This subject aims to cover the basic elements of direct current circuits. The student is familiarised with a range of components, measurement techniques and important issues surrounding electrical safety when constructing and testing DC circuits. Ohm's Law, Kirchhoff's Laws, The Principle of Superposition, Thevenin's Theorem and Mesh Current Analysis are all introduced and used to analyse circuits. The behaviour of capacitors and inductors in DC circuits is explored.
Electrical Safety
Dangers of shock and fire. Safety features of electricity supply systems and of electronic equipment. Safe operating procedures for electrical measurements.
Quantities and Units
Units of measurement, scientific notation, engineering notation, metric prefixes and metric unit conversions.
Introduction to electrical science
Electric charge, current, voltage, energy, power. Resistance, Ohm's law, lumped parameter circuits. Voltage and current sources, internal resistance. Kirchhoff's laws. Series and parallel resistors, potential dividers, bridge circuits.
Circuit analysis
Superposition. Thevenin's theorems. Introduction to mesh analysis. Maximum power transfer.
Capacitance
Charges and electric fields. Construction and behaviour of capacitors. Series and parallel capacitors. Stored energy. RC circuits, time constant.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 40 |
| Formal Examination | 60 |