CPEN 206 Linear Circuits

Lecture 1
Introduction to Linear Circuits and Quantities
May 29, 2025
Godfrey Mills, PhD, MGhIE
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 020-549-6944

1 CPEN 206 Lecture 1 Kelvin Prince Boateng

 LECTURE #1 OUTLINE
 What is a linear circuit
 Types of circuits
 Basic elements of Linear circuit
 Supply sources in linear circuits
 Ideal and practical circuit sources
 Basic circuit quantities
 Current measurement in circuits
 Voltage measurement in circuits
 Power and Energy measurement in circuits
 Ohm’s law for resistive circuits
2 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 What is a Linear Circuit
 Linear circuit (analog electronic circuit) >> electrical circuit
constructed exclusively using linear electronic elements
and linear dc power supply source (power source can be
either dependent or independent).
 We consider a Linear Circuit as a circuit (a system or device,
example a single R element) whose output is directly
proportional to the input that is applied to the circuit.
 Linear circuits can also be described as circuits that obey the
principle of superposition (where the circuit output is directly
proportional to its input):
 >> y(a1x1 + a2x2) = a1y(x1)+ a2y(x2)
3 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
3
 What is a Linear Circuit
 Cont’d……
 Characteristics of linear circuits:
 Output voltage and current are linear functions of the input
voltage and current >> output (response of the circuit) is
linearly related (proportional) to the input (excitation).
 Values of the circuit elements do not change (remain the
same) with the level of voltage or current in the circuit.
 Do not have nonlinear electronic component in circuit.
 Resistor is considered a linear element because its behavior
can be expressed in terms of the I-V relationship as follows:
 If we double the current in a resistor, voltage also doubles.
4 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
4
 Linear Circuit Components
 Linear components typically used to build real-world circuits :
 Resistor >> v(t) = Ri(t) and i(t) = v(t)/R
 Capacitor >> v(t) = L di(t)/dt and i(t) = 1/L  v(x)dx
 Inductor >> v(t) = 1/C  i(x)dx and i(t) = C dv(t)/dt
 In many practical application circuits, nonlinear electronic
elements are often used together with the linear element.
 PN junction diode
 Bipolar transistors (NPN and PNP)
 FET (Field-effect transistors)
 SCRs (silicon-controlled resistors)
5  Op-amp
CPEN 206 Lecture 1 (operational amplifiers)
5
 Types of Application Circuits
 Practical analog circuits built for applications come in forms
as either active or passive circuits or AC or DC circuits :
 DC or AC circuit
 DC circuits >> circuits with constant current supply
that flows only in a one direction.
 Source voltage for the circuit is typically constant.
 Type DC power supply sources that are mainly used in
circuit applications include:
o battery, dc generator, rectification type of dc
supply, etc

6 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

6
 Types of Application Circuits
 Cont’d…….
 AC circuits >> circuits with current supply that
periodically changes direction of flow resulting in a
sinusoidal waveform.
 Source voltage for the circuit alternates following the
same pattern as the current flow.
 Type of AC power supply sources that are mostly used
in circuit applications include:
o alternators, oscillators, and signal generators

7 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

7
 Types of Linear Circuits
 Cont’d……
 Passive or Active circuit
 Passive circuits >> circuits that do not require
external energy or power source to operate, and they
primarily store the energy or dissipate the energy
 They simply interact with the energy flowing through
the circuit by resisting it (dissipate) or storing it
 Examples of passive components used to build a
functional application circuit >> L, C, R

8 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

8
 Types of Linear Circuits
 Cont’d……
 Active circuits >> circuits that require external energy
or power source to operate, and they can control or
amplify the electrical signals
o They tend to introduce energy into the circuit or
amplify the electrical signals or switch the signals
o Examples of active components used to build a
functional application circuit >> BJT, FET, op-amp.

9 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

9
 Supply Sources in Linear Circuits
 Power supply sources used in circuits analysis are :
 Active power source >> these are power sources that
can deliver whatever amount of energy is required by the
component in the circuit that contains them.
 Active power sources to the circuit can be independent
voltage source or independent current source.
 An independent source (voltage or current) is an active
element that provides a specified voltage or current value
that is completely independent of the circuit elements.
 Typical active sources include batteries, generators, etc .

10 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Supply Sources in Linear Circuits
 Cont’d….
 Passive power source >> these are power sources that
depend on the rest of the circuit elements for their source
of power supply.
 Passive power sources to the circuit can be dependent
voltage source or dependent current source.
 A dependent source (voltage or current) is an active
element in the circuit whose source quantity or value is
purely dependent or controlled by another voltage or
current in the circuit.
 Typical passive sources include transistors, op-amps.
11 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Supply Sources in Linear Circuits
 Cont’d……
 Supply sources are usually represented in circuits using
different notations, depending on the source type as:

12 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Ideal Voltage Supply Sources
 In circuit design and analysis, we most often assume the case
of ideal conditions of voltage and current in the circuits
 An ideal voltage source is a circuit element that maintains
its prescribed voltage across its terminals, regardless of the
amount of current that is flowing in those terminals.
 This means even if the current drawn from an ideal source
varies from zero (open circuit) to infinity (short circuit), the
terminal voltage will remain unchanged.
 This implies an ideal voltage source can deliver an unlimited
amount of power to the circuit containing it.
 Here, voltage is known, but current is determined by the
circuit to
CPEN 206 Lecture 1
which the source is connected.
13
 Practical Voltage Supply Sources
 Concept of ideal voltage source implies the voltage source
has unlimited amount of power to deliver to its circuit
elements as along as they are in the circuit.
 Practically, no source can be represented as ideal source >>
because when current is drawn from a voltage source, its
terminal voltage drop by some amount.
 The larger the amount of current drawn, the larger the
amount of voltage that is dropped across the element.
 To account for practical source voltage in a circuit, we
describe or model the source as an ideal voltage source in
series with an internal source resistance (for ac sources, we
use impedance, z).
14 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Practical Voltage Supply Sources
 Cont’d….
 Let the ideal voltage source driving the circuit be defined as
VS (with internal resistance R SV) and the resistive load being
supplied by the source be RL.
 From the energy conservation law, we can express the
relationship between the load voltage V L and current IL as:
 >> VL = VS – RSV*IL
 Open circuit (no current flows, we have voltage at terminal)
voltage VOC will be determined as :
 >> VOC = VS
 Short circuit (no voltage) current ISC will be determined as :
 >> ISC = VS/RSV
15 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Practical Voltage Supply Sources

vL(t) Ideal source

voc(t)=Vs

isc(t) isc = Vs/Rsv

iL(t)
VL = Vs – RsvIL

16 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Ideal Current Supply Sources
 Ideal current source is the circuit element that maintains
its prescribed current, regardless or independent of its
output voltage across the terminals.
 Thus, output current of such ideal current source remains
unchanged from zero load (open circuit condition) to
infinite load (short circuit condition)
 Current is known, but voltage is determined by the circuit
to which the source is connected.
 Current can be dependent or independent on a voltage or
current elsewhere in the circuit, and it can be constant or
time-varying.
17 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Practical Current Supply Sources
 Concept of ideal current implies that the output current
from the source remains unchanged from zero load (open-
circuit condition) to infinite load (short-circuit condition).
In this state, the source can supply unlimited amount of
power.
 Like the ideal voltage supply source, in practice or real-
world situation, an ideal current source does not exist.
 Certain transistor circuits can deliver a constant current to a
limited range of load.
 A practical current source is modeled as an ideal current
source in parallel with an internal source resistance.

18 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Practical Current Supply Sources
 Cont’d……
 Let the ideal current source defined as I S (with internal
resistance RSL) drives a resistive load RSL.
 From the KVL, we can write the relationship between the
load voltage VL and current IL as:
 >> IL = IS – VL/RSL
 Suppose we have a current source IS (internal resistance RSL)
that is driving a resistance R L, then the relationship that
exists between the load current I L and voltage VL will be:
 >> IL = IS – VL/RSL

19 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Practical Current Supply Sources

iL(t) Ideal source

iSC(t) = Is

voc(t)
Voc = Is*RsL

vL(t)
IL = Is –VL/RsL

20 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Electrical Quantities - Currents
 Electric charge is the most basic quantity in electric circuit
>> charge is an electrical property in the atomic particles
that constitutes matter, and it is measured in Coulombs (C)
 A single electron e has a charge of 1.602 x 10-19C >> note
that 1C charge contains 1/(1.602 x 10-19) electrons
 We mostly represent instantaneous charge by q(t) and
the quantity of charge that does not change with time by Q
 The motion of charges from one location to another along a
wire or conductor creates what we call electric current
 We define current in a wire as time rate of flow of
21
charges through
CPEN 206 Lecture 1 a certain section of the conductor
 Electrical Quantities - Currents


22 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Electrical Quantities - Currents
 Cont’d…..
 If charge q(t) is measured in C/s, then 1A of current
flowing through a wire will be equivalent to the flow of
“1/(1.602 x 10-19)” electrons per second through the wire.
 Since we define current as the flow of charges, we expect
current to have a corresponding direction of flow.
 By convention, the direction of flow of current is taken as
the direction of positive charge movement along a wire:
 A current of 3A may be represented positively and
negatively >> negative 3A flowing in one direction is the
same as a current of +3A flowing in the opposite direction
 One of the parameters of interest in circuit is the amount of
current that flows through elements of the circuit.
23 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Electric Current Examples


24 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Electric Current Examples
 Cont’d…..
 Example 3 :
 Suppose the terminal of a TV set has 10 5 positively charged
particles each with a charge of 1.6*10 -19. Find how much
current flowed from the terminal in the positive direction
every nanosecond.
 Solution 3 :
 >> i(t) = dq/dt
 >> I = Q/t = 1.6*10-19*105/10-9 A

25 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Electric Current Examples
 Cont’d…..
 Example 4
 Suppose the total charge at the terminal of a TV is given by
the expression: q = 5tsin(4πt)mC. Find the value of the
current that flows at time t = 0.5s
 Solution 4
 Perform differentiation to obtain :
 >> I = dq/dt :
 >> I = [5sin(4πt) + 20πtcos(4πt)]mA.
 Now, at time t = 0.5s, we find the current as:
 >> I = 0 + 10π = 31.4mA

26 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Electric Current Examples
 Cont’d…..
 Example 5
 Suppose the current flowing through the terminals of a
laptop computer can be expressed as I = (3t2 – t)A. Find the
charge that entered the device between 1s and 2s.
 Solution 5 :
 >> I = dq/dt
 >> Q = ∫ (3t2 – t)dt = (t3 – t2/2) C
 Evaluate Q within the time limits of t 1 = 1s and t2 = 2s
 >> Q = (t32 – t22/2) - (t31 – t21/2) = 5.5C

27 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Practice Questions on Current
 Question 1: The charge entering the terminal of a TV set is
given as: q = (10 – 5e-2t) mC. Find the current at t = 0.6s.
 Questions 2: The current in a hand dryer is described by
the function I = (4t3 + 2t2 – t + 1)A. Find the total charge
entering the device between the time t = 1s and t = 4s.
 Question 3: A telephone wire has 20µA of current flowing
through it. Find how long it will take for a charge of 15C to
pass through the telephone wire.
 Question 4 : A battery of 250Ah is used to provide power
to a TV set in a community. Find the maximum current that
the battery can supply to the TV in 40h. If the battery is
discharged at a rate of 1mA, find how many days it will last.
CPEN 206 Lecture 1
28
 Electrical Quantities - Voltage
 For current to flow in an element, electrons will have to be
moved from one point to another in a particular direction
 Work done to move electrons or transfer energy from one
place to another is performed by external source (emf),
known as the voltage or potential difference.
 We define electric voltage between two points in a
circuit as the work or energy (W) required to move
a unit charge Q from one point to the other point.
 For a differential charge dq and a given differential energy
dW, we define the potential or voltage of the charge as:
>>206vLecture
CPEN = dW/dq
1
29
 Electrical Quantities - Voltage
 Cont’d….
 If we have to points, a and b, in a circuit then the potential
between these two points may be determined as :
a vab = va − vb
dW Vab vab means the potential at
v= a minus the potential at b.
dq b vba = −vab
 The positive (+) and negative (-) signs are mainly
used to define reference direction or voltage polarity
 What does it mean if you have a negative voltage
30 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Electric Voltage Examples
 Example 1
 A device stores 500J of energy and releases this energy in
the form of electric current of 40A for a duration of 15ms.
Find the voltage across the terminals of the device.
 Solution 1 :
 V = W/Q and Q = I*t
 >> W = V*I*t
 => 500 = V x 40 x 15 x 10-3
 => V = 500/(40 x 15 x 10-3 ) = 833V

31 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Electrical Quantities - Power
 We define power as the time rate of expending or
absorbing energy and measured in W or joule/sec
 If the voltage is multiplied by current (dq/dt), we obtain the
rate of change of energy with time, which is power, P as.
 >> P = (dW/dq) x (dq/dt) = dW/dt = V x I
 If the power P across an element is a time-varying quantity,
we refer to this type of power as instantaneous power
 If the measured power over an element has a positive sign
“+”, then we refer to that power as being delivered to the
element or the power has been absorbed by the element
 If the measured power has a negative sign “-”, then the power
is rather being supplied by the element
32 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Electrical Quantities - Energy
 We define energy of an element as capacity of the
element to do work
 Energy is measured in joules (J) but electric utilities measure
energy in watt-hour (Wh) or W-s >> 1Wh = 3,600 J
 We derive the energy absorbed or supplied to a device from
time t1 to time t2 as:
 >> P = dW/dt >>W = ∫P*dt , but P = VI
 >> W = ∫Pdt = ∫VIdt
 If power P is constant, then the energy is obtained by simply
finding the product of P and the time duration
 If the power P is time varying, then the energy is obtained by
finding the integration over the time limit or range
33 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Power and Energy Examples
 Example 1
 Suppose a device forces a current of 2A for 10s to flow
through it. If 2.3kJ of energy is delivered to the device, find
the voltage across the terminals of the device.
 Solution1
 >> Charge Q = I*dt >> Q = 2*10 = 20C
 >> Voltage V = dW/dq = (2.3*103)/20 = 115V
 Example 2
 Suppose a 100W electronic device is operated for 2h. Find
the energy consumed by the device in Joules and in Wh.
 Solution 2 :
 E = Pt = 100W*2h* 60(min/h)*60 (s/min) = 720kJ
34 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Power and Energy Examples
 Cont’d…..
 Example 3
 (a) Suppose the current through an electronic device is given
as: I = 6cos(60πt) and the voltage across the device is given
as : V = 3*I. Find the instantaneous power delivered to the
device at time t = 3ms
 (b) If voltage across the device is V = 2dI/dt, find the power
delivered to the device at time t = 3ms.
 Solution 3
 (a) P = I*V = (5cos60πt)*3(5cos60πt) >> 75cos260πt W
 >> At t = 3ms, power P = 75cos 260π*3ms = 53.5W
 (b) student to solve this.
35 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Power and Energy Examples
 Cont’d…..
 Example 4
 An electric motor connected to a 220V power supply draws
a current of 8A. If the efficiency of the motor is 80%, find
output power of the motor. (b) If motor is run for 4 hours,
find how much energy is consumed. (c) If the cost of energy
is GHc0.65 per kWh, find how much the user will pay.
 Solution 4
 >> Input power: P = I*V = 220*8 = 1760W
 >> efficiency = input power/output power = 0.8
 >> output power Po = 1760*0.8 = 1408W
 Example 5: Find how much energy a 10-hp rated motor will
36
deliver
CPEN 206
in 30
Lecture 1
minutes . Assume 1hp = 746W
 Application Practice Questions
 Example 1
 (a) A water heater connected to a 240V source in a room
draws a current of 15A. Find how long it will take the heater
to consume 30kJ of energy. (ii) If the ECG charges GHc
0.65/ kWh, find how much the user will pay ECG.
 (b) Suppose a 2.5kW electric iron is connected to the 240V
socket. How much current will the iron draw?
 (c) Suppose a battery in a flashlight has a rating of 0.8Ah and
a lifetime of 10 hours. (i) How much current can the battery
deliver (ii) How much power can it give to the flashlight if
its voltage is 6V (iii) Find the amount of energy stored in the
battery in kWh and in KJ.
37 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Application Practice Questions
 Cont’d…..
 Example 2
 (a) Suppose the energy consumed by a household for the
month of March 2023 is 750 kWh. Determine how much
the residents will pay the ECG. Assume the average cost of
energy (tariff for 2023 second quarter) charge by the ECG
for the residential customers is:
 >> service charge/month = GHp 1073.0886 ;
 >> 0 to 300 kWh = GHp 150.1837/kWh;
 >> 301 to 600 kWh = GHp 115.7212/kWh;
 >> over 601 kWh = GHp 166.8708/kWh;

38 CPEN 206 Lecture 1

 Application Practice Questions
 Cont’d…..
 (b) Suppose the resident paid ECG an amount of GHc52.80
for the month of April 2023. Find how much energy (kWh)
the user consumed for the month.
 (c) Suppose a toaster in your room rated at 1.5kW is used to
toast bread every day for about 8 minutes.
 (i) Find the amount of current that the toaster will draw if it
is connected to the 220V socket in your room.
 (ii) Find the cost of using the toaster for the second semester
(May 15, 2023, to August 13, 2023) if the toaster is used
once a day. Assume the charge includes the service charge.
39 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Application Practice Questions
 Example 3
 (a) Find the power rating of following appliances :
 TV, laptop, blender, refrigerator, light bulb, electric iron,
water heater, microwave, toaster, and washing machine.
 (b) Suppose a certain household has the above appliances and
10 light bulbs. Find the amount of energy the household will
consume for the month of May 2023. Define your own time
of use for each appliance (be practical in the specification of
your time). For example, the water heater is run for 7 mins
twice in day and the washing machine is run 70 minutes per
week while the light bulbs are used averagely for 12 hours a
day (6pm to 6am).
40 CPEN 206 Lecture 1
 Ohm’s Law in Resistive Circuits
 Georg Ohm (German Physicist) in 1826 showed that a linear
relationship exists between the current and the voltage in a
resistive circuit:
 Ohm postulated that voltage across the terminals of wire
is directly proportional to current through it.
 V =I*R, where R is constant
 The relationship remains true as long as physical conditions or
properties of the wire remains constant.
 Value of R ranges from 0 to infinity >>
 When value of R approaches 0, we have a short circuit,
which gives 0 voltage,
 When the value of R approaches infinity, we have an open
circuit, which gives a 0 current (no current flow due to
41 open
CPEN circuit
206 Lecture 1 or switch)
 Ohm’s Law Application Examples
 Question 1 :
 (a) Suppose a study lamp in your room is rated at 10 kΩ, 1W.
What is the maximum voltage and current ratings that can be
allowed for smooth operation of the appliance.
 (b) A fridge with 20Ω resistance in your room is connected in
series to a standing fan of unknown resistance R and the two
appliances are connected across a 220V supply. The power
loss in the resistor R is 50W. Find the value of R.
 (c) A lightning discharge during a thunderstorm is 30 C. If the
duration of the lightning is 10 ms, find the average lightning
current. If the lightning struck the roofing sheet of a TV pole
with resistance of 300 , find the voltage across pole?

42 CPEN 206 Lecture 1