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According to the 2009-2010 Bucknell University on-line course catalog, this course covers: "Electrical measurement and physical quantities, sensors, sensor dynamics, filters, computer-controlled measurements, data storage and analysis, networked measurements." More specifically, ELEC 105 serves as an overview of the broad field of electrical engineering. The devices and design techniques discussed in the course are employed in the production of almost all of the electronic equipment used in the consumer, commercial, industrial, and research worlds.
The course begins with a presentation of the basic laws and formulas used in all areas of electrical and electronic design, including Ohm's and Kirchhoff's laws. Basic electronic components are introduced next. These include resistors, capacitors, and inductors (passive devices); and diodes, transistors, and integrated circuits (semiconductor devices). The applications of these devices in basic analog and digital circuits are then presented. Analog systems operate with analog signals, which have smoothly-varying voltages and currents. An example of an analog system is a public address amplifier, which magnifies the tiny electrical signals produced by a microphone that vary in response to the continuously changing sound waves produced by a person talking or singing. Digital systems are typically "binary state" systems, in which voltages and/or currents take on one of two possible values, which represent the binary digits "one" and "zero." The most familiar example of a digital system is a computer. The course concludes with an overview of electronic sensors, power generation and transmission systems, motors, and electrical safety considerations. This course is not intended for majors in electrical engineering. MATH 202 (Calculus II), or its equivalent, is the corequisite for the course. |