Electrical Energy

electric charge

a physical property of an object that causes it to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

electric current

the rate of movement of electric charge carriers from one part of a conductor to another (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

law of conservation of electric charge

the total electric charge of an isolated system remains constant regardless of changes within the system (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

Kirchhoff's current law

at any node in an electrical circuit, electric charge is conserved such that the sum of the electric currents flowing into a node is equal to the sum of electric currents flowing out of that node (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

electrical potential difference

the change in potential energy per unit charge between two defined points in a circuit; the unit of electrical potential difference is volts , V; sometimes referred to as the voltage (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

power

the rate at which work is done or the rate at which energy is transferred or transformed (symbol, P; SI unit, W) (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

Kirchhoff's voltage law

the energy inputs in a circuit equal the sum of energy output from loads in the circuit such that the directed sum of the electrical potential differences around any closed network is zero (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

resistance

the ratio of the voltage applied to the electric current that flows through it (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

Ohm's law

states that electric current is proportional to voltage and inversely proportional to resistance (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)

power dissipation

a measure of the rate at which energy is lost from an electrical system; power dissipation of a resistor can be calculated using the formula, P=VI (Tipler & Mosca 2003, Giancoli 2008)