ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS

How you should be thinking about electric circuits:

An electric circuit is a path in which electrons from a voltage or current source flow. The point where those electrons enter an electrical circuit is called the "source" of electrons. The point where the electrons leave an electrical circuit is called the "return" or "earth ground".

Voltage: a force that pushes the current through the circuit (in this picture it would be equivalent to gravity)

How you should be thinking about electric circuits:

Resistance: friction that impedes flow of current through the circuit (rocks in the river)

How you should be thinking about electric circuits:

Current: the actual “substance” that is flowing through the wires of the circuit (electrons!)

cell

The cell stores chemical energy and transfers it to electrical energy when a circuit is connected.

When two or more cells are connected together we call this a Battery.

The cells chemical energy is used up pushing a current round a circuit.

electric current

An electric current is a flow of microscopic particles called electrons flowing through wires and components.

In which direction does the current flow?from the Negative terminal to the Positive terminal of a cell.

simple circuit

A simple electrical circuit. This circuit has a power source, a complete path for electrons to flow, and a resistor as the load. An electric circuit is a path in which electrons from a voltage or current source flow. The point where those electrons enter an electrical circuit is called the "source" of electrons.

When the switch is closed, the lamp lights up. This is because there is a continuous path of metal for the electric current to flow around. If there were any breaks in the circuit, the current could not flow.

circuit diagram

A circuit diagram (electrical diagram, elementary diagram, electronic schematic) is a graphical representation of an electrical circuit.

types of circuits

There are two types of electrical circuits; series and parallel circuits.

series circuits

A series circuit is defined as having only one path for electrons to flow. From this definition, three rules of series circuits follow: all components share the same current; resistances add to equal a larger, total resistance; and voltage drops add to equal a larger, total voltage.

parallel circuits

A Parallel circuit has certain characteristics and basic rules: A parallel circuit has two or more paths for current to flow through. Voltage is the same across each component of the parallel circuit. The sum of the currents through each path is equal to the total current that flows from the source.

Ohm's Law

Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points.

I = V / R

  • I = Current (Amperes) (amps)
  • V = Voltage (Volts)
  • R = Resistance (ohms)

insulators

an insulator is a substance that does not readily conduct electricity, heat, or sound

insulators

plastics

  • styrofoam
  • paper
  • rubber
  • glass
  • air
  • plastic
  • wood

conductors

in physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is an object or type of material that allows the flow of an electrical current in one or more directions

conductors

  • metals (shiny and metallic)
  • copper
  • aluminum
  • gold
  • silver

fuse

an electrical safety device that operates to provide overcurrent protection of an electrical circuit including the source of power and the load

its essential component is a metal wire or strip that melts when too much current flows through it, thereby interrupting the flow of current

circuit breaker

is an automatically operated electrical switch designed to protect an electrical circuit from damage caused by excess current, typically resulting from an overload or short circuit

its basic function is to interrupt current flow after a fault is detected, unlike a fuse, which operates once and then must be replaced, a circuit breaker can be reset (either manually or automatically) to resume normal operation

Created By
Athanasios Bayiates
Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by Ella Patenall - "Electricity" • cluczkow - "waterfall" • eggrole - "upstream" • eggrole - "upstream" • Sh4rp_i - "Battery" • oskay - "Diagram" • oskay - "Diagram" • oskay - "Diagram" • oskay - "Diagram" • oskay - "Diagram" • oskay - "Diagram" • Supernico26 - "Résistance" • Wokandapix - "insulators glass antique" • Alexas_Fotos - "screw slotted screws silver" • jrladia - "Winnipeg, MB | University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture | Year-End Exhibition" • Unsplash - "copper metallic geology" • mrpolyonymous - "Wood Grain" • 422737 - "pendulum cone chain" • byrev - "blue cable copper" • mezuni - "transform2" • Dyroc - "wire" • PublicDomainPictures - "copper wire cable" • ell brown - "Worcester and Birmingham Canal - Pershore Road, Stirchley - Electricity Pylon's" • allaboutgeorge - "Fuses" • Razor512 - "Fuse" • roolrool - "Fuse" • Damian Gadal - "Fused" • JohnE777 - "Master Breaker Box"

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