Fundamentals of ELECTRICITY & ELECTRONICS

Fundamentals of Electricity

What is Electricity?
Electricity is a naturally occurring force that exists all around us. Humans have been
aware of this force for many centuries. Ancient man believed that electricity was some form
of magic because they did not understand it. Greek philosophers noticed that when a piece
of amber was rubbed with cloth, it would attract pieces of straw. They recorded the first
references to electrical effects, such as static electricity and lightning, over 2,500 years ago.

It was not until 1600 that a man named Dr. William Gilbert coined the term “electrica,” a
Latin word which describes the static charge that develops when certain materials are
rubbed against amber. This is probably the source of the word “electricity." Electricity and
magnetism are natural forces that are very closely related to one another. You will learn a
little about magnetism in this section, but there is a whole section on magnetism if you
want to learn more.

In order to really understand electricity, we need to look closely at the very small
components that compose all matter.

Types of electricity
There are two types of Electricity, Static Electricity and Current Electricity. Static Electricity
is made by rubbing together two or more objects and making friction while Current
electricity is the flow of electric charge across an electrical field.

Static Electricity

Static electricity is when electrical charges build up on the surface of a material. It is usually
caused by rubbing materials together. The result of a build-up of static electricity is that
objects may be attracted to each other or may even cause a spark to jump from one to the
other. For Example rub a baloon on a wool and hold it up to the wall.

Before rubbing, like all materials, the balloons and the wool sweater have a neutral charge.
This is because they each have an equal number of positively charged subatomic particles
(protons) and negatively charged subatomic particles (electrons). When you rub the balloon
with the wool sweater, electrons are transferred from the wool to the rubber because of
differences in the attraction of the two materials for electrons. The balloon becomes
negatively charged because it gains electrons from the wool, and the wool becomes
positively charged because it loses electrons.

Current Electricity

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Current is the rate of flow of electrons. It is produced by moving electrons and it is
measured in amperes. Unlike static electricity, current electricity must flow through a
conductor, usually copper wire. Current with electricity is just like current when you think of
a river. The river flows from one spot to another, and the speed it moves is the speed of
the current. With electricity, current is a measure of the amount of energy transferred over
a period of time. That energy is called a flow of electrons. One of the results of current is
the heating of the conductor. When an electric stove heats up, it's because of the flow of
current.

There are different sources of current electricity including the chemical reactions taking
place in a battery. The most common source is the generator. A simple generator produces
electricity when a coil of copper turns inside a magnetic field. In a power plant,
electromagnets spinning inside many coils of copper wire generate vast quantities of
current electricity.

There are two main kinds of electric current. Direct (DC) and Alternating (AC). It's easy to
remember. Direct current is like the energy you get from a battery. Alternating current is
like the plugs in the wall. The big difference between the two is that DC is a flow of energy
while AC can turn on and off. AC reverses the direction of the electrons.

Chapter I: COMPOSITION OF MATTER

Composition of Matter

Elements

All matter is composed of atoms. The number of electrons, protons and electrons determine
the properties of those atoms. Matter is made up of elements. Elements are atoms with
specific properties. The main property that defines each elements are the number of
electrons, proton and neutrons. An example would be that of hydrogen and helium. Both of
these are elements. The both have electrons, protons, and neutrons but the numbers of
each are different. That difference alone allow for different chemical and physical
properties. An element is defined as matter that is made up of the same kind of atoms. All
sodium atoms have the same physical and chemical properties. All nickel elements have the
same chemical and physical properties, although those properties those define each of the
preceding elements are exclusive to those elements alone. There are 111 recognized
elements and they are categorized according to their properties on the Periodic Table.

Compound

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A compound is composed of two or more elements of different kinds that are combined.
The elements that make up a compound are always composed with the same elements in
the same ratios every time. Glucose is always composed of 6 carbon atoms, 12 hydrogen
atoms and 6 oxygen atoms. The properties of a compound are different that the elements
from which it is made.

Chemistry is defined as an organized body of knowledge concerning the composition of

matter and how matter interacts and changes. Matter can be defined as anything that
possesses the properties of mass and volume. Mass is the measure of a chunk of matter's
ability to resist a change in movement or direction. The chemist calls this "inertia". Volume
is the three dimensional space occupied by matter. It is a universal axiom that two chunks
of matter can not occupy the same space simultaneously. All matter is composed of basic
particles of atoms, molecules or ions.

What are atoms?

The basic of these particles are the atom. Atoms are particles that are composed of
three sub-atomic particles. The three sub-atomic particles are the proton, neutron, and the
electron. The proton is a positively charged particle that has the mass approximately equal
to a hydrogen atom. It is said to have the mass of 1 atomic mass unit (amu). The protons
reside in the nucleus or center of the atom. The neutron is a neutrally charged particle that
is approximately the mass of a proton. The neutron does not have an electrical charge, but
it also resides in the nucleus. The particles of the nucleus are called nucleons. The third
particle of an atom is the electron. The electron is a negatively charged particle of negligible
but finite mass. It resides on the outer edges of the atom with an enormous amount of
space between the nucleus and the electrons.

Because the protons and the neutrons are relatively well protected in the nucleus and the
electron is on the periphery of the atom, it is the electrons that undergo change during a
chemical reaction. It is the electrons that the chemist focuses upon. It takes millions of
times more energy for the nucleus to be penetrated so the nucleus is not affected in normal
chemical reactions. Atoms are neutral so that means that the positive protons and the
negative electrons must be equal for the atom to be neutral. There are some 111 known
different atoms that are differentiated by two numbers, atomic number and mass number.
The atomic number is equal to the number of protons found in the nucleus. For a neutral
atom that would also be the number of electrons in the atom. The mass number is defined
as the sum of the protons and the neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. In other words, the
mass number is the number of nucleons found in the atom. If I know the atomic number of
an atom and the mass number then I can determine the number of electrons, protons, and
neutrons that the atom has.

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 What are molecules?
Molecules are clusters of atoms that are held together by strong
electrical forces called bonds. Molecules are neutral like atoms.
Substances that form molecular units are called molecular substances.
Just as elements can be symbolized by a symbol, molecules can be
symbolized by the symbols of the elements that make up the
compound. These are called formulas. Non-metallic elements react with
other non-metallic elements to form molecular compounds

What are ions?

Ions are the third basic particle of matter. Ions are charged atoms or groups of atoms
possessing an electrical charge. Atoms are neutral possessing equal numbers of negative
electrons and positive protons. However some atoms have a tendency to lose one or more
negative electrons during a Chemical change. If the atom loses electrons that would mean
that the atom would have more positive protons than negative electrons and the atom
would become positively charged. These ions are called "cations". Metallic elements tend to
lose electrons and become cations.

Other atoms prefer to gain one or more negative electrons. This would give such an atom
more negative electrons than protons and the atom would be negatively charged. These are
referred to as "anions". Non-metallic elements have atoms that tend to gain electrons to
become anions.
Why do atoms lose or gain electrons?
The whole motivation of why some atoms lose and some gain electrons is to make the
atoms chemically more stable. They gladly sacrifice their electrical neutrality in favor of a
more stable state. The more stable state is an ion that has the same number of electrons as
one of the noble gases found in the last column of elements on the right of the periodic
table. This condition is referred to as being "isoelectronic" to a Noble gas. These elements
used to be called the "inert gases" because there were no known compounds of these
elements. These elements are still relatively inert which a testament of their great stability
is. All other elements have atoms that would like to emulate these noble gases. In other
words, to be isoelectronic to a Noble Gas. The Noble gases were found to react with certain
very chemically reactive elements like Fluorine and Oxygen and only Xenon has been known
to form compounds of Fluorine and Oxygen. It is not surprising that such relatively stable
elements would react with these two non-metals (Fluorine and Oxygen) If they were to
react it would be the two most reactive non-metals in the universe.
Why do elements lose or gain different numbers of electrons?
All atoms would like to have the same number of electrons as a Noble gas because of their
great stability. In order to accomplish that, some atoms must lose one and some more than
one electron in order to have the same number of electrons as the nearest Noble Gas in the

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Periodic Table. For the first column of elements called Group 1 located in the first column on
the left side of the Periodic Table each element in this Group have atoms that have only one
electron that needs to be lost in order to reach this isoelectronic state with the nearest
Noble Gas located on the last column on the extreme right of the Table called Group 18.
The second column of elements in the Periodic Table called Group 2 has elements whose
atoms have two electrons that must be lost to become isoelectronic to the nearest Noble
Gas. On the other end of the Periodic Table, there are Groups of elements like Group 15
where atoms must gain three electrons in order to become isoelectronic to the nearest
Noble Gas. Group 16 elements have atoms that must gain only two electrons to become
isoelectronic to the nearest Noble Gas. Group 17 elements which are only one column to the
left of the Noble Gas Group requires that its atoms need only to gain one electron.
Basic Structure of Matter

The Atom

All matter such as solids, liquids, and gases, is composed of atoms. Atoms are almost
always grouped together with other atoms to form what is called a molecule. Only a few
gases such as helium are composed of individual atoms as the structural unit. Therefore,
the molecule is considered to be the basic building block of matter.

Atoms are extremely small. The radius of a typical atom is on the order of 0.00000000001
meter and cannot be studied without very powerful microscopes.

In the next sub-units you will learn about what a material composed of only one type of
atom is called and you will look at the basic model of an atom.

Elements

An Element defined

Any material that is composed of only one type of atom is called a chemical element, a
basic element, or just an element. Any material that is composed of more than one type of
atom is called a compound. Every element has a unique atomic structure. Scientists know
of only about 109 basic elements at this time. (this number has a habit of changing.) All
matter is composed of combinations of one or more of these elements. Ninety-one of these
basic elements occur naturally on or in the Earth. The other elements are man-made. You
may recognize the names of some of these basic elements, such as: hydrogen helium,
oxygen, iron, copper, gold, aluminum, uranium. The periodic table of elements (show
below) lists the basic elements and some of their elements.

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ATOM MODELS

What is an atom composed of?

An atom is the smallest particle of any element that still retains the characteristics of that
element. However, atoms consist of even smaller particles. Atoms consist of a central,
dense nucleus that is surrounded by one or more lightweight negatively charged particles
called electrons. The nucleus is made up of positively charged particles called protons and
neutrons which are neutral. An atom is held together by forces of attraction between the
electrons and the protons. The neutrons help to hold the protons together. Protons and
neutrons are believed to be made up of even smaller particles called quarks. We will limit
our discussions to protons, neutrons and electrons.

Niels Bohr was a Danish scientist who introduced the model of an atom in 1913. Bohr's
model consists of a central nucleus surrounded by tiny particles called electrons that are
orbiting the nucleus in a cloud. These electrons are spinning so fast around the nucleus of
the atom that they would be just a blur if we could see particles that small. In our pictures
and exercises the electron appears to orbit in the same path around the nucleus much like
the planets orbit the Sun. But, please be aware that electrons do not really orbit in the
same path. The electrons actually change their orbit with each revolution.

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ELECTRIC CHARGE

Electrons

Electrons are the smallest and lightest of the particles in an atom.

Electrons are in constant motion as they circle around the nucleus of that
atom. Electrons are said to have a negative charge, which means that
they seem to be surrounded by a kind of invisible force field. This is called
an electrostatic field.

Protons

Protons are much larger and heavier than electrons. Protons

have a positive electrical charge. This positively charged
electrostatic field is exactly the same strength as the electrostatic
field in an electron, but it is opposite in polarity. Notice the
negative electron (pictured at the top left) and the positive proton
(pictured at the right) have the same number of force field lines in
each of the diagrams. In other words, the proton is exactly as
positive as the electron is negative.

Like charges repel, unlike charges attract

Two electrons will tend to repel each other because both have a negative electrical charge.
Two protons will also tend to repel each other because they both have a positive charge. On
the other hand, electrons and protons will be attracted to each other because of their unlike
charges.

Since the electron is much smaller and lighter than a proton, when they are attracted to
each other due to their unlike charges, the electron usually does most of the moving. This is
because the protons have more mass and are harder to get moving. Although electrons are
very small, their negative electrical charges are still quite strong. Remember, the negative
charge of an electron is the same as the positive electrical charge of the much larger in size
proton. This way the atom stays electrically balanced.

Another important fact about the electrical charges of protons and electrons is that the
farther away they are from each other, the less force their electric fields have on each
other. Similarly, the closer they are to each other, the more force they will experience from
each other due to this invisible force field called an electric field.

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THE FREE ELECTRON

Maintaining electrical balance

Each basic element has a certain number of electrons and protons, which distinguishes each
element from all other basic elements. In most elements, the number of electrons is equal
to the number of protons. This maintains an electrical balance in the structure of atoms
since protons and electrons have equal, but opposite
electrostatic fields.

Pictured here is an atom of copper, which is much more complex than either an atom of
hydrogen or helium.

The copper atom has 29 protons in its nucleus with 29 electrons orbiting the nucleus. Notice
that in the copper atom, the electrons are arranged in several layers called shells. This is
to graphically represent that the electrons are at different orbits or energy levels within the
atom. The energy of an electron is restricted to a few particular energy levels. The energy is
said to be quantized, meaning that it cannot vary continuously over a range, but instead is
limited to certain values. These energy levels or shells follow a very predictable pattern. The
closest shell to the nucleus can have up to 2 electrons. The second shell from the nucleus
can have up to 8 electrons. The third shell can have up to 18 electrons. The fourth shell can
have up to 32 electrons, and so on. Atoms can have this many electrons, but they do not
have to have this many electrons in each shell. The greater distance between the electrons
in the outer shells and the protons in the nucleus mean the outer shell electrons experience
less of a force of attraction to the nucleus than do the electron in the inner shells.

In the next sub-unit you will learn about the the outer shell of an atom called the valence
shell.

THE VALENCE SHELL

What is the valence shell?

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Notice that in the copper atom pictured below that the outside shell has only one electron.
This represents that the copper atom has one electron that is near the outer portion of the
atom. The outer shell of any atom is called the valence shell. When the valence electron in
any atom gains sufficient energy from some outside force, it can break away from the
parent atom and become what is called a free electron.

Pictured here is an atom of copper, which is much more complex than either an
atom of hydrogen or helium.

Atoms with few electrons in their valence shell tend to have more free electrons since these
valence electrons are more loosely bound to the nucleus. In some materials like copper, the
electrons are so loosely held by the atom and so close to the neighboring atoms that it is
difficult to determine which electron belongs to which atom. Under these conditions, the
valence or free electrons tend to drift randomly from one atom to its neighboring atoms.
Under normal conditions the movement of the electrons is truly random, meaning they are
moving in all directions by the same amount. However, if some outside force acts upon the
material, this flow of electrons can be directed through materials and this flow is called
electrical current. Materials that have free electrons and allow electrical current to flow
easily are called conductors. Many materials do not have any free electrons. Because of
this fact, they do not tend to share their electrons very easily and do not make good
conductors of electrical currents. These materials are called insulators. There will be more
information on this later.

Chapter II: SOURCES OF ELECTRICITY, CHARGES, AND STATIC ELECTRICITY

Static Electricity
Static electricity is an electric charge built up on persons or objects through friction. It is
most familiar as an occasional annoyance in seasons of low humidity, but can be
destructive and harmful in some situations. When working in direct contact with integrated

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circuits electronics, or in the presence of flammable gas, care must be taken to avoid
accumulating and discharging static electricity.

Static electricity is electricity that does not flow in a current. Static electricity is generated
by rubbing two nonmagnetic objects together. The friction between the two objects
generates attraction because the substance with an excess of electrons transfers them to
the positively-charged substance. Usually, substances that don't conduct current electricity
(insulators) are good at holding a charge. These substances may include rubber, plastic,
glass or pitch. The electrons that are transferred are stored on the surface of an object.

Materials Causing Charges

Static electricity is created by putting certain materials together and then pulling them
apart causes excess electrical charges to be created on their surfaces. This can be done by
pushing them together and pulling them apart or by rubbing the materials together, which
is the main way it is created.

Excess Of Charges

Most matter is electrically neutral. That means its atoms and molecules have the same
number of electrons as protons. If a material somehow obtains extra electrons and attaches
them to the atom's outer orbits or shells, that material has a negative ( - ) charge.
Likewise, if a material loses electrons, it has an excess of positive (+) charges. The electric
field from the excess of charges then causes the electric effects of attraction, repulsion or a
spark (lightning).

Stealing Electrons

According to Solar System Model (or Bohr Model) of the atom, electrons are in orbits or
shells around the nucleus. A maximum number of electrons are allowed in each orbit.
Forces in each atom seek to reach that maximum number, such that if an element is just
one electron short of the maximum amount in its outer orbit, it would try to "steal" an
electron from another element that may be just starting its outer orbit. This is the basis of
chemical reactions.

Adhesive Molecular Force

That force will also tend to hold two different materials together. In that situation, the force
is called the adhesive molecular force. When different materials are pressed together and
then pulled apart, the adhesive molecular force pulls electrons from material unto the other.
This creates the phenomenon.

You can see this effect with a piece of Scotch tape or similar tape. First verify that it is not
attracted to your finger. Then stick it to some surface and then pull it off. Put you finger
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near the tape and it will now be attracted to your finger, showing that there is an excess of
charges on the tape.

Despite their small size, protons and electrons carry an electrical charge. Protons carry a
"positive" charge, while electrons carry a "negative" energy charge.

Usually, the two different charges balance each other out, and nothing happens. But when
two objects with like charges (all positive or all negative) come together, the charges repel
and the objects move away from each other. Objects with opposite charges attract each
other because the different charges want to enter a state of balance with each other.

Objects can get a negative charge by picking up electrons from other objects. For example,
when your shoes scuff against the rug, your shoes are actually picking up electrons from
the rug. The electrons fly over your body, giving you a negative charge.

Your new electrons fly over your body because they are looking for a positive charge. If you
touch a metal doorknob, the electrons on your body will leap into the metal, attracted by
the protons there. The transfer of electrons is actually a small electrical current, and
produces the tiny electric shock you feel.

Lightning is similar, except on a much bigger scale. Both lightning and static electricity
happens because of the attraction between the opposite charges.

Not friction
Although your can create it by pressing materials together and pulling them apart, rubbing
them together works even better, except in the case of something sticky like tape.

One unfortunate result from saying that rubbing materials creates this phenomenon is that
most people think that friction causes the charges to build up. It is not friction that causes
the spark, rather it is the adhesive forces that pull off electrons.

Dry human skin and rabbit fur have the greatest tendency to give up electrons when
rubbed on something and become positively ( + ) charged. Teflon and vinyl have the
greatest tendency to become negatively charged ( - ) when rubbed. If you want to create a
charge, rubbing fur on teflon should give the best results.

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