Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Chapter 11 Electrical Engineering 247
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Summary
• Electrical engineers design, test, develop,
and build things like power plants, space
shuttle electronics, and electronic gadgets.
• The broadest professional society for
electrical engineers is the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
• Electrical engineers must conduct
themselves in an ethical manner and have
strong teamwork skills.
• All matter is made up of microscopic
building blocks called atoms.
• Electricity fl ows through solid pieces of
materials known as conductors.
• Sources of electricity include magnetism,
chemical action, solar cells, and other
numerous sources.
• The law of conservation of energy states
that energy cannot be created or destroyed.
It can only be converted from one form to
another.
• Four important characteristics of generated
electricity are voltage, current, resistance,
and power.
• Ohm’s law and Watt’s law provide formulas
to help fi nd values of voltage, current,
resistance, and power within a circuit.
• Three types of circuits are series, parallel,
and series-parallel circuits.
• Conductors are a common type of input
components in an electrical circuit. Copper
and aluminum are the most common
materials used in conductors.
• Control components within circuits include
insulators, resistors, switches, diodes,
transistors, and capacitors.
• Closed control systems include some sort of
built-in feedback.
• Open control systems do not have a built-in
mechanism for feedback and rely on manual
adjustment when necessary.
• Output components of electrical circuits
include various types of lamps and
motors.
• Circuit boards and solderless breadboards
are two of the most common types of
component platforms.
• A continuity tester can be used to help in
troubleshooting circuits or to ensure circuits
are functioning properly.
• The electric motors and other electronic
components used in hybrid cars are
designed by electrical engineers.
Online Activities
Expand your learning with additional online
resources:
Posttest. Now that you have fi nished this
chapter, see what you learned by taking the
chapter posttest.
Career Activity. Learn about engineering
careers by completing the online activity.
Test Your Knowledge
Answer the following questions using the information
provided in this chapter.
1. Defi ne electrical engineering.
2. What level of education is required to
become an electrical engineer?
3. High school students should take the
highest level courses possible in _______
and _______ if they wish to become electrical
engineers.
4. Electricity is the fl ow of _______.
A. protons
B. atoms
C. electrons
D. neutrons
5. All matter is made up of microscopic
building blocks called _______.