C. K. Alexander & M. N. O. Sadiku, Fundamentals of Electric Circuits, 7th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2021, Ch. 1.
Standard undergraduate circuit language for charge, current, voltage, power and energy.
EF-00
Course overview
Electrical quantities: charge, voltage, current, energy & power
Before Ohm, Kirchhoff or any circuit theorem, electronics needs a precise language. This course builds that language from the physical quantities themselves and connects each symbol to what can actually be observed or measured.
5 chaptersintroductory
Prerequisites
- Elementary algebra
- No prior circuit theory
By the end of the course
- Define charge, voltage, current, energy and power.
- Interpret signs and reference directions correctly.
- Connect SI units to physical quantities.
- Choose the correct basic voltage/current measurement connection.
Syllabus
Five readings that build the electrical vocabulary before any circuit law.
Before Ohm, Kirchhoff or any circuit theorem, electronics needs a precise language. This course builds that language from the physical quantities themselves and connects each symbol to what can actually be observed or measured.
- 01→
Electric charge and conservation
What charge is, how much one coulomb represents, and why circuit currents do not require charge to disappear.
75–100 min · Introductory - 02→
Electric potential and voltage
Voltage is a difference between two points, not a property floating at one node without a reference.
80–105 min · Introductory - 03→
Current as charge flow
Current measures how fast charge crosses a chosen section; it is not the speed of an electron.
75–100 min · Introductory - 04→
Energy and electrical power
Power tells us how quickly electrical energy is transferred; sign conventions decide whether a component absorbs or delivers it.
80–110 min · Introductory - 05→
First physical measurements
A voltage measurement compares two points; a current measurement interrogates a branch. The instrument is never conceptually outside the circuit.
75–100 min · Introductory
Reference backbone
References used
Each idea is cross-checked at several levels: BIPM for units and exact constants, Feynman/Griffiths for physical meaning, Agarwal–Lang/MIT and Alexander–Sadiku for the lumped-circuit abstraction, and Horowitz–Hill for practical measurement judgement. No later circuit theorem is assumed.
A. Agarwal & J. H. Lang, Foundations of Analog and Digital Electronic Circuits, Morgan Kaufmann, 2005, Ch. 1; MIT 6.002 lecture notes.
Lumped-circuit abstraction and the bridge from physical electrical quantities to circuit variables.
R. P. Feynman, R. B. Leighton & M. Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. II, §4-3 and §13-2.
Physical intuition for electric potential, current and conservation of charge.
D. J. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics, 4th ed., Pearson, 2013, Ch. 2.
Rigorous electrostatic potential and energy viewpoint; used only where the field language clarifies the circuit quantity.
BIPM, The International System of Units (SI Brochure), 9th ed., version updated 2026.
Authoritative SI definitions, exact elementary charge and electrical unit relationships.
MIT 6.200, Foundations and Vocabulary.
Independent pedagogical cross-check for electrical variables, reference directions and passive-sign power bookkeeping.
P. Horowitz & W. Hill, The Art of Electronics, 3rd ed., Cambridge University Press, Ch. 1.
Practical intuition for sources, loads and real measurement consequences.