1.01 Voltage and Current

Art of Electronics 2nd edition, pages 2-4

Overview

Voltage & Current describe two aspects of electronic circuits that are fundamental to understand and on which everything else will build on.

What you MUST learn

Voltage refers to a force that when applied across a circuit causes current to flow.  Voltage is measured in volts (using the symbol V) also called a “potential difference”.  It is measured across two points in a circuit.  A joule of work is needed to move a coulomb of charge through a potential difference of one volt. A coulomb is the charge of about 6×10^18 electrons.

Current (symbol: I) is the measure of electronics through a point in a circuit.  It is measured in amperes (amps) (symbol: A).  1 ampere (amp) is 1 coulomb of charge passing through a point per second.

 

Conservation of Charge:  Kirchhoff’s current law

The sum of currents into a point or node is equal to the sum of the currents out of a point or node.  This is referred to as Kirchhoff’s current law.

 

Kirchhoff’s voltage law

The sum of voltage drops through one branch of a circuit will equal the sum of voltage drops across the other branches of the circuit.

 

P=VI

Power (work per unit time), measured in watts.  (1 W = 1 J/s)

P=VI = (work/charge) x (charge/time) = work/time

P=VI= (1 joules/1 coulomb) x (1 coulomb/1 second) = 1 joules/second = watt.

 

Things good to learn

Voltage is usually written with the symbol V but sometimes E is used.   Voltage is also called a “potential difference” or electromotive force (EMF).

 

Prefixes:

Multiple Prefix Symbol
10^12 tera T
10^9 giga G
10^6 mega M
10^3 kilo k
10^(-3) milli m
10^(-6) micro µ
10^(-9) nano n
10^(-12) pico p
10^(-15) femto f

 

When abbreviating a unit with a prefix, the unit follows the multiplier with no space and the unit is capitalized.  However, no capitalization for both prefix and unit when spelled out.  1mW = 1 milliwatt

1 MV = 1 megavolt

 

Related information and insights from my other books

Introductory Circuit Analysis 9th edition – chapter 2

Structure of the atom:

nucleus is made up of protons (that have a positive charge) and neutrons that have a negative charge.  The proton and neutron are relatively the same mass.  But the electron is considerably smaller (1836 times smaller) than the proton but has a negative charge that is equal to the positive charge of the proton.

 

 

Other things of interest

 

 

If you need more help

Voltage

 

Current

 

Joule

 

 

 

If you wanted to know

Who defined:

Voltage

Volt

Current

amp

joule

watt

multiplier prefixes

 

People who contributed:

Watt

Power Point:
GadgetNateJourneyThroughArtOfElectronics-01.01-VoltageAndCurrent

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