ELECTRICAL CURRENT

An electrical current is a transport of electrical charge; more precisely it is the rate of charge transport, i.e., how much charge is transported per unit time. The unit with which currents are quantified is the ampere, defined as a transport of 1 coulomb of charge per second. The range over which currents are measured is enormous; a current of 1 picoampere is of significance in connection with semiconductor memory devices, and currents of thousands of amperes are found in power devices. One of the general aims of a circuit analysis is the determination of the currents flowing in different parts of a circuit, and from this the cumulative effect of charges transported. In more advanced work, for example, for example that associated with antennas and microwaves, there are circumstances where the charge distribution changes significantly in nanosecond time intervals, radiation effects can become important and details of the charge distribution in space must be considered. This is not so for the work in this course (and indeed for much of electrical and electronic circuit analysis). Radiation effects aside electrical charge typically flows within restricted boundaries, within a wire for example. In general details of the charge distribution within the wire can be ignored to a very high degree of approximation, and attention focused solely on the total charge transport. This provides an enormous simplification in the analysis procedure, both conceptually and analytically. The nature of this approximation is illustrated in the figure drawn to the right. The upper drawing represents a length of wire connecting location A to location B; other parts of the electrical circuit are not shown. Electrical charge flows in at A, and proceeds to B. If the conduction process itself were to be studied then the geometry of the charge distribution within the wire, the material properties of the wire, and the details of the geometrydependent Coulomb forces would have to be considered. Fortunately these are details we need not consider. For us it is sufficient to draw a curve from A to B merely to indicate there is an electrical connection between the two locations. The curve geometry doesn't matter; whatever is pretty or preferably convenient will do. The curve indicates only the existence of a connection, and nothing about its geometry. In addition it is sufficient to describe only the total current entering at A and exiting at B; how the charge flow is distributed across the wire cross-section along the path is not relevant. For our purpose the description of an electrical current along a path must provide for just two distinct aspects of a flow of electrical charge; the rate at which (total) charge is transported, and from where the charge is obtained and to where it is conveyed. The first attribute is important because the strength of electrical effects vary with the amount of charge involved in producing the effect, and the larger the rate of transport the more the amount of charge involved in a given time. The second attribute is important because, after all, removing charge from one place has a different consequence than adding charge at that same place, since changing the amount of charge changes the strength of effects produced by that charge. In many (generally most) interesting circumstances neither of these attributes is known initially; they must be calculated in terms of a specific electrical circuit, i.e., the particular devices and the particular topology of the current flow paths. It follows then that a useful method of description of the current Circuits Electrical Current 1 M H Miller

must not depend on knowledge of the actual current. The method of description must be able to properly describe different currents in a circuit relative to whatever circuit is being considered. The descriptive format commonly used is derived from important basic properties of electrical current flow as used in circuit analysis. In the sketch above the current Iin represents the total charge transport through the shaded cross-section of the flow path. Similarly Iout represents the total charge transport out of the shaded cross-section at the other end. Because electrical charge is not observed either to be created or to be destroyed spontaneously (Law of Conservation of Electrical Charge), and because there is neither a source introducing additional charge between the two cross-sections nor is there a 'sink' extracting charge, as much charge must exit per unit time as enters, i.e., Iout = Iin. If this were not so there would be a continual change, either an accumulation or a reduction of charge in the wire. Actually the equality is not precisely true as stated. Charge transport occurs at a finite speed. Hence an increase in current into the tube, for example, does not result in an immediate increase in current out of the tube. Thus there can be a temporary increase of charge in the tube (or a temporary decrease, if the input current is decreased.) However as a practical matter this temporary storage because of a transport delay is completely negligible until significant current changes occur very rapidly. Any temporary charge transport imbalance of this sort is relieved before the circuit has time to respond noticeably. By and large it is only when things are changing fast enough to involve electromagnetic radiation considerations that it is necessary to turn to a more precise fundamental theory for a more complete accounting. There is a fundamental significance to the conclusion reached. Except for very fast-changing currents involving electromagnetic radiation, circumstances which are set aside for consideration in much more advanced courses, there is no need to be concerned with details of the current transport along the path. Of course physical considerations such as wire size and wiring geometry are important when a circuit actually is being built. (Indeed many other physical considerations are important. For example, are circuit components and wiring fastened down well enough so that a sudden deceleration won't dislarge them; several 'g's' of deceleration are involved when a circuit board simply falls from a table top to the floor.) But for purposes of circuit analysis, i.e., the calculation of circuit current, we are concerned only with the total current conveyed in the wire, and the points of the circuit between which the charge is transported. Details of the spatial distribution of charge across the wire, the size of the wire, and the geometry of the wire path, and all else simply are suppressed. Only topological information is involved. Thus the simplified drawing of a current path as a curve is sufficient to indicate that the current path is between points A and B, and carries a total current I which is the same everywhere at every crosssection along the path. The precise contour used for the line indicating the 'from' and 'to' points of the flow doesn't matter in the presentation of the information (except of course in so far clarity is a consideration). An incidental benefit of this is that a circuit diagram used to analyze the circuit need not be (and in fact rarely is) a representation of the actual circuit geometry. Square corners often make for neat diagrams but they don't mean the actual current flow makes right-angle bends. With the representation of a current flow reduced to drawing a curve between two points it remains only to indicate how much current flows (anywhere along the line), and which is the 'from' end of the path and which is the 'to' end. The alphabetic character I (from the French word Intensit) is used commonly as an algebraic symbol for current, and the magnitude of I is the amount of current flowing. It remains to consider how to describe the direction of the current flow. Circuits Electrical Current 2 M H Miller

Insofar as the direction of the charge transport is concerned there is just a binary choice between a flow from A->B, or the converse flow from B->A. Several methods are used to indicate this, with a specific choice depending on whatever seems convenient. For example subscripts may be added to the current symbol to indicate the 'from-to' polarity. Thus IAB, by general convention, refers to a current from A to B, whereas IBA is the converse flow. Perhaps most commonly a polarity 'marker' is attached to the current path to distinguish between the two directions of current flow; usually the marker is an arrow either drawn proximate to the current path, or an arrowhead simply added directly onto the current path. It is most important to understand that the arrow does not indicate the direction of an actual current flow, any more than an arrow on a one-way street means cars never travel in a direction opposite to the direction in which the arrow points. Moreover, as has been pointed out, the actual direction of the current flow generally will not be known initially. The arrow merely provides a convenient directional reference for such usage as in the phrases ' current flows in the direction of the arrow', or 'current flows in the direction opposite to the arrow', or 'I don't know yet whether current will flow in the direction of the arrow or opposite to the direction of the arrow'. Now assume just for the moment that the actual current flow is known (somehow), and that known information is to be described. The convention used is to attach a + sign to the current magnitude if the flow is in the direction of the arrow, and a - sign if it is in the other direction. As is usual arithmetic practice the + sign generally is omitted; if the sign is not explicitly '-' it is assumed to be '+'. Thus the two current descriptions drawn to the right both describe exactly the same current flow of 5 amperes from A to B. We also might write IAB = 5 ampere and IBA = -5 ampere. The differences here lie not in what is being described, but in the manner of description. When the actual current is not known simply treat the algebraic variable I as a '+' quantity, i.e., +I is the current assumed to be flowing in the direction of the arrow. When a numerical value is calculated for the current it will turn out automatically be consistent with the convention. If the calculated value of I is, for example, -5 amperes the interpretation of this is that the current magnitude is 5 amperes and the direction of flow is opposite to the arrow direction. There is another self-consistency in the current description that we mention here, although it will not have much application in this course. There are two kinds of electricity, and the direction of current flow in a given context depends on which type is involved in the transport. A flow of '+' electricity in the direction of the polarity arrow corresponds to a '+' current, while a flow of '-' electricity corresponds to a '-' current flow. All circuit calculations then automatically 'work out' correctly. Consideration of the type of electricity involved normally isn't needed unless one is considering detailed physical phenomena in a circuit component. As is discussed later all these considerations are 'lumped' into a device description that suppresses the need for this detail. The sketch to the right represents an arbitrary volume of space enclosing an electrical circuit (the black blob) into or out of which currents from several sources are flowing. For simplicity all polarity reference arrows are chosen to point into the volume; a uniform choice is often convenient because it simplifies remembering the polarity convention chosen to describe a particular current. Remember that the arrow does not indicate the direction of Circuits Electrical Current 3 M H Miller

actual current flow; it is only a directional polarity reference. Consider the current I1. The choice of the polarity arrow into the volume does not mean that the actual I1 current flow is into the volume; that depends on whether circuit details not shown cause I1 to have a '+' or a '-' value. Similarly for the other currents. A circuit analysis (not done here) establishes the actual current flows. It should not be difficult to recognize an extension of the conclusion based on the Law of Conservation of Charge reached earlier. The total algebraic current into a closed volume of space must be zero, as expressed by the summation superimposed on the 'blob'. Keep in mind always that the currents are algebraic variables and have an algebraic sign as well as a magnitude. Clearly if all currents actually flow into the volume then all the currents necessarily will have to have zero magnitude to be consistent with the Law of Conservation of Charge. An alternate expression of the same conclusion is that the sum of the currents flowing into a region of space is equal to the sum of currents leaving that volume of space. For some this may seem to be a clearer statement than the previous one. Note that individual currents in each sum can be negative numbers; it just depends on the (arbitrary) direction in which the polarity arrows are drawn. It is worth emphasizing yet again that the polarity arrow is not necessarily the direction in which the current actually flows. It is just a reference against which to describe the current direction. The conclusion that the algebraic sum of the currents into an arbitrary volume of space is zero is called Kirchoff's Current Law, or KCL to use jargon. It is one of just two general physical laws applicable to the analysis of electric circuits. As we shall see it is an essential constituent of a circuit analysis. A great part of the value of KCL lies in the fact that much of the physical detail of a circuit is suppressed. The actual wiring geometry is not needed to apply KCL, only the topology of the circuit. The volume of space into which the currents flow need only be a closed entity; the actual shape and extent of the volume are not involved in applying KCL. Thus a node at which several wires, large diameter cables if you please, are connected can be indicated on a circuit diagram as a point at which several current paths meet. The physical connection itself is not a point of course. But the geometrical point is sufficient to indicate the connection, and moreover we can apply KCL at the point; the sum of the currents flowing into the point (node' is the electrical term to use) is zero. You should become completely familiar with KCL and at ease with its application. Addendum: For some purposes the amount of charge transported by a current is needed. The charge transported by a current I in an infinitesimal time interval dt (during which the current does not change significantly) is Idt. The net charge transported over a longer interval is q = Idt, integrated over the desired time interval; the sign of I determines if the charge transport is an increase or decrease for the polarity arrow direction associated with the description of the current.

Circuits Electrical Current

M H Miller