An electric circuit is a system of conducting elements designed to control the path

of electric current for a particular purpose. Circuits consist of sources of

electric energy, like generators and batteries; elements that transform, dissipate,
or store this energy, such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors; and connecting
wires. Circuits often include a fuse or circuit breaker to prevent a power
overload. Devices that are connected to a circuit are connected to it in one of two
ways: in series or in parallel. A series circuit forms a single pathway for the
flow of current, while a parallel circuit forms separate paths or branches for the
flow of current. Parallel circuits have an important advantage over series
circuits. If a device connected to a series circuit malfunctions or is switched
off, the circuit is broken, and other devices on the circuit cannot draw power. The
separate pathways of a parallel circuit allows devices to operate independently of
each other, maintaining the circuit even if one or more devices are switched off.

The first electric circuit was invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800. He discovered
he could produce a steady flow of electricity using bowls of salt solution
connected by metal strips. Later, he used alternating discs of copper, zinc, and
cardboard that had been soaked in a salt solution to create his voltaic pile (an
early battery). By attaching a wire running from the top to the bottom, he caused
an electric current to flow through his circuit. The first practical use of the
circuit was in electrolysis, which led to the discovery of several new chemical
elements. Georg Ohm (1787-1854) discovered some conductors had more resistance than
others, which affects their efficiency in a circuit. His famous law states that the
voltage across a conductor divided by the current equals the resistance, measured
in ohms. Resistance causes heat in an electrical circuit, which is often not
wanted.

One classification of circuits has to do with the nature of the current flow. The
earliest circuits were battery-powered, which made in a steady, constant current
that always flowed in the same direction. This is direct current, or DC. The use of
DC continued through the time of the first electric power systems. A major problem
with the DC system was that power stations could serve an area of only about a
square mile because of power loss in the wires

Develop and Studies

In 1883, engineers proposed harnessing the tremendous hydroelectric power potential

of Niagara Falls to supply the needs of Buffalo, N.Y. Although this power would
ultimately go beyond Buffalo to New York City and even farther, there was an
initial problem with distance. Buffalo was only 16 miles from Niagara Falls, but
the idea was unworkable -- until Nikola Tesla made it possible Engineer Nikola
Tesla, aided by theoretical work by Charles Proteus Steinmetz, came up with the
idea of using alternating current, or AC. Unlike direct current, AC is always
changing and repeatedly reverses direction.

So why was AC the answer to the problem of long-distance power transmission? With
AC, it's possible to use transformers to change voltage levels in a circuit.
Transformers work on a principle of magnetic induction, which requires a changing
magnetic field produced by the alternating current. With transformers, voltages can
be increased for long-distance transmission. At the receiving end, the voltage
level can decrease to a safer 220V or 110V for business and residential use.
We need high voltages for long distances because wire resistance causes power loss.
The electrons bumping into atoms lose energy in the form of heat as they travel.
This power loss is proportional to the square of the amount of current moving
through the wire.

To measure the amount of power the line transmits, you can multiply the voltage by
the current. You can express these two ideas using an equation in which I
represents current, V represents voltage and P equals power:

P = V x I

Let's consider the example of transmitting 1 megawatt. If we increase the voltage

from 100V to 10,000V, we can then decrease the current from 10,000A to 100A. This
will reduce the power loss by (100)2, or 10,000. This was Tesla's concept, and from
that idea power transmission from Niagara Falls to Buffalo, and ultimately to New
York City and beyond, became a reality.

In the United States and many other countries, the standard frequency for AC power
is 60 cycles per second, or 60 hertz. This means that 60 times a second, a complete
cycle of the current flows in one direction and then in the other. The current
flows in one direction for 1/120th of a second and in the other direction for
another 1/120th of a second. The time it takes for one cycle to be completed is
called a period, which in this case is 1/60th of a second. In Europe and other
areas, the standard frequency for AC power is 50 hertz.

Discuss
Have you ever wondered what happens when you flip a switch to turn on a light, TV,
vacuum cleaner or computer? What does flipping that switch accomplish? In all of
these cases, you are completing an electric circuit, allowing a current, or flow of
electrons, through the wires.

An electric circuit is in many ways similar to your circulatory system. Your blood
vessels, arteries, veins and capillaries are like the wires in a circuit. The blood
vessels carry the flow of blood through your body. The wires in a circuit carry the
electric current to various parts of an electrical or electronic system.

Your heart is the pump that drives the blood circulation in the body. It provides
the force or pressure for blood to circulate. The blood circulating through the
body supplies various organs, like your muscles, brain and digestive system. A
battery or generator produces voltage -- the force that drives current through the
circuit.

Take the simple case of an electric light. Two wires connect to the light. For
electrons to do their job in producing light, there must be a complete circuit so
they can flow through the light bulb and then back out.

The diagram above shows a simple circuit of a flashlight with a battery at one end
and a flashlight bulb at the other end. When the switch is off, a complete circuit
will not exist, and there will be no current. When the switch is on, there will be
a complete circuit and a flow of current resulting in the flashbulb emitting light.

Circuits can be huge power systems transmitting megawatts of power over a thousand
miles -- or tiny microelectronic chips containing millions of transistors. This
extraordinary shrinkage of electronic circuits made desktop computers possible. The
new frontier promises to be nanoelectronic circuits with device sizes in the
nanometers (one-billionth of a meter).

In this article, we'll learn about the two basic types of electric circuits:

Power circuits transfer and control large amounts of electricity. Examples are
power lines and residential and business wiring systems. The major components of
power circuits are generators at one end and lighting systems, heating systems or
household appliances at the other end. In between are power lines, transformers and
circuit breakers.
Electronic circuits process and transmit information. Think computers, radios,
TVs, radars and cell phones.
ust as your heart produces the pressure to make blood circulate, a battery or
generator produces the pressure or force to push electrons around a circuit.
Voltage is the force and is measured in volts (V). A typical flashlight battery
produces 1.5V, and the standard household electrical voltage is 110V or 220V.
Electrical current, or flow of electrons, is measured in amperes (A). The product
of electric force (in volts) and current (in amperes) is electrical power, measured
in watts (W). A battery generating 1.5V and producing a current flow of 1A through
a flashlight bulb delivers 1.5V x 1A = 1.5W of electrical power.

The blood flowing through your body doesn't get a free ride. The walls of the blood
vessels impede the flow, and the smaller the blood vessel, the more the resistance
to flow. Some of the pressure produced by your heart is just for pushing blood
through blood vessels. As electrons move through wires, they bump into atoms. This
impedes the flow of the electrons. The wire offers resistance to the flow of the
current. The amount of resistance depends on the material, diameter and length of
the wire. The resistance increases as the diameter of the wire decreases.
Resistance is in units of ohms (Ω).