EEE251 BASIC ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Lecture 1:
Introduction

Instructor: N. Thwala

February, 2023
Class Schedule
• Lecture hours: Tuesdays, 08h00-09h50
Fridays, 09h00-10h50
• Laboratory: Tuesdays, 14h00-16h50
• Lecture note: Upload lecture notes on Moodle (UNESWA Website)
•Text book: Robert L Boylestad, Introductory Circuit Analysis, 16th Ed, Prentice Hall, 2015
• Other reading resources:
• Edward Hughes, Electrical and Electronic Technology, 10th Ed, Pearson, 2010.
• Tony R. Kuphaldt, Lessons in Electric Circuits, Volume 1, 5th Ed, Open Book Project, 2006.
• Tony R. Kuphaldt, Lessons in Electric Circuits, Volume 2, 6th Ed, Open Book Project, 2007.

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Assessment
• Continuous Assessment (CA): 60%
• Assignment/Quiz: 5%
• Labs: 15%
• All labs are compulsory.
• Individual lab reports required.
Late submission incur: ZERO mark!!!
• Test : 40%
• Test 1: Week 6 (Tuesday: 4th April 2023)
• Test 2: Week 11 (Tuesday: 16th May 2023)
• Final Exam : 40 % (June 2023)
• NB: Dates are tentative (Actual Test dates will be communicated in class in due course).
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What do I expect from you?
Participation:
• Class attendance
• Go through the lecture notes and worked examples
• Go through suggested reading in your textbooks and attempt exercises
• Ask questions
• Submit given assessments on time

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Where can you find me?
• Email: nthwala@uniswa.sz

• Office:
• EE2.7

• Other:
• Class rep?

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Questions?

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What does Electrical Engineering mean?
A field of engineering that deals with the study and application of:
• Electricity
• Electronics
• Electromagnetism

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Broad Objectives of the Subject
The following circuits will be analysed:
• DC Electrical Circuits
• Magnetic Circuits
• AC Electrical Circuits

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Lecture Objectives
• To commence our study of Basic Electrical Engineering.
• To understand basic electrical parameters like current and voltage.
• To become familiar with the SI system of units used throughout the
electrical/electronics industry.
• To develop an understanding of the concepts of Lumped circuit elements.
• To review the various electrical components.
• Understand the importance of powers of ten and how to work with them in any
numerical calculation.

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Purpose of circuit analysis
Equivalent circuits can be obtained for most of the Electrical and Electronic Devices and
Systems. Analysis of these circuits gives the idea on their performances.
Schematic = “symbolic” means for describing an electric circuit (a way of graphing that
circuit so that it can be analysed).
• We may also get the idea on the performances of the devices and systems even at
design state through analysis of the equivalent circuits.
• Lengthy and costly experiments can be avoided to know the performance, if parameters
of the equivalent circuits of practical devices and systems are known.
• Therefore, clear idea on circuit analysis is crucial for success in Electrical and
Electronic Engineering program.

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Overview of Circuit and Circuit Elements
• Electrical circuit elements are idealized models of physical devices that are defined by
relationships between their terminal voltages and currents. Circuit elements can have
two or more terminals.

• An electrical circuit is a connection of circuit elements into one or more closed loops.

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Overview of Circuit and Circuit Elements
• A lumped circuit is one where all the terminal voltages and currents are functions of
time only. Lumped circuit elements include resistors, capacitors, inductors, independent
and dependent sources.
• A distributed circuit is one where the terminal voltages and currents are functions of
position as well as time. Transmission lines are distributed circuit elements.
• A passive element cannot generate its own power, it absorbs energy, e.g. resistor,
capacitor and inductor (such as the heating element in a bar heater).
• An active element is capable of supplying energy, e.g. batteries and generators.

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Basic Terminology
• Current = the rate at which charged electrons flow through a given conductor
• In electrical engineering, we use a convention for current flow where the direction of current
flow is opposite to the direction of electron flow.
• Basic unit : Ampere (A)

• Voltage = the pressure from an electrical circuit’s power source that pushes charged
electrons(current) through a conducting loop, enabling them to do work such as
illuminating a light.
• Basic unit: Volt (V)

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Basic Terminology
DC refers to Direct Current, meaning current and voltage are both stable over time in
“steady-state”.

AC refers to Alternating Current, meaning current and voltage vary as a sinewave

(sinusoidally) over time in “steady-state”.

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Resistor (R)
• Resistance is the opposition to the flow of charge through an electrical circuit
• Current flows in direction of voltage drop

• Units: ohms (Ω)

• A Resistor always dissipates power as heat. The value of the power is:
V * I or
V2/R or
I2 * R
• In DC, AC and Steady-state or transient conditions:
V = IR

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Capacitor (C)
• Capacitance is a measure of a capacitor’s ability to store charge on its plates—in other words, its
storage capacity.
• The higher the capacitance of a capacitor, the greater the amount of charge stored on the plates for the
same applied voltage.
• Unit of measure applied to capacitors is the farad (F).
• Current flows in direction of voltage drop.
• A capacitor always stores power in an electric field.

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Inductor (L)
• Sending a current through a coil of wire establishes a magnetic field through and surrounding the unit. This coil
is called an inductor.
• Units: henry (H)
• Current flows in direction of voltage drop.
• An Inductor always stores power in a magnetic field.

• The inductance level determines the strength of the magnetic field around the coil due to an applied current.
• The higher the inductance level, the greater the strength of the magnetic field.

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SI Units

Except for current, all electrical and magnetic units are derived from the fundamental units.
Current is a fundamental unit.

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Engineering Notation

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Scientific and Engineering Notation
Very large and very small numbers are represented with scientific and engineering notation.

Engineering A system for representing any number as a one-, two-, or three-digit number times a
notation power of ten with an exponent that is a multiple of three.

Scientific A system for representing any number as a number between 1 and 10 times a power
notation of ten.

Example 1 47,000,000 = 4.7 x 107 (Scientific Notation)

= 47. x 106 (Engineering Notation)

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Scientific and Engineering Notation

Example 2 0.000 027 = 2.7 x 10-5 (Scientific Notation)

= 27 x 10-6 (Engineering Notation)

Example 3 0.605 = 6.05 x 10-1 (Scientific Notation)

= 605 x 10-3 (Engineering Notation)

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Metric Conversions

When converting from a larger unit to a smaller unit, move the decimal point to the right.
Remember, a smaller unit means the number must be larger.
Example 4 0.47MΩ = 470kΩ

When converting from a smaller unit to a larger unit, move the decimal point to the left.
Remember, a larger unit means the number must be smaller.
Example 5 10 000pF = 0.01µF

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Metric Arithmetic
When adding or subtracting numbers with a metric prefix, convert them to the same
prefix first.
Example 6 10,000 Ω + 22 kΩ =10,000 Ω + 22,000 Ω = 32,000 Ω
Alternatively,
=10 kΩ + 22 kΩ = 32 kΩ
Example 7 200 μΑ + 1.0 mA = 200 μA + 1,000 μA = 12,000 μA
Alternatively,
= 0.200 mΑ + 1.0 mA = 1.2 mA

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Suggestions for the Students
• Selected exercise mostly from the text book would be solved as examples in the lecture
slides for each chapter to introduce clear idea on the theory/technique of circuit
solution.
• You (students) are suggested to go through the materials covered in the lecture slides, in
the same day (if possible).
• There are solved examples in the text book.
• Solve them without going through the solution given in the book then verify solution
afterwards.
• Solve exercise problems as well.

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 Next Lecture:
Ohm’s Law, Power and Energy

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