1.

List at least 20 electrical/electronic components and their

corresponding symbols.
Electronic/ Electrical Symbol
Components
1. Wire

2. Wires joined

3. Wires not joined

4. Cell

5. Battery

6. DC Supply

7. AC Supply

8. Fuse

9. Transformer

10. Earth/Groun
d
11. Resistor

12. Rheostat

13. Potentiometer

14. Preset

15. Capacitor

16. Capacitor –
Polarized
17. Variable
Capacitor
18. Diode

19. Light
Emitting Diode
(LED)
20. Zener Diode
2. Who developed the first battery?

American scientist and inventor Benjamin Franklin first used

the term “battery” in 1749 when he was doing experiments
with electricity using a set of linked capacitors. The first true
battery was invented by the Italian physicist Alessandro
Volta in 1800. Volta stacked discs of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn)
separated by cloth soaked in salty water.

3. What contribution did Georg Simon Ohm make to the

study of electricity?

Georg Simon Ohm was a German physicist, best known for his
“Ohm’s Law” which describe the mathematical relationship
between electrical current, resistance and voltage. This law
states that the current flow through a conductor is directly
proportional to the potential difference (voltage) and inversely
proportional to the resistance. The physical unit of electrical
resistance, the Ohm (symbol: Ω), was named after him.

4. In what year was the transistor invented?

The transistor was successfully demonstrated on December

23, 1947 at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey. Bell
Labs is the research arm of American Telephone and
Telegraph (AT&T). The three individuals credited with the
invention of the transistor were William Shockley, John
Bardeen and Walter Brattain.

5. What major development followed the invention of the

transistor?

The invention of the transistor was an unprecedented

development in the electronics industry. It marked the
beginning of the current age in the electronics sector. After the
transistor’s invention, advances in technology became more
frequent, the most notable of which was computer technology.
Considering the inventions that the transistor paved the way
for, one could argue that it was the most important invention
of the twentieth century.

6. What instrument is used for measuring electrical current?

An instrument called ammeter measures electric current in a

circuit. It is always connected in series in a circuit through
which the current is to be measured. Also ammeter has
negligible resistance, thus no voltage gets dropped across it.
7. List as many electrical quantities as possible, including their
symbol, units and unit symbol.
Example
Quantity Symbol Unit Symbol
Charge Q Coulomb C
Voltage E Volts V
Current I Ampere A
Resistance R Ohm Ω
Conductance G Siemens S
Capacitance C Farad F
Inductance L henry H
Power P Watts W
Frequency ƒ Hertz Hz
Impedance Z Ohm Ω
Energy E Joule J
Resistivity ρ Ohm-meter Ω∙m

8. What is the difference between fuse and circuit breaker?

Fuses and Circuit Breakers both serve the same purpose –

which is to protect electrical circuits by preventing overloads
that can cause fires. They both interrupt the flow of electricity,
but in very different ways from each other. While a fuse is
made of a piece of metal that melts when overheated, circuit
breakers on the other hand, have internal switch mechanisms
that can be tripped by an unsafe surge of electricity.
Fuses can be quicker for interrupting the flow of power,
but when they melt they must be replaced; circuit
breakers on the other hand just need to be reset.

9. What are the basic elements of an electric circuit?

The basic elements of an electric circuit are source AC or DC,

a conductor (wire), an electrical(resistive, inductive, capacitive)
load , and at least one controller (switch).

10. Define open circuit.

An open circuit is a circuit where the path has been

interrupted or “opened” at some point so that current will not
flow. It is also called as incomplete circuit. An open circuit
could be intentional or un-intentional. An intentionally open
circuit would be the circuit to the lights in the room that are
turned off. There is no closed path available for the electricity
to flow to the lights because the switch is in the “off” position
 which “opens” the path the electricity would normally flow
through. An example of a circuit that is un-intentionally open
is when a circuit breaker operates due to too much current on
the circuit and shuts the circuit off. The common electrical
industry terminology would be to say that the circuit breaker
or fuse “opened” or tripped the circuit. It did this by “opening”
the switch in the circuit breaker.

11. Define closed circuit.

Closed circuit means a complete electrical connection around

which current flows or circulates. An example of this is when
you have a series of electrical wires connecting to each other
and completing a circuit so that current travels from one end
of the circle to the other.

12. How to measure voltage with a voltmeter?

1. Select the voltage type on the voltmeter knob. DC is

usually represented by DCV, while AC is usually
represented by ACV on a voltmeter. Sometimes, DC is
represented by a straight line while AC is represented by
a wavy line. Make sure you choose the right setting,
because voltmeters are particularly prone to damage if
you measure DC with the AC setting and vice versa. DC
is usually the type of voltage associated with small
electronics and batteries, while AC is usually associated
with grids and outlets.
2. Set the voltage range to one setting higher than the
voltage you plan to measure. Similar to multimeters,
voltmeters have a central knob that lets you choose the
upper limit of the voltage you plan to measure. Find out
the normal voltage for the thing you want to measure,
and set the meter one level above that. Voltmeters often
have more options than a multimeter, and they can
generally measure much more powerful circuits than a
general-purpose multimeter.
3. Place the red probe in the positive connection and
the black probe in the negative one. There should be
two ports to plug the probes into — find the negative one
and plug in the black probe, then find the positive one
and plug in the red probe to the device. Double check to
make sure your probes are in the correct place, or you
could risk damaging your voltmeter.
4. Touch the probes together to check if it reads 0. Turn
on the device and touch the end of the black and red
probe together, making sure to hold them by the
protective plastic coating. The voltmeter should read 0,
 because there is no electricity to measure. If it doesn’t,
your voltmeter may have malfunctioned and needs to be
replaced.
5. Connect the probes to their corresponding terminal
and read the display. Once again, connect the red probe
to the positive terminal and the black probe to the
negative terminal on the electronic that you want to
measure. Take the reading, and unplug the probes from
the connection. Batteries are the easiest to measure for
first-time users, but voltmeters can easily measure
outlets and higher-power electronics too. To measure an
outlet with a voltmeter, plug in each probe to the
rectangular holes of the outlet. It doesn’t matter where
you plug in each probe, it should still get an accurate
reading, provided that you set the range to one level
higher than the outlet’s voltage.

13. How to measure current with an ammeter?

First, set the ammeter range. Keeping the range to highest will
prevent the ammeter to blow up its internal fuse. Then set the
current type i.e. DC or AC. Now connect the terminals of
ammeter in series of the resistance or load. By this
arrangement, ammeter experiences the same amount of
current that flows in the circuit. For example, let us assume
the simple circuit; a bulb is connected to the battery. Positive
terminal of the battery is connected to positive terminal of
lamp and negative terminal of the battery is connected to
negative terminal of the lamp.
Now disconnect any one terminal of the bulb and connect the
ammeter in such a way that one probe of ammeter is
connected to the battery and another probe is connected to the
bulb.

You can now observe readings in ammeter and that is the

amount of current flowing in the circuit.
14. How to check a resistor with an ohmmeter?

For measuring the amount of resistance in the circuit, the first

and foremost thing that needs to be checked is that the
ohmmeter should have its own built in voltage supply. This
can be in the form of a small battery, typically 1.5 volts used
for normal everyday purposes, but different ratings are also
available.

The need for a built in voltage supply arises from the fact that
for measuring the resistance, the ohmmeter passes the
 current through that place and then measures the drop in
voltage that is the resistance through the output value of the
current.

For measuring the unknown resistance, the voltage supply of

the circuit is first turned off and then the two probes of the
ohmmeter are connected to the two points between which the
value of resistance needs to be measured.

The red probe is connected to the positive side of the circuit

and the black probe is connected to the ground side of the
circuit. When the ohmmeter is turned on, the current from the
battery passes through the circuit and the voltage drop or
resistance i.e. the opposition to the electron flow is measured.

15. Briefly state Ohm’s law in words.

Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor is

proportional to the voltage across the conductor. It is a law
relating the voltage difference between two points, the electric
current flowing between them, and the resistance of the path
of the current. The amount of electric current through a metal
conductor, at a constant temperature, in a circuit is
proportional to the voltage across the conductor and can be
described by I=V/R, where I is the current through the
conductor, V is the voltage across the conductor and R is the
resistance of the conductor. In other words, at constant
temperature, the resistance of the conductor is constant,
independent of the voltage applied across it or current passed
through it.

16. Give a graphic aid for Ohm’s law formula.

Ohm’s Law tells us that if a conductor is at a constant

temperature, the current flowing through the conductor is
directly proportional to the voltage across it. This means that if
we plot voltage on the x-axis of a graph and current on the y-
axis of the graph, we will get a straight-line.
 The gradient of the straight-line graph is related to the
resistance of the conductor as
I/V=1/R.
This can be rearranged in terms of the constant resistance as:
R=V/I.

17. Write the formula for power in terms of energy and

time.

To calculate power, use the following formula:

 Power is measured in watts (W). One watt is one joule of
energy transferred in one second.

18. Draw the formula wheel that gives the Ohm’s law and
Watt’s law relationships.

Sources:
https://www.circuitstoday.com/electronic-circuit-symbols
https://www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2015-04-history-
batteries.amp
https://www.famousscientists.org/georg-ohm/
https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/transist.htm
https://www.toppr.com/ask/question/the-instrument-usedfor-
measuring-electric-current-is/#acceptedAnswer
https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/dccircuits/dcp_3.html
http://www.completepowerelectronics.com/electrical-
basics/electrical-units/
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fuses-and-circuit-breakers/
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