Electronics > Beginners
Started a MOOC, is trig and calc really necessary a beginner DC circuits class?
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Ronan:
So I started Georgia Institute of Technology's MOOC on Linear Circuits 1: DC Analysis https://www.coursera.org/learn/linear-circuits-dcanalysis/home/welcome, presumably it's the most beginner level course I could find (before starting the edX MIT 3 course series).

So I'm auditing the course (so you know I'm not fishing for answers) but I'm frustrated at their insistence on having students not only know trig but be able to apply it to a DC electric circuit problem. For example, this problem (see image attachment):

Determine the power delivered to an element at t=4 ms if the current through the element is given by
i=7cos60πt A
and the voltage is related to the current by the relationship v=4iv=4i

Seriously! Isn't there a better way to ask for the same answer other than relying on trig? There are tons of electronics enthusiasts who have gotten by without diving into trig and calc; is the MOOC just making it needlessly difficult? I'm currently reading through four electronics books (simultaneously, since they overlap content) and I started the Radio Shack Lab Kit and as I go through exercises, none of them remotely touch on trig or calc. I'm wondering if these university courses are a waste of time (with their emphasis on making things more difficult than they need to be) and if I should spend my time elsewhere. I noticed a ton of resources in the Primers & Course Material sticky post but would like some feedback on this.


helius:
A nice picture was posted in another thread a while ago:


I don't know what books you're reading, but I suppose they cover the difference between DC and AC. An alternating current is a sinusoid—a function that uses sine or cosine. If you care about what is actually happening over time, you need to use those functions and their derivatives. The trace on an oscilloscope (the waveform) is made up of millions of sines and cosines added together, and can't be understood at all without them.

Electrical phenomena were dimly understood hundreds of years ago, but it was only by using calculus that they became scientific knowledge, and advanced to the present state where everyone carries billions of transistors in their pockets or on their wrists. You can be sure that Faraday and Ampère were familiar with calculus before they began their electrical studies.
Ronan:
Yeah...that's why I emphasized DC. It's a DC circuit class, as it says in the title of the course.

Helius, your response sounds like you think it is necessary to know trig and calc for a DC circuit class...so I'm willing to listen to why you think that is.

I'm sorry that I gave you the impression that I wasn't interested in "getting more educated". I am actually more than happy to read and learn and review my old college courses as I go further into the electronics realm. But I have a problem with is being inundated with math that is not necessary for the moment, such as learning DC circuits, resisters, capacitors, 6V & 12V batters, etc. It seems counterproductive to require a background for a course that does not use the background. This will have a tendency to turn people off, especially when there is no lab or hands on experience in the course.

These are the four books I'm reading:

* Electronics: Learning by Discovery https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/make-electronics-learning-through-discovery_charles-platt/304907/#isbn=0596153740&idiq=4660250
* Practical Electronics for Inventors https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/practical-electronics-for-inventors_paul-scherz/308734/#isbn=0070580782&idiq=6166414

* Practical Electronics for Inventors https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/practical-electronics-for-inventors_paul-scherz/308734/#isbn=0070580782&idiq=6166414

* Getting Started in Electronics https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/getting-started-in-electronics_forrest-m-mims-iii/304700/?mkwid=sUdnfedje%7cdc&pcrid=70112903952&pkw=&pmt=&plc=&pgrid=21329355552&ptaid=aud-420593221365%3apla-366098073672&gclid=CjwKCAjwy7vlBRACEiwAZvdx9nn_zeE5k_Ie-alfHp7J2LD9L8ExM9tlqIyzONX2hOqc8aUW2DMgWRoCLQ0QAvD_BwE#isbn=0945053282&idiq=5534219

* Electronics Demystefied https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/electronics-demystified_stan-gibilisco/524508/#isbn=0071768076&idiq=10216388
[/list]
helius:
The Forrest Mims book has a good reputation, but I'm not familiar with the others.

It's possible that the authors of the course don't have quite the same concept of "DC Analysis" as you think. The question in the image describes a circuit element with a time-varying (alternating) current. This material clearly does not only deal with constant current systems. The course might be followed by another that deals with more advanced topics like transmission lines, without the separation of "DC" and "AC" that the course title seems to imply. You'll excuse me if I don't have time to research the course material now.
Yansi:
Everything under a couple GHz is DC.  ^-^ ^-^ ^-^
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