This course introduces the basic concepts of electronic and electrical circuit analysis to level 1 students. By the end of the course students are able to analyse complex networks of resistors, inductors and capacitors subject to both direct (non-time-varying) and alternating voltages and currents. This material is fundamental to any future investigations of electronic or electrical systems.

2 lectures per week

None

None

15% Online Exam - Mid-term theory examination

35% Written Exam

15% Written Assignment - Group Design Project

5% Lab 1 Report

5% Lab 2 Report

20% 4 Online Tutorials

5% Post lecture tutorial questions

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification.  For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students.  Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade.  Any such exceptions for this course are described below"

Assessed tutorials are automated and completed online with staged hints. They are subsequently re-opened to students as revision exercises, with answers, before the final exam. They cannot therefore be reassessed. Lab work and group design projects are based on group work or organised labs session, and these elements cannot be reassessed. 

The aim of this course is to introduce the basic concepts of analogue electronic circuits and to apply these concepts to d.c. and a.c. circuits.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ describe the fundamental electrical properties of charge, current, voltage, potential, and power in terms familiar to each Engineering Discipline, and be able to translate between units of these properties;

■ define Ohm's Law and Kirchhoff's Current and Voltage Laws;

■ apply these laws to obtain unknown currents and voltages in networks of resistors, inductors, capacitors, current and voltage sources;

■ demonstrate how these laws can be applied to devise more powerful analysis tools such as Nodal Analysis;

■ calculate unknown currents and voltages in general networks through Nodal Analysis;

■ state Thévenin's and Norton's Theorems;

■ calculate the values of the Thévenin Voltage, Thévenin Resistance, Norton Current and Norton Resistance for any two port network;

■ apply Norton's and Thevenin's Theorems to the simplification of circuit analysis problems for two port networks;

■ analyse general a.c. networks using the complex representation of impedance;

■ define the fundamental properties of ideal op-amps;

■ calculate the voltage gain of common and novel amplification circuits built around ideal op-amps.

■ design circuits to meet practical challenges

■ work in a team to develop solutions to technical challenges

Students must attend both an online mid-term theory exam and in-person circuit design examination and submit at least 75% by weight of the other components of the course's summative assessment.

Students must attend the timetabled tutorials, and laboratory classes.

Students should attend at least 75% of the timetabled classes of the course.

Note that these are minimum requirements: good students will achieve far higher participation/submission rates. Any student who misses an assessment or a significant number of classes because of illness or other good cause should report this by completing a MyCampus absence report.