ECE 2040B: Circuit Analysis TuTh 10am to 11:45am, Summer 2015

Van Leer C240, CRN # 53594

Course Objective: The student will learn the basic concepts of DC and AC circuit theory

and analysis.

Prerequisites: Phys 2212 or 2232 (Physics II), Math 2403, 2413, or 24X3 (Differential Equations). The

math course may be taken concurrently with 2040.

Instructor: Dr. M. A. Weitnauer

Office: Centergy Bldg, 75 5th

St., Rm 5140

Office Hrs: M 1-2pm, W 1:30-2:30pm, F 2-3pm

Phone: 404-894-9482

Email: maweit@gatech.edu

Required Text and Materials

The textbook for this course is Dorf and Svoboda, Introduction to Electric Circuits, 9

th ed. Homework problems will be assigned out of this textbook. The

international edition and previous editions are different. You are responsible

for getting the problem statement if I just assign the problem number.

A MyDAQ set

A Parts Kit for 2040

The first lab will be in the second week of class, so please make your purchases

immediately. See the end of this document for details.

Topical Outline:

Basic concepts: units, voltages, currents, power and energy

Circuit elements: resistors, independent sources, dependent sources and switches

Kirchhoffs Laws

Series and parallel elements

Node Analysis

Mesh Analysis

Source Transformation, Linearity, and Superposition

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuits

Maximum Power Transfer

Operational Amplifiers (Op Amps), ideal op amp model, inverting and non-inverting amplifier, voltage follower, adder, difference amplifier

Inductors and Capacitors

Behavior with Switches

First Order Circuits by Differential Equations, time constants

Forced and Unforced response, Transient and Steady State response, Sequential Switching.

Stability of First-Order Circuits, Unit Step Response

Second-order systems, direct and operator methods of getting the differential equation

AC Steady State Analysis; Phasors, impedance and admittance

Sources with different frequencies

Frequency Response and Asymptotic Bode Plots; resonant circuits

AC Power, instantaneous power, average power, complex power, power factor, and power factor correction

Maximum Power Transfer

Course Structure:

This course will be mostly a flipped class, which means that the students watch and

take notes on the lectures online before class, and the class time is devoted to more active

and higher-level learning where students are expected to be engaged in the classroom.

This format allows the instructor-student time to be more interactive with the effect of

maximizing our time together. It is very important for you to take notes as you watch

the lectures; you should not just watch them passively. You will be allowed to use only

your notes (i.e., no laptop or textbook) in the short quizzes at the beginning of each class.

You will be assigned lectures to view before class. The lectures can be found on the

internal GT Coursera (https://gatech.coursera.org click on Linear Circuits (ECE2040)).

I will maintain on T-Square a schedule, extending at least one week in advance, of the

lecture assignments.

The coursera site enables the videos to be played at different rates (sped up or slowed

down); also there are short in-video quizzes to keep your attention and to make sure that

you comprehend the material, and there are videos of worked problems that you can use

to help study the material. We suggest using the coursera mobile app for mobile devices

or Chrome for laptops.

Video Sample Worked Problems. Prof. Bruno Frazier has recorded himself working

over 100 sample problems. Click on Sample Problems on the left on the Coursera

website.

Class time: Class will usually start with a two-minute quiz on the online lecture material

assigned for that day. The quizzes will be open notes but closed book and closed

laptop. The assigned lectures for each class period will be listed in the weekly schedule

in TSquare. Next, I will do a short lecture on higher level material and work some

examples. Then you will have a chance to work similar problems on a worksheet that you

will hand in before you leave. Working problems is the best way to learn circuits!

There will be weekly labs where you will perform hands-on activities using the myDAQ

data acquisition boards. These hands-on activities are intended for you to complete and

turn in a lab report before leaving the class.

Homework: The number of homework problems plus the number of in-class worksheet

problems should approximately equal the number of homework problems in a traditional

lecture class. The homework should be worked or printed on paper and handed in by the

end of class on the day it is due (12:55pm). No late homework will be accepted. There

will be a homework due during dead week. The lowest two homework grades will be

dropped.

Absence and Attendance Policy: We will have short quizzes, worksheets, and in-class

labs during most class periods, and these are graded. If you are absent with a valid excuse,

you will not be penalized for missing these (they will be removed from your average

calculation). To be excused, you must provide written proof of your personal emergency,

such as note from your doctor. Consult the Dean of Students as appropriate for other

valid excuses.

Grading:

In-class 2-minute quizzes 5% Lowest two quizzes dropped

Worksheets 10% Lowest two worksheets dropped

Homework 10% Lowest two homeworks dropped

MyDAQ lab and in-class simulations 10%

Test 1 Date TBD 15%

Test 2 Date TBD 15%

Test 3 Date TBD 15% Lowest Test grade dropped

Final Exam 20% Thursday, July 30, 2:50pm-5:40pm

T-Square:

T-Square will be used to post announcements, homework assignments, homework

solutions, exam solutions, and old exams and their solutions.

Tests:

You are expected to take each test in the classroom at the time it is offered. If you are so

ill that you miss one, you may take a make-up test only if you have a written excuse from

your doctor.

You will be notified when there are 10, 5 and 1 minutes remaining. Any exams turned in

late will receive at least a 3 point deduction. I try to design the exams so the good student

can finish them well before time is up, however, sometimes the test goes long and many

students try to hand in the text in the last few minutes. You are responsible for putting

your pages in order, stapling them, putting your name on the front, and handing it in

before time is up, regardless of the amount of traffic at the end of the period.

How the final letter grade is determined: Each exam grade will be curved according to

y = ax + b, where x is the raw exam grade. The parameters a and b are determined as

follows. Letter grades will be determined based on the curved grades using the standard

cut-offs: implies A, implies B, implies C, implied D, and implies F. Next the class

average for that exam will be determined from the letter grade, according to A = 4, B = 3,

C = 2, D = 1, F = 0. a and b will be determined such that the mean is between 2.4

and 2.8, as specified by the ECE administration (just where in this gap I choose), and the

standard deviation is something I choose. On your exam, you will see the raw score and

the curved score. I will not assign letter grades on exams, but you can have an idea what

letter grade you would get if I assigned them.

To get the final grade, the curved test grades and the homework and project grades will

be weighted according to the percentages above and summed. The letter grades will be

assigned approximately according to the standard cut-offs. I reserve the right to shift the

cut-offs slightly to be at the tops of gaps in the histogram and I reserve the right to bump

a students grade up if he or she is on the borderline and performed particularly well on

the final exam. A student will not be bumped over another student.

Hints for Success:

- Print the slide handouts and take notes on the lectures

- Work lots of problems, there are many extra ones posted on GTCoursera.

- Work online homework in a notebook so that you have a record of your work to

use for studying.

Academic Integrity:

Academic honesty is essential to achieve high-quality education and to maintain the value

of a Georgia Tech diploma. While I encourage you to work together and to form study

groups, it is important that you take responsibility for the content of all assignments.

Collaboration is allowed on homework, but you must write your own solutions. Cheating

on quizzes and exams will not be tolerated. When uncovered, violations will be reported

to the Dean of Students immediately. A valuable resource for the Georgia Tech Student

Code of Conduct and the Academic Honor Code is:

http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/18b.php

Details on Materials

Students in ECE2040 are required to purchase a myDAQ device and a classroom parts kit

(components). You will need to have a breadboard and wiring kit as well. If you do not

have these items from another class, then purchase them from the same site as the parts

kit.

MyDAQ: The MyDAQ is a digital acquisition board that you use with your laptop. It

essentially makes your laptop into an oscilloscope and a spectrum analyzer.

Purchase the myDAQ at Barnes and Noble or online at

http://www.studica.com/GeorgiaTech.html Note, if you purchase it online, you will be

asked for a student verification. You can send them an electronic version of your current

schedule.

http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/rules/18b.php

In order to use the myDAQ, you can either use the CD that comes with the myDAQ or

you can download the newest software package from http://www.ni.com/download/ni-

elvismx-4.5/4316/en/ (version 4.5). This will install the driver for the myDAQ as well as

the instrument launcher. You do not have to install Labview in order to use the basic

functions of the myDAQ. The download takes about 1 hour, therefore, this must be done

before coming to class in the second week.

If you are using a Mac you have the following options detailed in

(http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/6C8810E7E3712358862579C800528432). In our

experience, the best method for using the myDAQ is using Boot Camp to install

Windows 7 in it's own partition. This eliminate problems with drivers allowing Windows

to run natively on your hardware. The second option is using a Virtual Machine Manager

such as Parallels (not VMWare or VirtualBox). Parallels is recommended by the Georgia

Tech OIT and requires fewer modifications to your computer but you may encounter

more software problems. For both of these options you will need to download a free full

copy of Windows 7/8 from ECE Dreamspark site (http://www.ece-

help.gatech.edu/software/dreamspark.html). If you have trouble with logging into

Dreamspark please contact ECE's helpdesk, help@ece.gatech.edu or OIT

support@oit.gatech.edu.

If you have NI-ELVIS/myDAQ specific issues, please look through the technical support

site (http://www.ni.com/support/) or use the forums (http://forums.ni.com/t5/Academic-

Hardware-Products-ELVIS/bd-p/10).

If you are still having technical problems after visiting these links, then please contact the

TESSAL Lab GTA, TBD.

Classroom Kit: ECE2040 students should buy the classroom kit for ECE2040 AND the

wiring kit and breadboard only if they need them. Do not expect to share a breadboard

and wiring kit across other classes (such as 2035/2036/2031 with these classes), just buy

additional ones rather than share them since you will likely need them in overlapping

time periods.

As a service to our students, we put together parts kits for these courses and sell them at

deep discount to you over what you would pay by purchasing the items yourself (we get

educational bulk discounts and pay for only one shipping cost for all the parts). Everyone

should purchase his/her own new parts kits even though you will be working in pairs

since some of the parts get burned out during the term (by being hooked up wrong) or

lost since they are so small.

The kits for ECE2020 and ECE2040 are available online at the Georgia Tech Shopping

Mall, under the category of ECE Classroom Kits:

https://epay.gatech.edu/C20793_ustores/web/. This site will be open only through the

second week of classes, so purchases must be made by the Friday of the second week of

classes, 8/29 at 5:00pm. When ordering the kit, it will ask you for your section number.

If you are registered for ECE2020A, then enter A in that field.

If you miss either the purchase date or the pick-up dates, you will need to order the parts

on your own through an electronics vendor, such as Digikey. If you have paid for the kit

and do not pick it up, we will refund your money. The parts kit list is in the attached

spreadsheet with the Digikey's part number. NOTE: several sheets are there showing the

parts kits for different courses (look for the sheet for your class).

The delivery times will be posted in the confirmation email sent to you.