Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

1.0 MATHEMATICAL FUNDAMENTALS

 1.1 Achieve skill in applying the prefixes and suffixes used in electrical engineering.

 1.2 Learn to use the correct number of significant figures in measurements and calculations.

 1.3 Perform arithmetic operations when numbers are expressed in scientific notation.

2.0 MATTER, ELECTRICITY, AND RESISTANCE

 2.1 Be able to describe the characteristics of electrical conductors and insulators.

 2.2 Be able to describe the concepts of electrical charge, current, and potential (voltage).

 2.3 Given the resistivity of a material and its geometry, determine the resistance.

 2.4 Be able to evaluate the change of resistance for a given a change of temperature.

 2.5 Given a resistor and its color code, determine its labeled resistance.

 2.6 State and discuss the rules for electrical safety.

3.0 THE BASIC CIRCUIT

 3.1 Learn to draw electrical circuit schematic diagrams using standard symbols.

 3.2 Be able to determine the voltage, current or resistance for a component using Ohm's Law.

 3.3 Be able to determine the power supplied or consumed by a device using the power law.

 3.4 Be able to determine the energy used or supplied by a device given the time and power.

 3.5 Be able to analyze the affect of an open or short on the operation of a circuit.

4.0 SIGNALS and SOURCES

 4.1 Be able to describe the characteristics of ideal voltage and current sources.

 4.2 Be able to describe the characteristics of practical voltage sources (batteries and supplies).

 4.3 Be able to describe the characteristics of practical current sources.

5.0 SERIES CIRCUIT

 5.1 Be able to be able to identify circuits or circuit sections that are of the series type.

 5.2 Be able to apply Kirchhoff's voltage law to a closed loop of a circuit.

 5.3 Be able to determine the equivalent resistance for a group of resistors connected in series.

 5.4 Be able to determine the current in a series circuit.

 5.5 Be able to determine the voltage across any resistor in a series circuit.

 5.6 Be able to apply the voltage divider rule to a series circuit.

 5.7 Be able to determine the relationship of voltage, current, resistance and power.

6.0 PARALLEL CIRCUIT

 6.1 Be able to identify circuits or circuit sections that are of the parallel type.

 6.2 Be able to apply Kirchhoff's current law to a parallel circuit.

 6.3 Be able to determine the equivalent resistance for a group of resistors connected in parallel.

 6.4 Be able to determine the currents in parallel circuits.

 6.5 Be able to determine the current through parallel-connected resistors.

 6.6 Be able to apply the current divider rule to a parallel circuit.
 6.7 Be able to determine the relationship of voltage, current, resistance and power.

7.0 SERIES - PARALLEL CIRCUIT

 7.1 Be able to be able to identify circuits or circuit sections that are of the series- parallel type.

 7.2 Be able to apply Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws to a series-parallel circuit.

 7.3 Be able to determine the equivalent resistance of resistors connected in series-parallel.

 7.4 Be able to determine the current in a series-parallel circuit.

 7.5 Be able to determine the current through or voltage across any resistor.

 7.6 Be able to determine the relationship of voltage, current, resistance and power.

8.0 NETWORK ANALYSIS

 8.1 Be able to determine the currents and voltages in a circuit using the mesh current method.

 8.2 Be able to determine the currents and voltages in a circuit using the node voltage method.

9.0 NETWORK THEOREMS

 9.1 Be able to determine the Thevenin voltage and the Thevenin resistance of a circuit.

 9.2 Be able to determine the Norton current and the Norton resistance of a circuit.

 9.3 Be able to solve a multiple source circuit using the superposition method.

 9.4 Be able to use Thevenin’s circuit to determine load resistance for maximum power transfer.

 9.5 Make delta to wye and wye to delta conversions for resistive circuits.

10.0 CAPACITORS

 10.1 Understand the concepts of capacitance, charge storage, and the RC time constant.

 10.2 Be able to calculate the energy stored in a capacitor given its voltage and capacitance.

 10.3 Be able to determine the time constant of an RC circuit.

 10.4 Be able to calculate the capacitance of capacitors connected in series and parallel.

 10.5 Be able to determine the current and voltage as a function of time in RC circuits.

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Use basic electrical DC concepts and theorems to analyze circuits.
2. Build and simulate electrical DC circuits and perform measurements with electronic test equipment.
3. Write technical reports using collected data. 

Lecture and discussion are the instructional methods used. Weekly homework is assigned. Laboratory activity includes building circuits on solder-less breadboards, making circuit measurements using test equipment, analyzing test data, and comparing to predictions using theory.

Lab exercises involve using a PC with spreadsheet, word processor, and circuit simulation software. The student is expected to learn the following in the lab:

Use the DMM (digital multi-meter) to measure resistance, voltage, and current.

Build circuits on a solder-less breadboard.

Use the DC power supply

Use the spreadsheet and word processor to process lab data and to write lab reports.

Use circuit simulation software to simulate circuits built in the lab.

Evaluation is by exams, homework, and lab work.

1. Introduction

            a) Units, significant figures, powers of 10, scientific and engineering notation.

            b) Unit conversion.

            c) Using the scientific calculator.

2. Voltage and Current

            a) Voltage and current sources, ideal and practical.

            b) Batteries and power supplies.

            c) Conductors and insulators.

            d) Ammeters and voltmeters.

3. Resistance

            a) Resistance and resistivity, wire tables.

            b) Temperature effects.

            c) Conductance.

            d) Ohmmeters.

4. Ohm’s Law, Power, Energy

            a) Ohms law, graphical analysis of resistance.

            b) Power, energy, and efficiency.

            c) Circuit breakers, ground fault interrupters, and fuses.

5. Series DC Circuits

            a) Series circuits, resistances, voltage and current sources in series.

            b) Kirchhoff’s voltage law, voltage dividers.

            c) Voltage regulation, internal resistance of voltage sources, loading effects.

6. Parallel Circuits

            a) Parallel circuits, resistances and sources in parallel.

            b) Kirchhoff’s current law, current dividers.

            c) Open and short circuits, Loading effects.

7. Series-Parallel Circuits

            a) Series-parallel networks, ladder networks, bridge circuits.

            b) Potentiometer circuits, loading effects.

8. Analysis Methods

            a) Current sources and source conversion.

            b) Voltage sources and source conversion.

            c) Mesh current analysis, Node voltage analysis.

            d) Bridge networks, delta-wye and wye delta conversion.

9. Network Theorems

            a) Superposition, Thevenin’s, and Norton’s theorems.

            b) Maximum power transfer theorem.

10. Capacitors

            a) Electric field and capacitance.

            b) Capacitors.

            c) Charging and discharging capacitors through a resistance.

            d) RC time constant and the exponential function.

            e) Capacitors in series and parallel.

            e) Energy storage.