Dec 04, 2024  
2022-2023 College Catalog 
    
2022-2023 College Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

ENG 282IN - Basic Electric Circuits

5 Credits, 7 Contact Hours
4 lecture periods 3 lab periods

Introduction to the fundamentals of alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) circuits. Includes circuit variables, circuit elements, simple resistive circuits, techniques of circuit analysis, the operational amplifier; inductance, capacitance, and mutual inductance; response of first-order resistor-inductor (RL) and resistor-capacitor (RC) circuits, natural and step responses of RLC circuits, and sinusoidal steady-state analysis.

Prerequisite(s): MAT 231  and PHY 216IN .
Corequisite(s): MAT 262  


Course Learning Outcomes
  1. Demonstrate competence to apply Kirchhoff’s voltage law/Kirchhoff’s current law (KVL/KCL) to solve single node/loop circuit problems, such a finding an unknown voltage, current of power.
  2. Demonstrate the ability to apply v-i formulae for inductors and capacitors to find voltage when current is specified, and vice-versa.
  3. Demonstrate the ability to apply phasors to find Thevenin/Norton equivalents and solve mesh and mode problems in ac circuits.
  4. Demonstrate the ability to analyze all circuit responses using PSpice 16 and compare calculated values with laboratory measures values and explain the differences.
  5. Demonstrate the ability to analyze and test dimmer circuits, buffer circuits, current sources, RL, RC, and RLC circuits with transistors and operational amplifiers (OpAmps).
  6. Demonstrate the ability to organize and prepare written prelab papers and laboratory reports.

Performance Objectives:
  1. Apply the passive sign convention to calculate power in an ideal circuit element and state whether the power is being absorbed or delivered.
  2. Apply parallel, series, and delta-wye relationships to find the equivalent resistance of complex resistor networks, and the equivalent source when sources are corrected in series and parallel.
  3. Use the principles of current and voltage division to design D’Arsonval voltmeters and ammeters, given the desired full-scale readings and any two of the meter movement parameters.
  4. Apply Kirchhoff’s voltage law/Kirchhoff’s current law (KVL/KCL) to solve single node/loop circuit problems, such as finding an unknown voltage, current or power.
  5. Write and solve Node Voltage Analysis and Mesh Current Analysis equations for circuits containing dependent and independent sources and resistors.
  6. Discuss opportunities for applying source transformations and explain why source transformations are useful in circuit analysis.
  7. Reduce complex circuits to Thevenin (or Norton) equivalent circuits, and explain the physical significance of the internal resistance and voltage (or current) quantities.
  8. List the essential terminal characteristics of an ideal op-amp, and apply these to calculate voltage and current quantities in op-amp circuits with and without feedback resistance connected.
  9. Apply v-i formulae for inductors and capacitors to find voltage when current is specified, and vice-versa; and find the equivalent component value when multiple capacitors and inductors are connected in series/parallel.
  10. Explain in both qualitative and quantitative terms why the state variable in an inductor or capacitor resists abrupt change.
  11. Apply the “FIFE” formula to find the value of any current or voltage in RL and RC circuits with switching events.
  12. Find the node voltage (parallel RLC) or loop current (series RLC) given a parallel or series resistor/inductor/capacitor (RLC) circuit, the circuit’s initial conditions, and a step excitation.
  13. Write any given sinusoid as a phasor, and vice-versa; and draw phasor diagrams for circuits with R, L and C components.
  14. Apply phasors to find Thevenin/Norton equivalents and solve mesh and node problems in ac circuits.
  15. Write the KCL equations for a mutually coupled transformer circuit with source and load.
  16. Find the unknown currents, voltages, and powers in a given circuit for an ideal transformer circuit with a given turns ratio.
  17. Calculate the load impedance for an ideal transformer circuit with a given turns ratio to achieve maximum power transfer and explain the concept of transformer use for impedance matching.
  18. Build simple breadboard circuits consisting of resistors, capacitors, inductors, op-amps, and power supplies. Use digital multimeters and oscilloscopes to measure dc and ac currents and voltages, frequency of a periodic waveform, and phase shift between ac waveforms.
  19. Perform design exercises to satisfy simple specifications (such as a prescribed voltage, current or gain factor), taking into account component tolerances and reasonable measurement accuracy.
  20. Write programs in PSpice 16 (for Windows) to the level of DC and AC sweeps, parameter sweeps, transient analysis, and switching with initial conditions.
  21. Organize and prepare written laboratory reports.
  22. Construct and test, on breadboard, circuits that contain resistors, potentiometers,  capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors, operational amplifiers, D’Arsonval meters, light emitting diodes (LEDs), photodiodes, ac and dc power supplies, volt-amp meters, oscilloscopes, frequency generators, and microphones.
  23. Analyze all circuit responses using PSpice 16 and compare calculated values with laboratory measured values and explain differences.
  24. Breadboard, analyze and test dimmer circuits, buffer circuits, current sources, RL, RC, and RLC circuits with transistors and operational amplifiers (OpAmps).
  25. Measure the gain and phase response of simple audio filters and specific discrete frequencies.
  26. Design and verify an LC crossover network for use with tweeter and woofer loudspeakers.
  27. Organize and prepare written prelab papers and laboratory reports.

Outline:
  1. Circuit Variables
    1. Electrical engineering: an overview
    2. The international system of units
    3. Circuit analysis: an overview
    4. Voltage and current
    5. The ideal basic circuit element
    6. Power and energy
  2. Circuit Elements
    1. Voltage and current sources
    2. Electrical resistance (Ohm’s law)
    3. Construction of a circuit model
    4. Kirchhoff’s laws
    5. Analysis of a circuit containing dependent sources
  3. Simple Resistive Circuits
    1. Resistors in series
    2. Resistors in parallel
    3. The voltage-divider circuit
    4. The current-divider circuit
    5. Measuring voltage and current
    6. The Wheatstone bridge
    7. Delta-to wye (pi-to tee) equivalent circuits
  4. Techniques of Circuit Analysis
    1. Terminology
    2. Introduction to the mode-voltage method
    3. The node-voltage method and dependent sources
    4. The node-voltage method: some special cases
    5. Introduction to the mesh-current method
    6. The mesh-current method and dependent sources
    7. The mesh-current method: some special cases
    8. The mode-voltage method verses the mesh-current method
    9. Source transformations
    10. Thevenin and Norton equivalents
    11. More on deriving a Thevenin equivalent
    12. Maximum power transfer
    13. Superposition
  5. The Operational Amplifier
    1. Operational amplifier terminals
    2. Terminal voltages and currents
    3. The inverting-amplifier circuit
    4. The summing-amplifier circuit
    5. The noninverting-amplifier circuit
    6. The difference-amplifier circuit
    7. A more realistic model for the operational amplifier
  6. Inductance, Capacitance, and Mutual Inductance
    1. The inductor
    2. The capacitor
    3. Series-parallel combinations of inductance and capacitance
    4. Mutual inductance
    5. A closer look at mutual inductance
  7. Response of First-Order RL and RC Circuits
    1. The natural response of an RL circuit
    2. The natural response of an RC circuit
    3. The step response of RL and RC circuits
    4. A general solution for step and natural responses
    5. Sequential switching
    6. Unbounded response
    7. The Integrating amplifier
  8. Natural and Step Responses of RLC Circuits
    1. Introduction to the natural response of a parallel RLC circuit
    2. The forms of the natural response of a parallel RLC circuit
    3. The step response of a parallel RLC circuit
    4. The natural and step response of a series RLC circuit
    5. A circuit with two integrating amplifiers
  9. Sinusoidal Steady-State Analysis
    1. The sinusoidal source
    2. The sinusoidal response
    3. The phasor
    4. The passive circuit elements in the frequency domain
    5. Kirchhoff’s laws in the frequency domain
    6. Series, parallel, and delta-to-wye simplifications
    7. Source transformations and Thevenin-Norton equivalent circuits
    8. The node-voltage method
    9. The mesh-current method
    10. The transformer
    11. The ideal transformer
    12. Phasor diagrams