section 1-1 Current and Voltage资料.pptVIP

* Chapter 1 Fundamentals of Electric Circuits Section 1 Current and Voltage Text New Words and Expressions Exercises End Section1 Current and Voltage Two variables u(t) and i(t) are the most basic concepts in an electric circuit, they characterize the various relationships in an electric circuit. Charge and Current The concept of electric charge is the underlying principle for explaining all electrical phenomena. Also, the most basic quantity in an electric circuit is the electric charge. Charge is an electrical property of the atomic particles of which matter consists, measured in coulombs (C). Section1 Current and Voltage We know from elementary physics that all matter is made of fundamental building blocks known as atoms and that each atom consists of electrons, protons, and neutrons. We also know that the charge e on an electron is negative and equal in magnitude to 1.60210×10?19C, while a proton carries a positive charge of the same magnitude as the electron. The presence of equal numbers of protons and electrons leaves an atom neutrally charged. Section1 Current and Voltage We consider the flow of electric charges. A unique feature of electric charge or electricity is the fact that it is mobile; that is, it can be transferred from one place to another, where it can be converted to another form of energy. When a conducting wire is connected to a battery (a source of electromotive force), the charges are compelled to move; positive charges move in one direction while negative charges move in the opposite direction. This motion of charges creates electric current. It is conventional to take the current Section1 Current and Voltage flow as the movement of positive charges, that is, opposite to the flow of negative charges, as Fig.l-1 illustrates. This convention was introduced by Benjamin Franklin (l706～l790), the American scientist and inventor. Although we now know that current in metallic conductors is due to negatively charged ele