ELC - Introduction to Electric Circuits

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Electric Circuits

Introduction

We live in a world dominated by electrical devices. This lesson was created on a computer. The information is stored digitally on other computers, in another city. When you access the lesson, the information is being sent partly via electrical signals through wires to your location so you can access it on another computer, possibly even a handheld wireless device. All of this is possible because we have a basic understanding of electricity and how to build complex electrical circuits to make it do what we want. This unit teaches you the foundations of that understanding and introduces you to the simplest components of the electrical circuits that our society relies upon to function.

Essential Questions

  1. How does the physical structure of a conductor impact its ability to conduct electricity?
  2. How do emf sources, resistors, and capacitors affect the current in a circuit?
  3. How does Kirchhoff's Loop Rule describe conservation of energy in circuits?
  4. How does Kirchhoff's Junction Rule describe conservation of electric charge in circuits?

Key Terms

  1. Current - The rate at which electric charges pass through a conductor
  2. Ampere - The unit that represents current. 
  3. Resistance - The opposition to electric current by a material or device. 
  4. Resistivity - An intrinsic property of materials that relates the resistance of the material to its length and cross-sectional area.
  5. Ohm - The unit that represents resistance. 
  6. Volt - The unit that represents potential difference. 
  7. EMF - Electromotive force, the potential difference between the terminals of a voltage source when no current is flowing to an external circuit.
  8. Electric circuit - A set of components connected so that they provide a path for the movement of charge.
  9. Schematic diagram - A representation of a circuit that uses lines to represent wires and different symbols to represent the components of the circuit.
  10. Series circuit - A circuit that provide a single path for the flow of current.
  11. Parallel circuit - A circuit that provides multiple paths for the flow of current.
  12. Kirchhoff's Loop Rule - States that the sum of the changes in potential around any closed path of a circuit must be zero.
  13. Kirchhoff's Junction Rule - States that the sum of all currents entering a junction point must equal the sum of all currents leaving the junction.
  14. RC circuit - A circuit that contains both resistors and capacitors.

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