ELEC0438-1 : Electricity

Study Programmes 2016-2017

ELEC0438-1

Electricity

Duration :

24h Th, 36h Pr

Number of credits :

Bachelor in bioengineering		5

Lecturer :

Bernard Heinesch

Language(s) of instruction :

French language

Organisation and examination :

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents :

Why sould a bio-enginner study electricity?
The knowledge and know-how linked to the electricity course are widely used in downstream courses present in the bio-engineer cursus. Either through purely technical and metrological aspects (e.g. measurement of soil electrical resistivity with the ERT technique), through electrical quantities playing a fundamental role in physical/biological/chemical processes (e.g. voltage difference through cell walls responsible for the transfer of ions though the membrane) or through electrical analogies used to describe such a process (e.g. resistor scheme for modelling the ozone deposition into plant tissues).
In order to gain these knowledge and know-how, the course will propose the following table of content:

Electrostatics : Electric field, Gauss theorem, Electric potential, Capacitances.
Electrokinetics : Electric Current, Resistances, Direct current circuits.
Electromagnetism : Magnetic field, Source of Magnetic fields, Faraday's law, Inductance.
Alternating current circuits.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit :

Initiation to reasoning
Initiation to electric circuit construction
Learning of order of magnitudes and approximations

After completing the course the student is expected to

Apply electrostatics laws to predict electric field, forces and potential for different symmetries.
Apply electrokinetics laws to predict current, tension and dissipated in electric circuits.
Apply electromagnetism laws to predict magnetic field and forces for different symmetries.
Describe the behaviour of capacities, resitors, selfs and their combinations under stationary, transient and oscillatory regimes.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills :

College
MATH0493-1: General mathematics : Analysis 1, differential calculus
MATH0494-1: General mathematics : Algebra and geometry
PHYS3025-1: - General physics : Mechanics particle

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :

The teoretical basis are given during face-to-face lectures, in a modular form (one chapter of the reference book per lecture) and illustrated using exercices coming from the exercices book.
Practical works will consist of electrical assemblies and aim at a better understanding of the main theoretical concepts and the acquisition of a know-how (not only technical) in electricity. Students will work in groups of two, will be allowed to make errors and to work at their own rythm. There will be no report. Evaluation will take place during a final oral examination and will be centred on understanding and reasoning rather than on memorization.
Experimental learning will be favored. In many cases, the student will be confronted to concepts that have not yet been teached during lectures. He will then have to build his own knowledge from observed exeprimental results and validate it with the teaching staff.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :

Face-to-face with Lectures : 24h Practical Works : 36h