BASIC APPLIED ELECTRICITY

AR BU 2 BUILDING UTILITIES 2
ELECTRICITY
INTRODUCTION
- Fuel we use in our everyday lives
Lighting
Heating
Appliances
Gadgets
It is a natural phenomenon that occurs throughout nature and takes many
different forms. Discovered around 3000 years by the Greeks, they named
it ”elektron” meaning amber
When amber was rubbed against wool, lightweight objects
(such as straw of feathers) would stick to it
Lightning is a natural form of electricity
• defined as the flow of electric charge
•
NOTABLE PEOPLE
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
- 1740’S
-performed a lot of different
experiments to understand electricity and
believed that lighting was like water
- 1752, Benjamin Franklin took a
kite out during a storm to see if a key attached to the string would
draw an electrical charge. Or so the story goes. “They show
Franklin standing out in the middle of a field,” he says, “whereas
most likely he and William were inside some kind of shed or lean-to
or something to keep them from getting rained on, in case the rain
did start.” (Franklin likely started the experiment after sensing
lightning in the air, but before any rain began to fall, says Wallace.)
Franklin’s goal probably wasn’t for the kite and key to get struck by lightning; and indeed, Priestley
never claimed that they were struck by lightning. If they had been, Franklin would’ve almost certainly
died or at least been seriously injured (in 1753, the German scientist Georg Wilhelm Reichmann died
while trying to conduct Franklin’s lightning rod experiment).
What probably happened is that the key picked up some ambient electrical charge from the storm.
Priestley wrote that Franklin touched the key and felt the charge, confirming he had caught some
electricity from the lightning. (Little, 2023)
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This led to the invention of the lighting rod
- Many of the words he developed to describe electricity: charge, discharge,
conductor, electrician, electric shock
- Franklin showed that electricity consisted of a "common element" which he named
"electric fire." Further, electricity was "fluid" like a liquid. It passed from one body to
another — however it was never destroyed.

MICHAEL FARADAY
- English scientist
- he was driven by his belief in the uniformity of nature and the
interconvertibility of various forces, which he conceived early on as fields of force
- In 1821 he succeeded in producing mechanical motion by means
of a permanent magnet and an electric current—an ancestor of the electric
motor. Ten years later he converted magnetic force into electrical force, thus
inventing the world’s first electrical generator.
- This is the principle of how electricity is made

two laws of electrolysis:

-the amount of chemical change or decomposition is exactly proportional to the
quantity of electricity that passes in solution, and
- the amounts of different substances deposited or dissolved by the same quantity
of electricity are proportional to their chemical equivalent weights
-In 1833 he and the classicist William Whewell worked out a new nomenclature for
electrochemical phenomena based on Greek words, which is more or less still in use
today—ion, electrode, and so on

THOMAS EDISON
- 1879
- built his first high resistance, incandescent electric light
- passing electricity through a filament in a glass vacuum
bulb, which delayed the filament from melting
- Electric light bulbs had been around since the early 19th century, but they
were delicate and short-lived due to their filaments—the part that produces
light. One early form of electric light, the carbon arc light, relied on the vapor
of battery-heated carbon rods to produce light. But they had to be lit by hand,
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and the bulbs flickered, hissed, and burned out easily. In turn, a Black inventor named Lewis Latimer
refined Edison’s improvement, making lightbulb filaments more durable and working to efficiently
manufacture them. Meanwhile, Edison established an electric utility and worked toward innovations
that would make electric light even more accessible. Edison’s systems relied on direct current (DC)—
which could only deliver electricity to a large number of buildings in a dense area. However, Edison’s
competitors—including Nikola Tesla, a Serbian American inventor, and entrepreneur George
Westinghouse—used alternating current (AC) systems, which were cheaper and could deliver
electricity to customers over longer distances. (BLAKEMORE, APRIL 14, 2022)

What is electricity and how is it made?

An atom is built with a combination of three distinct particles: electrons,
protons, and neutrons.

- Electrons are critical to the workings of electricity

- most stable, balanced state, an atom will have the same number of
electrons as protons.
- Each atom has a center nucleus, where the protons and neutrons are
densely packed together. Surrounding the nucleus are a group of orbiting
electrons

electrons aren't all forever bound to the atom, valence electrons are located on
outer orbit. With enough outside force, a valence electron can escape orbit of the
atom and become free.
Free electrons allow us to move charge, which is what electricity is all about.

FLOWING CHARGES
• Charge is a property of matter, two types: positive (+) or negative
(-).
Electrons always carry a negative charge, while protons are always
positively charged. Neutrons (true to their name) are neutral, they have
no charge. Both electrons and protons carry the same amount of charge,
just a different type.

Electrostatic force (also called Coulomb's law) is a force that

operates between charges
It states that charges of the same type repel each other, while
charges of opposite types are attracted together. Opposites attract, and
likes repel.
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The amount of force acting on two charges depends on how far they are from each other. The
closer two charges get, the greater the force (either pushing together, or pulling away) becomes.
Thanks to electrostatic force, electrons will push away other electrons and be attracted to
protons. This force is part of the "glue" that holds atoms together, but it's also the tool we need to make
electrons (and charges) flow!
• Electrons in atoms can act as our charge carrier
• the free electron eventually finds a new atom to latch on to; in doing so, the negative charge of
that electron ejects another valence electron from the atom

How does electricity work?

Electricity travels in closed circuits. It has to have a complete path before electrons can move
through it. When you turn on a light by flipping a switch, you close a circuit.

Direct Current (DC)

Direct current (DC) is the flow of electrically charged particles in one unchanging direction. DC is more
practical than AC in many applications and is found in smartphones, TVs, cars (including EVs), battery-
powered devices, photovoltaic solar cells, and much more. DC is the kind of electricity made by a
battery (with definite positive and negative terminals), or the kind of charge generated by rubbing
certain types of materials against each other.

Alternating Current (AC)

Alternating current (AC) is the periodic flow of electric charge in two alternating directions, most
commonly in the form of a sinusoidal wave. AC often has advantages over DC in power generation,
transmission, and transformer voltage step-up and step-down, but the analysis is often more complex.
Either as a voltage switching polarity or as a current switching direction back and forth, this “kind” of
electricity is known as Alternating Current (AC)

Alternating Current vs Direct Current

AC it is possible to build electric
generators, motors and power
distribution systems that are far more
efficient than DC, and so we find AC
being used predominantly across the
world in high power applications.
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OHM’S LAW
-Na formula used to calculate the relationship between voltage, current and
resistance in an electrical circuit.
(E = IR)
- it means voltage = current x resistance, or volts = amps x ohms, or V = A x
Ω.
- Named for German physicist Georg Ohm (1789-1854), Ohm's Law
addresses the key quantities at work in circuits
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POWER FORMULA
-,Power is a measure of how much work can be performed in a given amount of time.
- Work is generally defined in terms of the lifting of a weight against the pull of gravity.
- engine power is rated in a unit called “horsepower- One horsepower is defined in British units
as 550 ft-lbs of work per second of time.
- Torque is the amount of twisting force produced by the engine, and it is usually measured in
pound-feet, or lb-ft
- In electric circuits, power is a function of both voltage and current.

- Power (P) is exactly equal to current (I) multiplied by voltage (E)

unit of measurement for power is the watt, abbreviated with the letter “W.”

• Power is the combination of both voltage and current in a circuit.

• Voltage (specific work) is analogous to the work done in lifting a weight against the pull of
gravity.
• Current (rate) is analogous to the speed at which that weight is lifted.

POWER IN AN OPEN/SHORT CIRCUIT

open circuit,
- where voltage is present between the terminals of the source and there is zero current,
there is zero power dissipated, no matter how great that voltage may be

short circuit
- constructed of a loop of superconducting wire (absolutely zero resistance), we could
have a condition of current in the loop with zero voltage, and likewise, no power would be
dissipated.

• Watts = Amps x Volts

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ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS
CIRCUIT
- concept of a circuit: a never-ending looped pathway for charge carriers
- Each charge carrier advancing clockwise in this circuit pushes on the one in front of it, which
pushes on the one in front of it
- If we take a wire, or many wires, joined end-to-end, and loop it around so that it forms a
continuous pathway, we have the means to support a uniform flow of charge without having to resort to
infinite Sources and Destinations:

BROKEN CIRCUIT
- Continuity is important principle to realize here is that it doesn’t matter where the break occurs.
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SERIES CIRCUIT
A series circuit’s defining characteristic is that all components in a series circuit have the
same current flowing through them. There is only one path for the current to flow.
Each resistor in a series circuit shares one electrical node with its nearest neighbor
- defining characteristic is that all have the same current flowing through them
resistors are made for the express purpose of creating a precise quantity of resistance
for insertion into a circuit. They are typically constructed of metal wire or carbon and engineered
to maintain a stable resistance value over a wide range of environmental conditions

PARALLEL CIRCUIT
- all components are connected across each other with
exactly two electrically common nodes with the same voltage
across each component.
- all components are connected across each other’s leads

In a purely parallel circuit, there are never more than two sets of
electrically common points, no matter how many components are
connected. There are many paths for current flow, but only one
voltage across all components.

EXAMPLE
- three resistors, but this time there are three loops for
the current to flow from the positive battery terminal back to
the negative terminal:
• 1–2–7–8–1
• 1–2–3–6–7–8–1
• 1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–1
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- defining characteristic is that all components are connected between the same set of electrically
common points

RESISTANCE
- is the measure of opposition to electric current.
- It can be said that conductors have low resistance and insulators have very high resistance.
- serves to limit the amount of current through the circuit with a given amount of voltage
supplied by the battery.- “friction” is generated

One practical and popular use of electric current is for the operation of electric lighting. The simplest
form of electric lamp is a tiny metal “filament” inside of a clear glass bulb, which glows white-hot
(“incandesces”) with heat energy when sufficient electric current passes through

Current works its way through the thin metal filament of the lamp, it encounters more opposition to
motion than it typically would in a thick piece of wire. This opposition to electric current depends on the
type of material

- use of a device designed to intentionally break that continuity (called a switch), mounted at any
convenient location that we can run wires to, to control the flow of current in the circuit
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This is how a switch

mounted on the wall of a
house can control a
lamp that is mounted
down a long hallway, or
even in another room,
far away from the switch.

BASIS OF SWITCHING LIGHTS

- A switch itself is constructed of a pair of conductive contacts (usually
made of some kind of metal) forced together by a mechanical lever actuator or
pushbutton
- the contacts touch each other, current is able to flow from one to the
other and the circuit’s continuity is established. When the contacts are separated,
current flow from one to the other is prevented by the insulation of the air between, and the circuit’s
continuity is broken.

- best kind of switch to show for illustration of the basic principle is the “knife” switch
- nothing more than a conductive lever, free to pivot on a hinge, coming into physical contact
with one or more stationary contact points which are also conductive.

switch shown in the above illustration is constructed on a porcelain base (an excellent insulating
material), using copper (an excellent conductor) for the “blade” and contact points. The handle is
plastic to insulate the operator’s hand from the conductive blade of the switch when opening or closing
it
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OPEN AND CLOSED SWITCHES

• closed switch - provides continuity for current to flow through (when the lights are on)
• open switch- won’t allow current to pass through ( when the lights are off)

TERMS
▪ short circuit is an electric circuit offering little or no resistance to the flow of current.
▪ open circuit is one where the continuity has been broken by an interruption in the path for
current to flow.
▪ closed circuit is one that is complete, with good continuity throughout
▪ switch- device designed to open or close a circuit under controlled conditions

CONDUCTORS, INSULATORS, and ELECTRON FLOW

CONDUCTORS vs INSULATORS
Conductivity
- is the measure of the ease at which an electric charge or heat can pass through a material.
- relative mobility of electrons within a material
- high electron mobility (many free electrons) are called conductors, materials with low electron
mobility (few or no free electrons) are called insulators
Conductors - materials allowing for easy passage of free electrons
silver
copper Steel Graphite
gold brass dirty water
aluminum bronze concrete
Iron mercury
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In other types of materials such as glass, the atoms’ electrons have very little freedom to move
around. While external forces such as physical rubbing can force some of these electrons to leave their
respective atoms and transfer to the atoms of another material, they do not move between atoms
within that material very easily.

Insulators - materials impeding the passage of free electrons

glass ceramic air
rubber quartz diamond
oil (dry) cotton pure water
asphalt (dry) paper
Fiberglass (dry) wood
porcelain plastic

- not all conductive materials have the same level of conductivity, and not all insulators are
equally resistant to electron motion.
- silver is the best conductor in the “conductors” list
- Dirty water and concrete are also listed as conductors, but these materials are substantially
less conductive

ELECTRON FLOW / ELECTRIC CURRENT

- normal motion of “free” electrons in a conductor is random, with no particular direction or
speed, electrons can be influenced to move in a coordinated fashion through a conductive material.
Or, dynamic electricity

- static electricity, which is an unmoving accumulation of electric charge

-The result of an imbalance of this “fluid” (electrons) between objects
- “static” because the displaced electrons tend to remain stationary after being
moved from one insulating material to another
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ELECTRON FLOW through wire

- wires are made of highly conductive metals such as copper or aluminum in a wide variety of
sizes.

Now, with the Electron Source pushing new electrons into the wire on the left-hand side, electron flow
through the wire can occur (as indicated by the arrows pointing from left to right). However, the flow will
be interrupted if the conductive path formed by the wire is broken

ELECTRON CONTINUITY

- two dots in the diagram indicate physical (metal-to-metal) contact between the wire
pieces:
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UNITS OF ENERGY
UNITS OF QUANTITY
COULOMB- a coulomb of electricity comprises approximately 6.25 x 10 18 electrons
AMPERE- represents a rate of flow of one coulomb or 6.25 x 10 18 electrons/ second
through a given cross section

UNIT OF ELECTRIC POTENTIAL

VOLT- electromotive force or potential difference between two points in an electric field
which will move a charge of one coulomb between these points

UNIT OF RESISTANCE
OHM- resistance which will allow one ampere of current to flow when one volt is
impressed upon it

UNIT OF ELECTRIC POWER

WATT- the unit of electric power or the rate of doing electrical work

UNIT OF ENERGY
WATT-HOURS- unit of energy or the capacity for doing work
- - measures and records the quantity of electric power consumed with
respect to time.