Newbie on Electricity

Begin with the principles!

I once had an Electrical Theory class with an instructor that had a few misconceptions about basic principles. Nothing I could say would convince him that a coil of wire *sitting still* next to a magnet would NOT generate electricity.

As others stated - start at the beginning. Having taught electronics at various levels in another life, I know that a lack of knowledge in the foundations can cause lots of problems later.

Things to consider in your studies:

1. Even though you have financial difficulties, if you can lay your hands on an old breadboard prototyping kit (such as the old HeathKit systems) and a cheap multimeter so you can actually experiment will help enormously.

1. A decent knowledge of mathematics will help enormously. Electrical and electronic principles are physical processes, after all, and are described mathematically :)

2. Try and get into the underlying physical principles - when you get confused (we all did), you can go back to first principles if necessary.

1. Once well into it, a nodding acquaintance with calculus will help a great deal.

Good Luck!

Cheers

PeteS

Don't jump.

I would start with the basics, if you really are a newbie. Yes, voltage, current, power and energy are basics, but there is, I'm sure, a more basic level, such as explaining how electricity works, when and where it flows, etc.

- NRen2k5

Do a little physics first; that helps.

John

The best way to start learning this stuff is to do it in a methodical, organized way, not haphazardly finding material that you think will help you learn. The best way to do this on the cheap is to go to a local community college's book store and find a book on electricity/electronics basics. This will only cost you the price of the book. Some bookstores have used books available at a lower price.

Find a book with DC or with DC & AC in the title. It will likely have the word Fundamentals in the title also. Look for a book of this nature.

Browse through the book. Review its table of contents. A good basic textbook will take you through the structure of the atom, the concepts of force, work, energy, and power. It will talk about temperature and heat, and basic electrical units. From there it will expand into discussions of current, voltage, and resistance. Finally, it will expand into general information/knowledge about basic circuits. If the book covers AC as well as DC, many of the concepts I've mentioned will be expanded upon as the book expands into AC. AC works in very similar ways to DC but you need to understand DC first.

The strength of a GOOD basic textbook is that it presents all of the material you will need in an order that makes logical sense. You will learn what you need to know as it takes you from the most fundamental concepts of physics and electricity into a real understanding of how electricity and electric circuits work. This way you generally won't encounter a new concept until the preceding material prepares you for that concept--so you won't be unnecessarily discouraged by trying to learn something that it beyond your skills.

I know it's summer so things at community college book stores might be slow, and the shelves at the book stores might be somewhat depleted. Research all the community colleges in your general area and visit all of them. Also, community colleges vary from place to place, so one might have a very strong electrical/electronics curriculum and another might not. Try your best to judge the book store and the books that you browse through.

And this final word: Most of the words and concepts that you learn in this field of study will be new to you. Learning a new vocabulary, new concepts, and applying them all at the same time can be a tough challenge. Stay with it even if you get discouraged. If you get stumped while you're doing your self-study, come to this newsgroup and ask intelligent questions that show you're really trying to learn; people here will jump at the chance to help you. I think you will one day say to yourself, "Hey, I'm really beginning to understand this stuff!" It will happen. Hang in there!

Gool luck.

Textbooks get the equations right, but many of them contain all sorts of errors and misconceptions in their verbal descriptions. I go into these errors in depth on:

billb electricity education articles

You can use the above articles as a sort of "backwards learning experience;" learning about electricity by learning what electricity is not.

((((((((((((((((((((((( ( ( (o) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty Research Engineer snipped-for-privacy@chem.washington.edu UW Chem Dept, Bagley Hall RM74 snipped-for-privacy@eskimo.com Box 351700, Seattle, WA 98195-1700 ph206-543-6195 http//staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/