March 25, 2007

Today we began a new unit called Electrical Circuits, which originated in about 1350-1400. A circuit is a closed loop or path along which charged particles move, in which an electrical current can exist. a cirsuit is formed by a source of potential differnce, including one or more resistances.

Circuit elements include:
Source elements: device or system that can produce a potential difference
Load elements: device or system to which the source is connected
Control elements: used to control the flow of electrical current
Path elements: used to interconnect other elements

Circuit symbols can be found on page 4 of the reference tables

Terms and Definitions:
Current (I)- flow of electric charge, the time-rate at which charge flows past a given point in a circuit.
Unit: ampere (A)
1 ampere= 1 coulomb/second 1A=1c/s
equation: I= the change in q/time