ELECTRICAL LAB

Circuits, Power & Component Calculations

Ohm's Law

Solve
I Current
A
R Resistance
Ω
V Result
V
V = I × R

Power (DC)

V Voltage
V
I Current
A
R Resistance
Ω
P Power
W
P = V×I = I²R = V²/R

Voltage Divider

Vin Input
V
R1 Top
Ω
R2 Bottom
Ω
Vout Output
V
Vout = Vin × R2 / (R1 + R2)

Current Divider

Iin Input
A
R1 Branch 1
Ω
R2 Branch 2
Ω
I1 Current 1
A
I2 Current 2
A
I1 = Iin × R2/(R1+R2)

Parallel Resistance

R1
Ω
R2
Ω
R3
Ω
R4
Ω
Rt Total
Ω
1/Rt = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + ...

Capacitor Series / Parallel

Mode
C1
µF
C2
µF
C3
µF
C4
µF
Ct Total
µF
Parallel: Ct = C1+C2+...

Delta-Wye Transform

Mode
Ra Delta
Ω
Rb Delta
Ω
Rc Delta
Ω
Out1
Ω
Out2
Ω
Out3
Ω
D→Y: R1=Rb·Rc/(Ra+Rb+Rc)

Common Resistor Values (E12 Series)

1.0 1.2 1.5 1.8
2.2 2.7 3.3 3.9
4.7 5.6 6.8 8.2
Multipliers: ×1, ×10, ×100, ×1k, ×10k

Capacitive Reactance (Xc)

f Frequency
Hz
C Capacitance
µF
Xc Result
Ω
Xc = 1 / (2πfC)

Inductive Reactance (XL)

f Frequency
Hz
L Inductance
mH
XL Result
Ω
XL = 2πfL

Impedance (Z)

R Resistance
Ω
X Reactance
Ω
|Z| Magnitude
Ω
θ Phase
deg
|Z| = √(R² + X²), θ = atan(X/R)

LC Resonance

L Inductance
µH
C Capacitance
pF
f₀ Resonance
Hz
f₀ = 1 / (2π√LC)

RC Time Constant

R Resistance
Ω
C Capacitance
µF
τ Time Const
s
fc Cutoff
Hz
τ = RC, fc = 1/(2πRC)

RL Time Constant

R Resistance
Ω
L Inductance
mH
τ Time Const
s
fc Cutoff
Hz
τ = L/R, fc = R/(2πL)

VSWR / Return Loss

From
Γ Refl Coeff
Γ Result
VSWR
:1
RL Ret Loss
dB
ML Mis Loss
dB
Γ=(Z-Z0)/(Z+Z0), VSWR=(1+Γ)/(1-Γ)

Skin Depth

f Frequency
Hz
Mat Material
δ Depth
µm
δ = √(2ρ / ωµ₀µr)

Transmission Line Z0

Type
W Trace
mm
H Dielectric
mm
T Copper
mm
εr Dk
Z0 Impedance
Ω
εeff
Hammerstad-Jensen (IPC-2141), valid to ~10 GHz

Filter Response Reference

-3dB Cutoff frequency (fc), 70.7% amplitude
-6dB/oct First-order filter rolloff
-12dB/oct Second-order filter rolloff
Time to 99.3% of final value

Op-Amp Gain

Config
Rf Feedback
Ω
Rin Input
Ω
Av Gain
V/V
dB Gain
dB
Inv: −Rf/Rin | Non-inv: 1+Rf/Rin

Wheatstone Bridge

Mode
Vs Supply
V
R1
Ω
R2
Ω
R3
Ω
R4
Ω
Result
V
Status
Vout = Vs(R3/(R3+R1) − R4/(R4+R2))

555 Timer

Mode
Ra
Ω
Rb
Ω
C
µF
f Frequency
Hz
D Duty
%
tH High
ms
tL Low
ms
f = 1.44/((Ra+2Rb)C)

Op-Amp Configuration Reference

Inverting Av = −Rf/Rin, input at inverting (−)
Non-Inv Av = 1+Rf/Rin, input at non-inverting (+)
Differential Vout = Rf/Rin × (V2−V1)
Unity Gain Buffer, Av = 1 (Rf=0, Rin=∞)

Junction Temperature

Mode
Pd Power
W
Ta Ambient
°C
Rja Junc-Amb
°C/W
Tjmax
°C
θtot Total
°C/W
Tj Junction
°C
Margin
°C
Status
Tj = Ta + Rja × Pd

Fuse Selection

P Power
W
V Voltage
V
SF Safety
×
I Operating
A
If Fuse Size
A
Fuse = (P/V) × SF, next std size

Wire Current Capacity (AWG)

AWG Gauge
d Diameter
mm
A Area
mm²
R Resistance
Ω/m
I Max Current
A
Chassis wiring @ 30°C rise

Resistor Code Decoder

Mode
1st
2nd
Mult
Tol
R Value
Ω

Capacitor Energy

C Capacitance
µF
V Voltage
V
E Energy
mJ
E = ½CV²

Inductor Energy

L Inductance
mH
I Current
A
E Energy
mJ
E = ½LI²

SNR / Noise Floor

Mode
Ps Signal
dBm
Pn Noise
dBm
SNR Result
dB
Lin Ratio
SNR = Ps − Pn | Friis: Ft = F1+(F2−1)/G1+...

Standard Capacitor Values (E12)

1.0 1.2 1.5 1.8 pF/nF/µF
2.2 2.7 3.3 3.9 pF/nF/µF
4.7 5.6 6.8 8.2 pF/nF/µF
10 22 47 100 common µF

dB (Power Ratio)

P1 Reference
W
P2 Measured
W
dB Result
dB
dB = 10 × log₁₀(P2/P1)

dB (Voltage Ratio)

V1 Reference
V
V2 Measured
V
dB Result
dB
dB = 20 × log₁₀(V2/V1)

dBm ↔ Watts

dBm
dBm
P Power
mW
P(mW) = 10^(dBm/10)

Watts → dBm

P Power
mW
dBm
dBm
dBm = 10 × log₁₀(P/1mW)

Frequency ↔ Wavelength

f Frequency
MHz
λ Wavelength
m
λ/4 Quarter
m
λ = c/f (c = 299,792,458 m/s)

Period ↔ Frequency

T Period
ms
f Frequency
Hz
f = 1/T

Common dB Values

+3 dB = 2× power, 1.41× voltage
+6 dB = 4× power, 2× voltage
+10 dB = 10× power, 3.16× voltage
+20 dB = 100× power, 10× voltage
-3 dB = 0.5× power, 0.707× voltage
0 dBm = 1 mW into 50Ω

Radio Frequency Bands

VLF 3-30 kHz (λ 100-10 km)
LF 30-300 kHz (λ 10-1 km)
MF 300-3000 kHz (λ 1000-100 m)
HF 3-30 MHz (λ 100-10 m)
VHF 30-300 MHz (λ 10-1 m)
UHF 300-3000 MHz (λ 1-0.1 m)
2.4 GHz WiFi (λ 12.5 cm)
5.8 GHz WiFi (λ 5.2 cm)