Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

The laboratory portion of this course provides students with the opportunity to develop skills in the operation of electronics test instruments (signal generators, digital multimeters and oscilloscopes). Students will work in groups of two or more to perform and complete laboratory exercises. Students must be able to communicate, both in oral and written form, using the English language.
The course may be offered also in a distance learning format. In that case, the lecture will be delivered on the web while the lab experiments will be done in the class room (three hours per week).

• Construct, analyze and troubleshoot AC circuits.
•   Operate electronic test equipment: multimeter, power supply, function generator, oscilloscope.
•   Use electronic circuit simulation software like PSpice
•   Communicate technical information in written and oral form
•   Practice safe operating procedures.

The course will include a variety of learning activities. The lecture portion of the course will include instructor delivered lectures and demonstrations stressing key topics in the course. In preparation for the lecture portion of the course, students will be expected to complete all reading and homework assignments.
The laboratory portion of the course is intended to enhance skill in the operation of basic electronic test instruments, skills in circuit analysis and troubleshooting, skill in teamwork, and skills in oral and written communication.

Assessment of student performance in this course will be conducted in both the lecture and the laboratory portion of the course and will be in the form of written and/or practice-based questions.

1.0 Capacitors and Capacitance
1.1 Calculate the R-C time constant for a given R-C circuit.
1.2 Given an R-C circuit (differentiator or integrator) and the input pulse train, determine rise/fall time of the wave and sketch the output waveform.
1.3 State the relationship between capacitance, voltage, and energy stored in a capacitor.
2.0 Currents, Flux, and the Magnetic Field
2.1 State the origin of the magnetic field.
2.2 Apply the right-hand rule to determine the direction of magnetic flux given the direction of current or the direction of current given the direction of the magnetic flux.
3.0 Inductance and Inductors
3.1 State Faraday’s Law.
3.2 Given two of the three parameters (potential difference across an inductor, the inductance of the inductor, or the rate of change of the current), use the inductance equation to compute the value of the third parameter.
3.3 Calculate the equivalent inductance of inductors connected in series and parallel.
3.4 Calculate the L/R time constant for a given R-L circuit.
3.5 Given an R-L circuit and the input pulse waveform, determine rise time of the current wave and sketch the output waveform.
3.6 State the relationship between inductance, current, and energy stored in an inductor.
4.0 AC Waves and Phasors
4.1 Define cyclic and angular frequency and convert between them.
4.2 Define a radian and convert between radians and degrees.
4.3 Sketch sinusoidal waveforms showing their correct phase relationship.
4.4. Given a sketch of a sinusoidal waveform with phase delay, represent the wave as a mathematical equation.
4.5 Given a graph or oscilloscope presentation of sinusoidal wave-forms, state their phase relationship.
4.6 Represent a complex number on the complex plane using both the rectangular and polar form.
4.7 Given a right triangle and one other angle, define the sine, cosine, tangent, and arctangent in terms of the angle and the appropriate sides.
4.8 Convert between polar and rectangular representations of complex numbers.
4.9 Add, subtract, multiply and divide complex numbers in rectangular form.
4.10 Add, subtract, multiply and divide complex numbers in polar form.
4.11 Represent sinusoidal voltages and currents as phasors.
4.12 Draw a phasor diagram to show the phase relations between sinusoids.
4.13 Add and subtract sinusoidal waveforms using phasors.
5.0 Single Frequency Analysis of Single Source RLC Circuits
5.1 State Kirchhoff's Voltage Law in terms of phasors.
5.2 Determine the equivalent impedance for a series connection of two or more circuit elements.
5.3 Determine the equivalent admittance for a parallel connection of two or more circuit elements.
5.4 State the relationship between impedance and admittance.
5.5 Given two of the three electrical parameters (voltage, current, and impedance), use Ohm's Law to compute the value of the third electrical parameter.
5.6 Given an input waveform (voltage or current) calculate the power used by a given RLC circuit.
5.7 Given a simple RLC circuit and an input waveform, determine and sketch the voltage across and the current through one element.
6.0 Frequency Analysis of Circuits
6.1 Make Bode plots for low pass, high pass, and band pass filters.
6.2 Write the transfer function of a simple RLC circuit.
6.3 Given the transfer function of a circuit, determine its DC performance.
6.4 Given the transfer function of a circuit, calculate the output amplitude at a given frequency.
6.5 Given the transfer function of a circuit, make a Bode plot of its response.
6.6 Given the Bode plot of a circuit and a sinusoidal input wave, determine the amplitude and phase of the output wave.
7.0 Non-sinusoidal waveforms.
7.1 Given a sketch of a wave, identify it as periodic or non-periodic.
7.2 Identify each of the following non-sinusoidal wave forms: half-rectified sine wave, fully rectified sine wave, sawtooth wave, triangle wave, exponential wave.
7.3 Given a repetitive, non-sinusoidal wave form, identify its fundamental frequency and harmonic frequencies.