Beginning to learn Electrical Engineering: Important Formulas (Part 1)

Overview

I'm someone who loves learning anything engineering, and something I've been lacking is an understanding of electrical engineering and how electronics actually work. So I think I'll start a blog entry series that will cover learning electrical engineering, from absolute beginner to at least competent.

Why learn electrical engineering concepts?

There is a bunch you can do with programming alone, but to make really cool physical projects, like running a toy car or building something that checks temperature, you'll need to program for things like Arduino or raspberry pi. These will require at least introductory knowledge on how circuits work and what resistors are in order to not destroy your electronics.

Basic Formulas

Key of Symbols:

E = energy in Joules

I = current in Amperes

t = time in seconds

V = voltage in volts

Q = Charge in Coulombs

R = resistance in Ohms

P = Power in Watts (Amount of energy transferred)

Energy (E)

E = ItV

Current (I)

I = P/V

I = dQ/dt

Voltage (Also called Potential Difference) (V)

V = IR

V = W/Q

Resistance (R)

R = V/I

Power (P)

P = IV

P = I^2R

P = V^2/R

Conclusion

This is just a basic overview of the beginning formulas for what will be talked about in later blog posts. You should study these equations and try to memorize them first in order to be proficient doing equations later.


Resources
These notes were derived mainly from: http://www.bmatcrashcourse.com/electricity-notes.pdf. I highly recommend looking over this document as it has the same information, but includes nice diagrams/pictures for reference.




NOTE: This guide is currently in rough draft form and could be improved with clearer instructions and pictures. If you would like it to be more in depth, I will be extremely happy to improve on this, all you need to do is ask in the comments and I will do it asap (I just don't want to spend forever on something no one reads and/or cares about). This post deals with equations, and is very susceptible to errors. If you see an error, please leave a comment and I will fix it asap!