active power”
40 kW VA  Watts

 = arccos(0.8) = cos-1(0.8) = 0.643 radians = 36.87°

 AC Active power (Watts)
V

• For DC: Active power (P) = V × I (watts) I

• For AC: Active power (P) = V × I × cos  (watts) 

– For resistive load, still have P = I2R

V
A “Reactive power”
 R

Watts
“Real or Active power”
VA  Watts
Active power vs. Reactive power
Active power vs. Reactive power:
Another way to look at it
 Basic Electricity summary
• Voltage, current, power, energy
• Circuit components
– Resistors, Inductors, Capacitors, Transformers
– Ohm’s Law : Current is directly proportional to the voltage and
inversely proportional to the resistance (impedance)
• AC vs. DC
– AC Circuits  Two characteristics: Magnitude and frequency
• Electrical Degrees”  measurement of time
– Resistance, Reactance, Impedance
– Active Power vs. Reactive Power
– Power Triangle  Helps us understand AC circuit theory