ELECTRICITY IS LIKE WATER

LEVELS OF UNDERSTANDING

How much do you need to know?
To own a car you do not need to understand the details
of internal combustion engines, but the details leak

out : gasoline, oil, batteries
To do electronics you don't need a degree in materials
science or solid state physics, but the details
sometimes leak out : voltage, current, Ohms Law,
etc.
This session and the next are what we think you'll need
to know to begin to have an intuitive grasp over the
field of electronics.

ELECTRICITY
Think of electricity flowing like water in a pipe
The analogy to water is not perfect, but it helps.
Electrons are present and quite moveable in
every conductor.
Electricity is the ordered flow of electrons in a
conductor.
VOLTAGE AND CURRENT

Voltage is like water pressure
Measured in Volts, V
Current is like water volume
Measured in Amps, A
1/1000th of an Amp is a milliamp – mA
Power is Voltage x Current
Measured in Watts, W
1/1000th of a Watt is a milliwatt mW
RESISTANCE

Almost everything that conducts electricity has
a resistance. It doesn’t conduct it perfectly.
Resistance is measured in Ohms (W)
1000W = 1kW 1,000,000W = 1MW
OHMS LAW