EEE 132 Assignment

Rosete, MQ Edson T., BS-ECE A7

1. For this subject, I expect my knowledge of the concepts of electrical circuits will be
even more broadened. I expect to learn new topics about how circuits behave, what
other circuit elements are there, and how circuits factor in our daily lives. I also
expect that there will be difficulty in learning, since these are relatively new and
unknown lessons with so much mathematics and analytical thinking involved.

As for the faculty, I hope that they will be gracious enough to teach the students,
bearing with those who can’t quite grasp the concepts as fast as others. I expect that
they will not just focus on the top students but also on those who are struggling to
understand. I expect that they will do their best to make sure everyone understands
what is being taught to them, and that they will answer the students’ questions
accordingly. I also expect them to be approachable.

Finally, I expect the class to do their best in studying the concepts. I expect that each
of us will help each other to pass and not make it a competition about who is smarter.
I expect that we will be honest in our exams and that we will prepare for them
adequately. I expect that we will encourage each other to persevere despite
whatever failures may come.

2. The topics that we discussed in EEE 130 were:

 Circuit Elements – We learned about the different circuit elements that
may constitute a circuit diagram as well as their properties.
 Techniques of Circuit Analysis – We learned the different techniques for
analyzing a circuit problem. The fundamental techniques we learned
was the nodal analysis method and the mesh analysis method. The
nodal analysis method examined the currents that were entering or
exiting a node, while the mesh analysis method examined the voltages
around a closed loop. From these two fundamental analysis techniques,
we then learned about the superposition theorem, and the
Thevenin/Norton Theorem. The superposition theorem was useful for
circuits with multiple sources, since it examined the effects that each of
the sources had on the circuit while the others were to be turned off. The
Thevenin/Norton theorem was useful for simplifying a complicated
circuit and for determining the equivalent resistance of a system, as well
as its voltage or current.
 RL, RC, & RLC Circuits – For this topic we learned about the properties
of a circuit that contained a capacitor, an inductor, or both. We learned
 about the properties of the capacitor and the inductor and how they
affect a circuit. By utilizing differential equations, we were able to make
calculations with these elements as part of the circuit. We also learned
about critically damped, overdamped, and underdamped circuits.
 Sinusoidal Steady-State Analysis – In this topic, we learned to examine
a circuit that was driven by a sinusoidal source, or to put it simply, and
AC source. We learned how to convert a sinusoidal source into its
equivalent phasor value. Aside from that, we learned about impedance
and how the resistor, capacitor, and inductor can be converted to their
equivalent impedance in order to make calculations easier. We also
were taught about power calculations and the different types of power
that exist in sinusoidal steady-state analysis, namely complex power,
real power, and reactive power. We also learned about power factor and
lagging & leading. Our last lesson was about power factor correction.

3. I think the topic that I found most difficult was the topic about RL, RC, and RLC
circuits, since it involved differential equations. What added to the difficulty was
also how to derive the respective equations in order to solve what was being asked.
Analyzing the circuits was difficult as well, and the overall process took a long
amount of time. What’s more is that if a small mistake, such as omitting a negative
sign, was made, it drastically affected the final answer.

In order to overcome this difficulty, I think the key lies in practice. It is only through
practice where one can see how much he has learned in terms of analyzing the
circuit and how the solving process goes. Group studies also greatly enhance
one’s awareness since there is someone else to compare answers to. They can
also help each other out in trying to solve a relatively difficult circuit. Studying
constantly is a big help as well. The student is less likely to forget the concepts
and thus, he remembers them, until exams are around.