Electrical units

for people who want to learn basic electricity, electronics, and communications concepts without taking a formal course.

• The volt
• Current flow
• The ampere
• Resistance and the ohm
• Conductance and the siemens
• Power and the watt
• Energy and the watt hour
• Other energy units
• AC Waves and the hertz
• Rectification and fluctuating direct current
• Safety considerations in electrical work
• Magnetism
• Magnetic units

Resistors

• Purpose of the resistor
• The carbon-composition resistor
• The wirewound resistor
• Film type resistors
• Integrated- circuit resistors
• The potentiometer
• The decibel
• The rheostat
• Resistor values
• Tolerance
• Power rating
• Temperature compensation
• The color code

Alternating current basics

• Definition of alternating current
• Period and frequency
• The sine wave
• The square wave
• Sawtooth waves
• Complex and irregular waveforms
• Frequency spectrum
• Little bits of a cycle
• Phase difference
• Amplitude of alternating current
• Superimposed direct current
• The ac generator
• Why ac?

Inductance

• The property of inductance
• Practical inductors
• The unit of inductance
• Inductors in series
• Inductors in parallel
• Interaction among inductors
• Effects of mutual inductance
• Air-core coils
• Powdered-iron and ferrite cores
• Permeability tuning
• Toroids
• Pot cores
• Filter chokes
• Inductors at audio frequency
• Inductors at radio frequency
• Unwanted inductances

Capacitance

• The property of capacitance
• Practical capacitors
• The unit of capacitance
• Capacitors in series
• Capacitors in parallel
• Dielectric materials
• Paper capacitors
• Mica capacitors
• Ceramic capacitors
• Plastic-film capacitors
• Electrolytic capacitors
• Tantalum capacitors
• Semiconductor capacitors
• Variable capacitors
• Tolerance
• Temperature coefficient
• Interelectrode capacitance