Students should have completed their first year. Special stress should be put into Calculus I and II, Linear Algebra and Physics Complements.

After the student has passed this subject, he/she will be able to: - Describe the basic aspects of the structure and operation of electric circuits and power systems (single- and three-phase), employing a proper wording and terminology, in terms of their fundamental variables: voltages, currents, power, impedances, and power factor. - Analyze whatever electrical circuit in steady-state, calculating voltages, currents and power in each element, using systematic methods (nodal analysis, mesh analysis) as well as non-systematic ones (circuit reduction, grouping of elements, etc). Also he/she will be able to describe the behaviour of any dipole by substituting the balance of the circuit by its Thévenin or Norton equivalent. - Perform this type of analysis on any a.c. circuit at constant frequency, representing the corresponding magnitudes by their associate complex phasors. - Correctly choose and operate electrical instruments to carry out experimental measurements on a real circuit. - Use the single-phase equivalent to analyze a simple balanced three-phase circuit, and correctly apply reactive power compensation techniques by insertion of banks of capacitors. - Describe, justify, and explain the rationale underlying the structure and operation of the electric power systems, and the role of transformers and electrical machines.

1. Introduction 1.1. The electric system 1.2. General concepts 1.3. Kirchhoff's Laws 2. Direct current 2.1. Resistance and generators 2.2. Series and parallel associations 2.3. Mesh and node analysis 2.4. Theorems (Superposition, Thévenin and Norton) 3. Alternating Current 3.1. Coils and capacitors. Transients. 3.2. Waves and phasors 3.3. Impedance and admitance 3.4. Solving circuits in the frequency domain 3.5. Power in alternating current 4. Balanced three-phase circuits 4.1. General concepts 4.2. Phase and line magnitudes 4.3. Single-phase equivalent 4.4. Three-phase power and reactive power compensation 5. Analysis of first-order transient circuits

This subject has a twofold objective. On one side, the spreading of a basic electrical engineering culture, including the proper use of the technical language and vocabulary used to describe electric circuits and systems. On the other hand, the explanation of theoretical foundations and practical methods of analyzing linear, lumped-parameters, dc and ac circuits. Therefore, the methodology is a mix of theoretical lectures, that essentially involve a thorough and systematic application of Kirchhoff's laws, and practical, problem solving oriented activities. Simple problems will be solved manually, more complex ones will require the use of computer tools. During the development of this course the instructor could offer the students the possibility of doing a small personal work about a generic electric power system, using some free software package as tool. Originality, quality of gathered data, references, good writing and presentation will be assessed. Classroom activities will be completed with three lab sessions, with a duration 100 minutes each one, on measurements and safety rules, dc circuits, ac circuits and 3-phase circuits, respectively.