431-103 Electrical Circuits 1

Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of electrical and electronic engineering. At the completion of the subject students will develop skills in designing and analysing linear circuits comprising electrical and electronic components.

Topics covered: fundamental electrical quantities (current, voltage, power); circuit elements (resistors, voltage and current sources); basic circuit laws (Ohm's law Kirchoff's laws, voltage and current division); analysis of passive networks (using node voltage analysis and superposition); Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuits; capacitators and inductors (characteristics and combination); transient response of first-order circuits (RC and RL); sinusoidal sources (phasor representation); AC impedance and admittance of capacitors and inductors; AC steady state characteristics and analysis of passive RLC networks; mutual inductance and the ideal transformer; basic introduction to the diode and its characteristics; load-line analysis of diode circuits; simple diode circuits (limiter); diode rectification; amplifier concepts (inverting, noninverting, voltage current and power gain); introduction to the ideal opamp and feedback; basic opamp circuits (inverting, non-inverting, follower, summing, integrators and differentiators)

• ability to apply knowledge of basic science and engineering fundamentals

• in-depth technical competence in at least one engineering discipline

• ability to undertake problem identification, formulation and solution

• ability to utilise a systems approach to design and operational performance

• understanding of the principles of sustainable design and development

• understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities and commitment to them

• expectation of the need to undertake lifelong learning, capacity to do so

• capacity for independent critical thought, rational inquiry and self-directed learning

Tutorial attendance (5%) and 5 assignments (10% in total) of maximum total length 30 pages, due fortnightly through the semester; laboratory reports from 4 practical classes, (15% in total); and a 3-hour closed book written examination during the end-of-semester examination period (70%).