12 Questions
What is the unit of electric quantity?
Coulomb
What is the equivalent of flow rate in an electrical system?
Current
What is the symbol for the unit of capacitance?
F
What is the direction of current in a circuit?
The opposite of the electron movement
What is the unit of measurement for current density?
A/m²
How is a current meter connected to a circuit to measure current?
In series to the circuit
What is the relationship between voltage and current?
Voltage is the pressure or potential for current to flow, and current is the flow of electrons.
What is the charge of one electron?
1.602E-10 Coulomb
What is the function of voltage in a conductor?
To push all free electrons within the conductor.
What do the minus signs represent in Kirchhoff's Voltage Law?
The sum of voltage in the opposite direction.
What is the unit of voltage?
Joules per Coulomb
What is the relationship between voltage and power?
Power is equal to voltage multiplied by current.
Study Notes
Analogy between Electrical and Mechanical Systems
- Electrical systems are compared to mechanical systems, where electricity is like water flowing through a pipeline network
- Electrons are analogous to water quantity, measured in Coulombs (C)
- Current is equivalent to flow rate, measured in Amperes (A)
- Voltage is equivalent to pressure, measured in Volts (V)
- Resistance is equivalent to a nozzle or orifice, measured in Ohms (Ω)
- Capacitance is equivalent to an accumulator or reservoir, measured in Farads (F)
Current
- Current is the amount of electric charge flowing during a unit of time (ΔQ/Δt)
- 1 Ampere (A) is equivalent to 1 Coulomb per second (1C/s) or 6.24E18 electrons per second
- Current density (J) is measured in Amperes per unit area (A/m²)
- Ampere is a large unit, so smaller units like milliAmperes (mA), microAmperes (μA), nanoAmperes (nA), and picoAmperes (pA) are commonly used
- Examples of current usage: 200mA for mobile phones, μA-pA for low-power microchips, 100mA-1A for cardiac/respiratory arrest, 1A for 100W light bulbs, etc.
Voltage
- Voltage is the electromotive force (emf) that pushes free electrons to flow through a conductor
- 1 Volt (V) is equivalent to 1 Joule per Coulomb (1J/1C) or Power per Current (P/I)
- Voltage is measured in Volts (V)
- Examples of voltage usage: 1.5V battery can perform 1.5J of work while moving 1C of charge
Laws for DC Circuits
- Kirchhoff's Voltage Law: the sum of net voltage in a closed loop is zero (ΣV=0)
- Example: for three closed loops, the sum of voltages in each loop is zero
Test your understanding of electrical and mechanical systems by identifying the analogies between them. This quiz covers concepts such as circuit pipelines, electrons, current, voltage, and more. Compare electrical circuits to mechanical systems and see how much you know!
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