Book 1 Module 3 ELECTRICAL FUNDAMENTALS Licence By Post b= S Licence By Post © copyright B EASA 66 3.1 to 3.9 ISSUE 554AUTHORITY It is IMPORTANT to note that the information in this book is for study/training purposes only. When-carrying out a procedure/work-on aircraft/aircraft equipment you MUST always refer to the relevant-aircraft maintenance manual orequipment manufacturer's handbook. You should also follow the requirements ofyour national regulatory authority (the CAA in the UK) and laid down-company policy as regards local, / procedures, recording, report writinig, documentation etc. For health and safety in the workplace you should follow the regulations /guidelines as specified by the equipment manufacturer, your company, national safety authorities and national governments. NOTE It is policy to review our study material in the light of changing technology and syllabus requirements. This means that books are re-written and/or updated on a regular basis LEP 140 Narbeth Drive Aylesbury Bucks HP20 19a UK Tel (+ 44) 01296 433871 Fax: (+ 44) 01296 330697 Email: [email protected] Website: www.licencebypost.comCONTENTS Page The atomic structure 1 Static electricity 5 Generation of electricity 8 The thermocouple 8 ‘The cathode 9 ‘The photo-electric cell 9 ‘The piezoelectric effect 10 Cells or batteries i Electromagnetic induction 19) Electrical terms Resistance Fixed resistors Variable resistors Thermistors ae Voltage dependent resistors de circuits Kirchhoff’s laws; The Wheatstone Bridge Power, work-and energy Internal resistance Maximum power transfer Capacitance Answers to activitiesHOW TO TACKLE THIS BOOK This book is written for the B1 and B2 technician with many of the subjects to level 2 of the JAR syllabus. Some of the material is suitable for the A line mechanic albeit to level 1 of the syllabus. For the A line mechanic he/she is advised to read the syllabus and/or contact the tutor for advice on what to study in the book and to what depth. ‘The B technician should have a good grasp of the fundamentals of electricity and should be able to apply, and work out, formulas where necessary Some parts of the book are fairly straight forward, other parts will need a second, or even a third, read for the information to “sink in”. Details of scientists need not be remembered - they have been incltided for back-ground information only. \ELECTRON THEORY THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE Before we look at the more practical side of electrics we should have some knowledge of the fundamentals of electron flow and this involves the basic structure of matter. All substances, whether solid, liquid or gas, are made up of atoms, which are grouped together in various ways Figure 1 shows how an atom is built up. In the centre is the nucleus, made up of protons (#ve) and neutrons (no charge). The electrons (-ve) move around the nucleus in orbits, rather like the planets around the sun, with each orbit (called a shell) having a certain number of electrons. The maximum number of orbits around a nucleus is seven. These are located at defined distances from the nucleus, and are designated by the letters K, L, M, N, O, P and Q, starting from the level nearest the nucleus. NucLEUS Fig. 1 BASIC ATOMIC STRUCTURE } ‘The mass of an electron is estimated to be about 9.1 x 10-5! kilograms (kg) and the charge it carries is about -1.6 x 10-1? coulomb (C). Both of these quantities are extremely small, but it is the electron on which the whole science of electronics/electrics depends. ‘The charge on each proton, since it neutralises the charge on an electron, is the same as that of an electron but of opposite sign. ‘The proton, however, is about 1840 times as massive as an electron, so that a quick calculation gives it’s mass as 1.67 x 10-27 kg. The revolving electrons are pictured as moving in elliptical orbits around the nucleus, held in their respective shells by the attractive force of the nucleus.A substance composed of atoms all of the same type is called an element Ninety elements have been found in nature so far and others have been created artificially bring the total (to date) to 105. Scientists expect to find more. For any element each shell contains a fixed number of electrons. There is a maximum number for each shell, relating to the orbit’s distance from the nucleus eg, level K can contain up to 2 electrons, level L up to 8, level M up to 18 and so on. ‘The maximum theoretical number in each shell can be found from the formula 2n? where n is the number of the shell. For example in the N (forth) shell the number of electrons equals 2n? = 2 x 42 = 32. However, in practice many atoms do not reach this theoretical number, and no atom can contain more than eight electrons in its outer shell anyway. Some examples of elements and the number of atoms in each shell is shown in the following table. (The atomic number is the number of protons in the atom) ELEMENT SHELL - number of electrons in each shell | ATOMIC (Maximum possible number in brackets)| | NUMBER ee MN 720) FE Q (2) (8) (18) ~f82)<" (50) (72) (8) Do 2 see — Hydrogen 1 1 Sodium os ul Aluminium =/:2 8 3 13 Silicon ea 14 Copper, oc ee Z 29 Germanium oe is 4 32 Silver 28 is ie 1 47 Gold a6 is 32 is 1 79 Radon 2 68 ie 32 i 6 86 Uranium 28 18 a2 21 9 92 TABLE 1 ATOMIC STRUCTURE OF SOME ELEMENTS ‘The electrons (or electron) making up the outermost shell are called valence electrons, and these being furthest from the attractive force of the nucleus are least tightly bound in the atom. It is the valence electrons that play the active part in electrical conduction. Figure 2 shows an atom of hydrogen and figure 3 shows an atom of helium, both very light gases. Figures 4 and 5 show atoms of silicon and germanium respectively, two very important elements in the manufacture of transistors, both having four valance electrons.eroge stm- rows ven Fig. 2 THE HYDROGEN ATOM fearone with we Fig. 4 THE SILICON ATOM Fig. 5 THE GERMANIUM ATOM Normally atoms are electrically neutral, as far as charge is concerned, because electrons and protons are present in equal numbers. An atom can become positively or negatively charged if it has electrons taken away or added.When an atom gives up an electron it becomes positively charged (it has more protons than electrons}, and this is called a positive ion. When it takes in an electron it becomes negatively charged and it is called a negative ion. An ion is therefore an atom which has lost or gained an electron. Metals represent a category of elements endowed with particular properties. One of these is that some of the electrons in the outer shelis are so loosely tied to the nucleus that they are effectively floating free and move easily from one atom to another. Normally their movement is random, but by applying an exterior electrical force (such as that provided by a battery or generator} they can all be made to move in the same direction. When all the electrons move in one direction only then the current is known as Direct Current (dc) - as when a battery is used to provide the electrical force (voltage). When the electrons are moved forwards and backwards (as when an alternator/generator is used) then the current is called Alternating Current {ac}. Ac current usually has a frequency (on aircraft) of 400 Hz, though some frequency wild systems do ex: This orderly movement of electrons is called current. Metals which\easily permit the orderly movement of electronsjare called conductors eg, copper, aluminium, silver, platinum, bronze and gold. In other materials the electrons are held'firmly in their outer shells. materials it is almost impossible to induce an orderly movement of €lectrons and they are classified as non-conductors, or insulators, eg: glass, rubber, plastic, air, wood and mica. ELECTRONS Fig. 6 VALENCE ELECTRONS IN A SILICON CRYSTAL LATTICE The family of elements cailed semiconductors sometimes behave like conductors and sometimes like insulators. Typical materials are silicon and germanium.FREE ELECTRON Fig. 7 FREE ELECTRONS IN SILICON (Si) DOPED WITH ARSENIC (As) ‘These materials have four valence electrons, each atom shares its electrons with! adjacent atoms to form a strongly bonded structure ¢alled a érystal lattice, The freedom of movement of electrons is poor, and in| theipure state in semiconductors are insulators. 4 However, electron movement can be achieved by heating, as the temperature rises the electrons become more agitated‘and leave their orbits and if a voltage is placed across the material electron movement occurs. = —— This is known ag fintrinsic” conduction. Current causes heat which causes more conduction/and this can gontinue yintil breakdown oceurs, known as “thermal-rundway” \ Another way to improve the conductivity is by “doping”, of a tiny amount of another element. This is introduced into the crystal lattice structure which improves the conductivity. More detail of this in Module 4 study books in this series. STATIC ELECTRICITY If a warm day glass rod is rubbed with silk some electrons from the glass attach themselves to the silk and the glass becomes positively charged (loss of electrons) and the silk becomes negatively charged (excess of electrons). They are said to have static electricity. Ifa second charged rod is brought close to the first charged rod repulsion occurs. If ebonite is rubbed with a woollen cloth, for example, the ebonite becomes negatively charged and the cloth positively charged, and if the ebonite is now placed next to the charged glass rod, attraction occurs