THE INSTITUTION OF ENGTNEERS, SRI LANKA

Engineering Certifi cate Course

Stage I Examination
GEL002-Basic Electrical Engineering
This paper consists of SEVEN questions
questions carry equal marks

Time allowed: THREE Hours ONLY

All

FM

Answer

questions ONLY

Permeability of free space po

:4

n x l0'7 Wm

Permittivity of free space %:8.854

Q1.

a)

l0-12 F/m

Kirchhoffls Voltage Law and Kirchhoff s Current Law.

b). Consider the circuit given in figure Qla.
i. Find the value of total resistance ofthe circuit
ii. Find the value of Rz
iii. Find the voltage drop and the power dissipated in each resistor
State the

[4 marksJ
[6 marksJ

Rr = 3"3 k(]

E =,f5

\r

*:
Figure
c).

= 5'6 k{}

Qla

Consider the circuit given in figure Q1b.

Determine the current values ( h Iz, It, Iq and
Comment about the fuse status.

i.
ii.

[8 marksJ

Ir)

l+

l5A fuse

R3
.R1

48 {)

P= 1000W
Figure

Page 1 of 5

Qlb

d).

Find the equivalent current source for the voltage source given in figure

Qlc'
[2 marksJ

Figure

Q2.

Qlc

Thevenin's theorem'
[4 marksJ
theorem.
b). Find the voltage drop across each resistor in Figure Q2a by superposition
[6 marksJ
Rr
a).

State the Superposition theorem and the

fr3

750

ft1

680

()

{}
16v
Figure Q2a

c).

Consider the circuit given in figure Q2b

Find the Thevenin's equivalent circuit between aD
Determine the voltage across Rr when Rr:lOkO

i.
ii.

fis

E3

5kO 6Y
fil E]

E1

t0v

Figure Q2b

Page 2 of 5

[10 marlrsJ

Q3.
a).

[6 marksJ

Briefly explain the followings

i. Resonance of a RLC series circuit
ii. Quality factor (Q-factor) in terms of energy

b). A coil ofresistance 2C) and inductance l0mH, a capacitor of lpF are connected in
series with a resistor of 8O across a variable frequency source of l0V. Find
following quantities.

[2 marksJ
[2 marks]
[4 marksJ
[4 marl<sJ
[2 markrJ

i. Resonant frequency
ii. Total impedance at resonance

iii.

Voltages across the inductor and the capacitor

iv. Reactive power consumption of inductor and capacitor
v. Q factor ofthe circuit at resonance

Q4.

a)

Briefly explain the following.

i. Amphere's law in magnetic circuit theory
ii. B-H Curve of magnetic material

b)

Consider the magnetic circuit shown in figure Q4a. If the core is cast iron and the
required magnetic flux is, 0 0.1 mWb. The mean length abcda is 0.25 m and

[6 marksJ

cross section is 0.2 x10-3 m2. The coil has 500 tums. Determine the required coil
[8 marks]
current. B-H curve for cast iron is given in Table

Q4.

c)

An air gap of 0.008 m is cut in the core given in part b) as shown in Figure Q4b.
Determine how much the current must increase to maintain the original core flux.
Use permeabilityof airgap pe:7.96 x105 H/m fortheairgap.
[6 marksJ

1
TF

? = *.S08 m

Figure Q4b

Figure Q4a
Table Q4

B (T)
H (At/m)

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

300

500

750

1050

Page 3 of 5

0.5
1

550

0.6

0.64

2700

4100

Qs.

a)

Consider the RLC series circuit given in Figure Q5a.

Find total impedance Zr,I, Vp, V1, and Vc.
Sketch the phasor diagram showing I, Vp, V;, and Vc.

i.
ii.

[6 marksJ
[4 marksJ

Vy.

xL

E:

120Y10"

soo

vr

{g
Yx

Figure Q5a

electrical utility has a 600V, 300kVA capacity. It supplies a factory load

with the power factor angle of 360 as shown in Figure Q5b. This fully loads the
utility. If a power factor correcting capacitor bank is added to corect the load to
unity power factor, how much more power (at unity power factor) can the utility
fi0 marlcsl
sell to other customers?

b) A small

600

u------aJ

Electric

Factorv loads

utility
300

kvA

capacity
Figure Q5b

Page 4 of 5

Q6.

a)

Briefly explain the following with appropriate examples

i. Faraday's law of induction

ii.

b)

Self-inductance and mutual-inductance

[4 marksJ
[4 marksJ

in all the branches' The

For the circuit shown in Figure Q6, determine the currents

Mtz, Mzr and M31

mutual inductances between the inductances L1, Lz andL3 ate
:0'36R Rz: R;: R Xlt :xr'z = Xr:: l'2 R '
The component values are R1
'
'
[12 marks]
Xvtz: Xuzr: Xu3t : R and E/R = 7'

Lt

.,---\.
lo,rp

I )

Figure Q6

Q7.

a)

Briefly explain followings with appropriate examples

i. Coulomb's law
ii- Gauss's Law

b)

A 5 pF capacitor is charged

[2 marlcs]
[2 marks]

so that the potential difference between its plates is

discharge current
800 V. Calculate how long the capacitor can provide an average

[4 marlrs]

of 2 mA.

of
6 pF capacitors are connected in series with one having a capacitance
capacitance must be
12pF. Find the total equivalent circuit capacitance. what
[4 marks]
added in series to obtain a capacitance of 1'2 trrF'
is 0.2 pF and to take a
d) A capacitor is to be constructed so that its capacitance
is to be mica
potential difference of 1.25 kV across its terminals. The dielectric
50 MV/m'
allowing a safety factor of 2, has a dielectric strength of

c) Two

which, after
Find

i. the thickness of the mica needed'

ii. the area of a plate assuming a two-plate construction. (Assume
be

6).

Page 5 of 5

[4 marks]
e. for mica to
[4 marlu]