Electrical and Electronic Principles - 2019 entry

This hands on module gives you the chance to explore basic electrical and electronic concepts, using a combination of a theoretical and practical approach to applications, and troubleshooting.

This module is a prerequisite for subsequent modules, including the Electrical Energy Conversion and Transport second year module, in the BEng Mining Engineering and BSc/MEng Renewable Energy degree programmes.

The main aims of the module are to develop your understanding of a wide range of electrical and electronic engineering concepts principles. This module will give you confidence in using and developing basic electrical/electronic designs through circuit diagrams, mapping circuit diagrams to physical circuits, building physical circuits and using laboratory test and measurement equipment.

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge:

1 Understand electrical concepts, and demonstrate competence in the analysis of both direct current and alternating current electrical circuits;

2 Confidently use standard laboratory instrumentation;

3 Recognise electronic devices and their applications;

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge:

4 Comprehend engineering concepts, model these concepts mathematically, form a rigorous solution and assess the practical limitations of such solutions;

Personal and Key Transferable/ Employment Skills and Knowledge:

5 Show skills in problem solving, numeracy, practical engineering laboratory work, data analysis and presentation.

Fundamentals:

- Introduction: electricity, electrical charge, current, voltage, conductance and resistance, electrical and electronics systems, signals, physical quantities and measurement;

- Electric Circuits: SI units, common prefixes, electrical circuits, circuit symbols, direct current and alternating current, resistors, capacitors, and inductors, voltage sources and current sources. Ohm’s Law and Kirchhoff’s Laws, dependent voltage and current sources, resistors in series and parallel, resistive potential dividers, power dissipation in resistors;

- DC circuits: Norton’s theorems, superposition, nodal analysis, mesh analysis, solving simultaneous circuit equations, choice of techniques;

Electrical engineering:

- Basics of Alternating Voltages and Currents: voltage and current, phasor diagrams, impedance, complex notation;

- Inductance and Magnetic Fields: electromagnetism, reluctance, inductance, self-inductance, inductors, inductors in series and parallel, energy storage in an inductor, mutual inductance, transformers, transient (or DC) response of inductors, AC response of inductors, circuit symbols;

- Capacitance and Electric Fields: capacitors and capacitance, electric fields, capacitors in series and parallel, voltage and current, energy stored in a charged capacitor, transient (or DC) response, AC response, circuit symbols;

- AC Circuits: RC and RL circuits, RLC circuits, resonance, series and parallel relationships;

- Power in AC Circuits: power in resistive components, power in capacitors, power in inductors, circuits with resistance and reactance, active and reactive power, power triangle, power factor correction, power transfer, power measurement;

Electronic engineering:

- Digital Systems: binary quantities and variables, logic gates, Boolean algebra, combinational logic, Karnaugh maps, automated methods of minimisation, propagation delay and hazards, number systems and binary arithmetic, numeric and alphabetic codes, examples of combinational logic design;

- Diodes and Applications: introduction to semiconductors, diodes and characteristics, diode rectifiers, power supplies, and special purpose diodes;

- Transistors: DC operation of field-effect transistor (FET), the FET as a switch, DC operation of bipolar junction transistor (BJT), BJT class A amplifiers, BJT class B amplifiers, the BJT as a switch, applications of transistors;

- Operational Amplifiers: introduction to the operational amplifier, comparators, summing amplifiers, integrators and differentiators, oscillators, active filters, voltage regulators, application assignment.

One piece of Coursework (30%) and/or one Exam (70%).

Web based and electronic resources:

ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Further reading list:

Horowitz and Hill, The Art of Electronics, now in its 3rd edition, (but any edition will be useful), Cambridge University Press - the single best reference on electronics, and highly recommended if you take this up as a profession or hobby.

Reading list for this module: