Basic Electrical

Components and
Electric Circuits

Network
Electric Circuit

Network
The interconnection of two or more simple circuits.
If the network contains at least one closed path, it is also
an electric circuit
Note: Every circuit is a network, but not all networks are
circuits

Nodes, branch, Loop

Node A point/junction which two or more elements have a

common connection.
Branch The part of a network which lies between two
juntions/nodes.
Loop Is a close path in a circuit in which no element or node is
encountered more than once.

Resistor (R)
Resistor - is a circuit element or a simple passive element
designed to have a known resistance.
Resistance The property of an electric circuit tending to
prevent the flow of current and at the same time causes
electric energy to be converted to heat.
Circuit Symbol:

Example
Brown Black Blue Gold = 10 M, 5% tolerance

Orange Blue Red = 35 k, 5% tolerance

Capacitor (C)
A device that stores charge.
A capacitor is constructed of two parallel conducting
plates of area A, separated by a distance d.
Circuit Symbol:

Inductor (L)

A physical inductor may be constructed by winding a

length of wire into a coil this serves effectively increase
the current that is causing the magnetic field.
Circuit Symbol:

Diode
A diode is a circuit component that allows current to flow
much more easily in one direction than in the other. It is a
semiconductor device.
Circuit Symbol:

Transformer
A transformer is an electrical machine that transfers or
converts electrical energy into another electrical energy
specifically with a change in voltage but without a
change in frequency.
Circuit Symbol:

Fuse
A fuse is both a sensing and interrupting device, but not
a switching device.
It is connected in series with the circuit and responds to
thermal effects produced by the circuit flowing through it.
Circuit Symbol:

Measuring Instrument

Multimeter

A multimeter or multi tester also known as VOM (VoltOhm meter or Volt-Ohm multi-ammeter), is an electronic
measuring instrument that combines several
measurement functions in one unit.
A typical multimeter can measure voltage, current and
resistance.

Ohmmeter
An ohmmeter is an electrical instrument that measures
electrical resistance, the opposition to an electric
current.

Voltmeter
A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring
electrical potential difference between two points in an
electric circuit.
Circuit Symbol:

Galvanometer
A galvanometer is a type of sensitive ammeter.
Circuit Symbol: