BR ADL E Y DE P ART ME NT O F EL E CT RICA L AND CO MP UT ER E NG IN E ER ING

ECE 3054: Electrical Theory

Fall 2014, 118A Surge, Section 82289, MWF, 12:20 1:10PM
Instructor: Dr. Robert Broadwater
Email: dew@vt.edu (please indicate 3054 in the subject line)
Office: 349 Durham
Office Hours

MF 11:00am 12:00Noon, and by appointment

Scholar: Grades may be accessed on scholar (https://scholar.vt.edu/). Students are responsible for all
information posted on course web sites. Students are also responsible for all announcements made in class.
GTAs and Graders: There will be no GTA assigned to 3054. There is a support group of GTAs. The GTAs can
be consulted in 255 Whittemore Hall. The office hours for the GTA support group will be announced as soon
as they become available.
If you feel that an error has been made in the grading of an assignment or an exam, you must present the
work along with a written appeal to the instructor within one week after the graded work is returned to you.
Grades will not be changed after the one week period. Appeals should address specific grading errors -negotiations over partial credit will not be considered. If your score was added up incorrectly, please let me
know immediately.
Required Materials (for the lecture component of 3054)
Allan R. Hambley, Electrical Engineering Principles and Applications, 5th edition, Prentice-Hall. xv, 830
pages, 2010.
MATLAB (version provided with the freshman engineering software package)
Computer: Students are expected to have a tablet PC meeting college requirements.
NOTE: Additional materials are required for the laboratory component of this course.
Course Objective: This course is designed as an introductory course to the fundamental principles of electrical
engineering for students not majoring in electrical or computer engineering. It is necessary to grasp the
material in this course in order to continue in the other ECE courses designed for non-electrical engineers
(e.g., 3254). This course introduces the basic circuit elements and teaches modeling and analysis skills.
Having completed this course, the student should be familiar with the laws and theorems of network analysis
and should have sufficient background to continue in more advanced courses dealing with electronics,
controls, instrumentation, and rotating machinery.
Major, Measurable Learning Objectives
Analyze the steady state and transient response of simple electric circuits
Analyze a general class of electric circuits with R, L, and C components.
Develop the Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits
Use differential equations to solve basic circuit problems.
Obtain the frequency response (transfer) function for simple circuits.
Prerequisites: Physics 2306.
Co-rerequisites: Math 2214 Differential Equations.
Grading: Extra credit will be given for pop quizzes.
Tests
Final Exam

60%
40%

Topics and Chapters from Hambley:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Introduction
Resistive Circuits
Inductance and Capacitance
Transients
Steady-State Sinusoidal Analysis
Frequency Response, Bode Plots, and Resonance

Chapter
1
2
3
4
5
6

Lectures: Not attending class (or not paying attention in class, or sleeping through class etc.) is not a valid
excuse for missing any information distributed in class. You are responsible for all announcements made in
class. There may be announcements made in class that are not posted to the course Web site. If you must
miss class, you are responsible for obtaining the notes from a classmate. Cell phones must be silenced
during class.
Exams
All pop quizzes/tests/exams are closed book. Some formulas will be provided.
Students are expected to take all tests during the announced time periods NO makeup tests will be given!
If you miss a test for a reason that has been approved in advance, the weighting of your final exam will be
increased by the weight of the missed test. Missed tests without prior approval or without notes from a
medical doctor or the Deans office will be scored as zero.
How to Pass This Course
Read the text
Work out examples as you read the text
Attend class. If you miss a lecture, make arrangements to obtain copies of the lecture notes from a
classmate.
Do the homework
Ask questions in class
Bring questions to the GTAs.
Honor Code
Honesty in your academic work develops into professional integrity. The Honor Code will be strictly enforced
in this course. All aspects of your course work are covered by the Honor System. All examinations,
homework, and tests are expected to be your own individual work. Report any suspected violations of the
Honor Code promptly. Discussion and cooperative learning on general topics covered in the course are
encouraged. However, using another person's solution, design, implementation, computer program or files
and/or other specific results are prohibited and will be considered an Honor Code violation.
Special Needs
Students requiring accommodations should see the instructor during the first week of classes. This includes
accommodation for disabilities and religious/ethnic holiday conflicts. Accommodations for disabilities are
handled by the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office. Accommodations for illness are handled
by Schiffert Health Center (a receipt of having been there is not sufficient), and those for personal or family
emergencies are handled by the Dean of Students.