2023-2024 / ELEC0438-1

Electricity

Duration

24h Th, 36h Pr

Number of credits

 Bachelor in bioengineering5 crédits 

Lecturer

Bernard Heinesch

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

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

Why sould a bio-engineer study electricity? Because 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).
Beyond these aspects, the course help to develop basic skills in science like training of scientific thinking, learning of orders of magnitude and of approximations, use of mathematical concepts.
More specifically for electric concepts, after completing the course the student is expected to be able 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, hybrid learning)

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

Recommended or required readings

Lecture notes
Physique - Serway Tome 2, Electricité et magnétisme - 4ème édition, éditions de boeck, ISBN 978-2-8041-7133-9

or

Physique - Benson Tome 2, Electricité et magnétisme - 5ème édition, ISBN 978-2-7613-5500-1


Practical works notes:
Notes for the electricity practical works

Written examination for the theoretical course (50%) Oral lab examination for the practical works (50%)

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

HEINESCH Bernard (Professor part-time)
BioDynE research axis TERRA research unit/Department Biosystem Engineering (BIOSE) Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech University of Liege
8, Avenue de la Faculté 5030 Gembloux BELGIUM
+32 81 622492 bernard.heinesch@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs