Electric Circuit

Contents

Electric Circuits

A circuit is a closed network of different electrical components arranged and connected in a way such that they give the desired output.

For a light bulb to glow, for the kitchen grinder to work properly, for the AC & Fan to work properly and for every electrical appliance which has to do a particular task, they should be connected in a circuit. A circuit has many components such as the Source, Resistor, Capacitor, Inductor, connecting wires, Grounding etc. And when all of this is connected properly and in a manner they lead the final appliance to work as we want it to.

Electrical source

An electrical source is where the circuit gets its electrical energy from. We know that every electrical device/component requires voltage and current to work, the required voltage and current are supplied to us by the electrical source.

There are different types of sources which supply different types of current. A battery supplies current which does not change at any time. And the wall socket we have at our homes provides a current which keeps changing every second.

For the TV remote to work we put inside some batteries. These batteries supply the current and voltage which is required by the TV remote to work properly. The wall clock in our homes also has batteries which give it the necessary current and voltage which help the clock to display the time correctly.

Connecting Wires

Connecting Wires even though the wall socket in our houses provides us with voltage and current it is not exactly a source. A source is something that generates electrical energy and the real electrical source is very very far away from our homes. The electrical energy generated there comes to the wall sockets in our home by a very complex network of connecting wires which are very huge and carry a huge amount of electrical energy in them.

In the same way, the electrical energy travels from the real source to the wall sockets of our houses with the help of some wires. In an electrical circuit, the source of that electrical circuit should provide the voltage and current to all the components of the circuit so that the circuit works properly.

The TV remote has the batteries as the source and inside the remote the are many wires and conductors which supply the current and voltage from the batteries to all the components in the remote. The computer we use has a long cable(wire) which is inserted inside the wall socket and it draws electrical energy (current and voltage) from the socket and distributes it inside the computer so that it works properly.

Grounding

We all know that Current requires a closed path to flow and current flows from the higher potential that is positive to lower potential that is negative. The path followed by the current is as follows

Positive of source –> Device/Electrical component –> Negative of source

The path followed by the Current to the negative of the source is called the return path. It is the path where the current returns to the source. And the return path in circuits with batteries connects the electrical component to the negative of the battery. The return path in the components using the source as the wall sockets has a connection which connects the component to the very far place where the electricity is generated. And this connection is called “Grounding”. As the name suggests, grounding connects the component to Ground. It is connected to ground because Ground has zero potential.

Grounding is a very necessary part of the circuit. All the current we send into the circuit is not used up, the current just flows through the circuit and this flow of current makes the device/component/machine work. And we know that current cannot be stored, it has to go to someplace and as Ground has zero potential, it will absorb any number of electrons (current) we give to it. That is why grounding is very important.

We know that Lightning is also a form of Current. And the current flowing when lightning occurs is very very high, as Ground has zero potential all the current flows to the Ground. When something like a tree or a building comes in the path of the lightning, all the current it carries (which is very high) flows through that which is in its path and completely destroys. To protect our houses and the building we live in, the whole building is connected to ground. And if lightning strikes our house, all the current directly goes to the ground and we stay safe. That is why Grounding is very important.

Grounding Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors: We know that the food we cook requires all the spices, the vegetables, salt and other ingredients which make the food. If we miss any ingredient, the food is not called a complete food.

In the same way, an electrical circuit requires three basic components called Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors which complete the circuit. Every electrical circuit HAS TO HAVE THESE THREE BASIC COMPONENTS.