ELEC 225:
Circuit Theory I

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Bucknell University Course Catalog Description

"DC circuits, steady state analysis, impedance concepts, operational amplifiers, power calculations."

Detailed Description

More specifically, this course introduces students to the basic concepts used in all of the subdisciplines of electrical and computer engineering, and it lays the groundwork for all subsequent required courses, elective courses, and the senior design project. Therefore, it is of fundamental importance.

The course reviews and expands on some of the topics introduced in ELEC 120. These include:

• Ohm's law
• DC power calculations
• Kirchhoff's laws
• Parallel and series combinations of resistors, capacitors, and inductors
• Nodal (and possibly mesh) analysis
• Superposition and linearity
• Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits and source transformations
• Maximum power transfer theorem
• Operational amplifiers

The course also introduces many important new topics, including:

• Sinusoidally time-varying (AC) voltage and current
• Phasor notation and analysis
• Impedance and admittance
• Ohm's law for impedances and admittance
• Nodal (and possibly mesh) analysis for impedances and admittances
• Frequency-dependent behavior of circuits
• AC power calculations

The mathematical analysis software package Matlab is used throughout the course for solving certain problems and displaying results. The circuit analysis program Multisim might also be introduced and incorporated into several assignments. An important ingredient for the successful completion of the course is a good understanding of complex arithmetic and basic calculus.

Prerequisites and Corequisites

ELEC 120 is the prerequisite and MATH 211 is the corequisite for the course. Other courses or previous technical experience may be substituted for these courses only by permission of the instructor.

Class Meeting Times and Locations

For Fall 2013, the lecture portion of the course is scheduled to meet Monday and Wednesday 10:00-10:52 am in Breakiron 065. The lab sections are scheduled to meet Tuesday or Thursday 8:00-10:52 am in Dana 305 and will be taught by Prof. Cheville. Lab sections will meet roughly every other week; the exact schedule will be announced at the beginning of the semester.

Course Outcomes

A student who successfully completes this course should be able to:

1. Calculate voltages and currents in circuits built around ideal op-amps.
2. Find the phasor representations of voltages and currents in AC circuits by applying fundamental circuit analysis tools such as Ohm's law, KVL, KCL, and the voltage and current divider formulas.
3. Calculate the equivalent impedance of a network of resistors, capacitors, and inductors.
4. Apply the phasor form of nodal analysis to find voltages and currents in AC circuits.
5. Find Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits in both the DC and AC cases.
6. Determine the time-average real and reactive power absorbed or supplied by individual circuit elements in AC circuits.
7. Specify a capacitor of an appropriate value to correct (fully or partially) the power factor of an inductive load.
8. Write basic Matlab scripts to automate complicated calculations.