Course: Understanding Electricity

Description and requirements

This course will help you understand electricity through a balance of theory and hands-on problems and experiments. This is not a course to make flashy projects, but to understand the fundamentals and build a solid base for future projects.

This course will help you understand some of the basic electronic components and their functions in more complex circuits. Some of the topics covered are:

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• Voltage

• Current

• Voltage sources

• Resistors

• Electrical power

• Use of multimeter

• Solve series and parallel circuits

• Relays

• Capacitors in DC circuits

• Diodes

• LEDs

• Transistors

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Who is this course for?

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This course is intended for:

• High school students considering a career in electronics who would like to have a head start

• Non-electrical engineers or technicians that would like to gain a basic understanding on electricity and electronic devices

• Hobbyists working with electronic devices who would like to gain a stronger understanding on how to use electricity and electronic devices

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Teaching Modality

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This course is taught as a combination of theory videos, which are freely available on this Youtube channel, and a set of 8 instructor-led sessions of approximately 1.5 hour long. The instructor-led sessions include problems to be solved in class (calculation of voltages and currents in different circuits), and  building the circuits to actually perform the measurements and compare to the predicted values.

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The price for the course includes a kit with electronic components (breadboard, jumper wires, power supply, resistors, diodes, LEDs, transistors, etc).

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Requirements

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The student has to ensure access to the following:

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• One computer capable of running Zoom. A cell phone or tablet may work as well, but the larger screen of the computer should work better for you.

• One autofocus webcam. This will be used so you can show your work to the instructor and other classmates. The integrated camera in a laptop is not a good choice, since it cannot be freely moved and they are not usually autofocus. The integrated camera on a cell phone or tablet may work well. If you need to purchase a webcam, this one is a good option for about $20 at Amazon.

• One multimeter. If you do not have one, you can purchase this one for about $20 at Amazon.

• Optional: one camera holder arm or tripod to hold your camera pointing to your circuit.

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You should also have a clear working area with good light. A magnifying glass may come handy, as we will be working with some small components

A small screwdriver and tweezers are convenient as well.

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Introductory offer