Teaching Ohm's Law to Techs - Part 1
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- Опубліковано 28 лют 2012
- A video explaining my philosophy and principles for teaching Ohm's Law. People sometimes dismiss the law, or teach it poorly using outdated methods. This is my opinion, but 26 years of teaching electricity makes me think I have at least a small clue. Comments are welcome.
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Thank you sir. I come from a good family with very little money. I loved gadgets as a child. My basic electronics class was an old WW2 book my dad brought home from the Navy. I took things apart to try and find parts. I had no meters. I tried to build out circuits. I blew many fuses in our house. My dad still allowed me to experiment. I used to plug things in the wall outlet that would terrify me to try today LOL. I LEARNED. Eventually I started getting things to work. My meter was if it was heating up I'd add a resistor. If it quit working i'd remove the resistor and use a bigger wire. I LEARNED. I hated ohms law because without a teacher I did not understand the symbols. all the devices I was taking apart said Volts and Amps or Watts. I was a kid I did not know E meant volts. I did not know I = amps or current. I still learned and had quite a bit of my own simple success. My dad was very happy and impressed when I got Christmas lights to fire different color strand based on music coming out of my speakers. More so when I repaired many things we could not afford to replace like toasters, battery chargers and even our refrigerator. I needed someone like you back then and many will appreciate what you do later in life. I didn't know that I was a hacker back then and heck in that case I have been all of my life. (I'm 52 now.... survived) I re-purpose things to meet a need. It is the same way man made his first tool. If you are about to be killed and need a sharp stick I'm glad somebody made the stick. The dead guys were trying to calculate how long or big and such. it is the folks who learn from practical experience that build this world. Thanks again but heck what do I know.....
I read a lot of blather comments directed toward you after watching your Part 1 video. Your insight into teaching entry level technical students is affirmed by me, having taught college since 1991. I also worked as an instrumentation technician for Exxon where I went through a 4 year formal US Department of Labor certified apprenticeship program and am a DOL certified Instrumentation technician. Before that I earned a Bachelor degree in education and am a state certified educator.I normally don't credential out, but I am in this case because I have a lot of experience learning and teaching... I know technical education. It is crystal clear you are correct and you are a real teacher. There is an art to teaching. You have it. Below, there is proof that one commentator ought NOT to be a teacher. We want students to achieve success so a real teacher would NEVER say "math and electricity go hand in hand. I would explain to them that they can get on board or get out". The absolute "must" in teaching as an art is NOT to lose your students. I teach community college which means I teach a diverse group of students. Housewives, 15 year olds. 68 year olds, women, men, mothers, Africans, Mexicans, Persians, geniuses, dim-witted, motivated, sassy and on and on. Randomly pick 18, put them in a classroom to learn electricity and the fun begins. We teach and we love to be a part of the student success. We assess the class the first day and then we formulate a strategy to get this crazy assortment of diverse learners from ignorance and self doubt to aptitude and self confidence. The first step is to reach out to them and woo them along. Tonight you were heard by me and I learned a new, sensible teaching methodology. Thanks. Tomorrow is the first day of summer classes. Tomorrow I have a new method I can use to woo the students into learning.
Love this. :) I can't believe the comments in this thread are giving you so much flak for coming up with what are clearly fantastic teaching concepts. We do such a poor job of teaching so many things just because that's the way we learned them. Way to go!
I want Daniel Sullivan to setup all teaching in school using his way of teaching. This made ohms law so clear and plain I wish I had his concept in all school curricula!
1 great teacher in a sea of crap teachers doesn't change anything.
1 great teacher, making online videos, in a sea of crap teachers... now that is what we all need more of.
Because of teachers like you, I'm still in school... thanks.
You're welcome. Hopefully there's more to come. Just remember, Volts and Ohms MAKE Amps...
everything you said is exactly how i felt getting certified in mobile electronics. it was really hard and felt like i was picking the wrong industry, i finally got it, but you are 100% correct. theres times i get so confused because of how i learned i have to take a break and refure to my notes to almost re learn it. i strongly agree with you, its shouldnt be day 1
I love your logic. I wish those who embrace teaching were more like you!
you are ahead of the class about 7 years stay teaching us in this channel and you will teach the future. I understand your statements and it is simple it's called reality. thanks
I'm taking a professional electronics class through an online university and this has been very helpful. I work daily as a Robotics Technician and deal with circuits on a daily basis. Thanks for the info and I look forward to watching more of your videos as I progress in my studies.
Thank you, and you're welcome. My midlife crisis at 46 when I got bifocals and a double-bypass in 2 weeks wasn't about motorcycles and young women. It was all about me realizing that the reasons people weren't listening to me were that I wasn't talking loudly enough, and they had something to lose if I were right. It's all pretty easy - it's just a matter of teaching in the context of something the student already understands. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help more. DS
Hey Daniel, i'm currently enrolled at the Institute of Technology, and i really admire what you're doing for us Young/Green Technicians. keep up the Educational videos!! Once a Student, Always a Student. a True Master Never stops being a Student.
+Adam Dolan And, "it is a poor student who does not some day outshine his master."
Love the way your mind works, its all very well knowing all about your subject but being about to teach the correct way is the most benefit to your class, much respect.
Man its about damn time someone admitted they letters used for amps, ohms and volts is bullshit!
Thank you very much!
I really wish that you taught as an Instructor in my College back then.. These basic concepts are very clear and are the truth, thank you for this information and lecture!
0:13 you are correct, our lecturer used to simply come into class, slap a sheet of work onto the board and expect everyone to just do it without any prior explanation, he kept doing this, and by the end of the semester his class of 50 had dwindled down to 10.
A student is only as good as the way he or she was taught, the way you explain things are just the way students need simple and direct, the days of teaching inside the box because thats the way it was always taught are over and if we need to move forward then we need your approach, hope lots of teaches are taking note. well done....
+Alexandre da rocha Aw shucks. I try. Thanks.
+Alexandre da rocha I agree,I understand it very well.
I must say that you are absolutely right. I would have been probably an electrician today if not the Ohm's Law, since I was never great at algebra and here we are in the class and we've been thought the Ohm's Law which as a kid didn't make any sense to me at all. So I've ended up switching to photography and now kind of looking at online info for some simple DIY home projects. At the time I've blamed myself for not understanding it but today as a photography teacher and many moons later since you've brought it up I fully agree with you that it is absolutely wrong!
I've been making all sorts for years, recently electronics fell into my "to learn" list and I put together a PCB fabrication lab and started making my own, and all on research alone so far.
I thought it was time to plug the gaps in my knowledge so I enrolled on an online EE course to get some formal training. However, I can honestly say your approach makes so much more sense.
The "math" as its presented, has been holding me back a little as I find it confuses things. I found myself doing the same equations using volts, ohms and amps as you suggested in your video too, seemed more logical.
Wish I was your student, I think I'd be much further on than I am now, but I'll get there.
that was great.. wish you were my Instructor at school. I'm gonna purchase the book. thank you very much!
+bigsal31zero No problem. The girl is a real person...
+Daniel Sullivan nice!! thank you sir! I'm definitely getting this book.
Thank You so much Daniel! As a college student majoring in Computer Engineering, I can completely agree with your philosophy. Seriously, our professor taught Ohm's Law for 55 minutes, but then spent roughly 3 minutes on Multi-meter usage. Everyone in the class can see the math, but come the Friday lab's, chaos ensues because nobody knows how to measure a circuit correctly!
I agree. When I took beginners DC electronics at a local community college the class started out fairly large and by the time it finished there were only 8 of us who took the final. The text was very long on hard to understand theory and very short on actual how to. If it weren't for online sources such as yours, I and my classmates would have bombed on Thevenin's Theorem and Superposition analysis. You sir have a superior approach to teaching an arcane subject. I believe it was daVinci who said that: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
I teach high school STEM. I whole heartedly agree with you about ditching the EIR in favor of the AVOmega. Thank you for giving me permission to pursue my dreams of teaching more concepts rather than confusing for history's sake.
For two semester already I have been fighting this (E-I-R) system and kept getting confused. Your way of working with Ohm's law makes scene to me, I wrote your information down in my book. Thanks!
Interesting perspective, I am definitely purchasing your electrical book! Thank you for posting this video!
I have been working with Electricity for 20 years and trying to teach myself and others ohms law! Must agree maths E, I, V, does not make any sense when you are in the bush taking readings with a meter that only has Amp, Ohms, and Volt. If we are going to teach anything, then teach correctly and in conjunction with what is in the real world not just what is in the letter! How this person is teaching is how I would liked to be taught from the start well done and congratulations on a masters class in teaching how to use ohm's law! We are all in the world to learn from one another and if we can carry over our findings and give it to the other in a way it makes sense then we are good teachers!
You sir, are a genius! After more than 30 years of Tech work, you have indeed spelled out my feelings to a "T"!
love your videos and your approach, you think outside the square and they have given me more understanding from a beginners point of view, its been a week since ive been researching and learning to be more efficient and effective with diagnosing the right way thanks a million.
you said the one most beautiful thing Ive ever heard from a a teaching figure, " why do we have to keep teaching something that's been known to be improper, simply because we learned it that way?". that's Nobel peace prize stuff right there.
Perfect video. First and only purely practical advice on this topic that I've seen on the net. Probably going to buy that book too. Big thanks Dan!
I stumbled upon your videos recently while I was looking for instruction on using a multimeter. I have been working on my outboaord motor and everyone giving me advice wants me to throw parts at it. I thought to myself I will just use the money that I would spend on parts and buy a good meter and learn how to use it. Then I could diagnose the REAL problems and fix them myself. My plan worked great. I didn't need to buy any parts at all. Motor runs great. Thanks for the instruction!
I agree :) thank you for your video. I only wish more educators would think that way.
I love to hear what makes my mind resonate and produce an imaginary image. You talk so much sense.I know ,because i was subjected to such confusion ,the result of gobbledegook. I'm 70 ,and 55 years ago we were taught , and suffered ignorant teaching methods. I can vouch that what you are saying is 100 percent correct. Good look and thanks for laying to-rest my own opinion.
Well Daniel. I watched these series of videos and say I'm impressed. I'm a Tech by trade and well not bad at electrical part of it. A while back I had a chance to help train a apprentice and now she is getting ready for school for the first block. These are great and sent these to her. Feel they will help here prepare and make it easier in class.
that was the most sense I ever heard a teacher say
I love the way you explained Voltage--thats exactly how you should teach!!
Thank you for this Ohm law part 1 class , Now I'm understanding it a lot better
This is good stuff. I completely agree about using V and A instead of E and I. I think (just IMO) that R and Omega are interchangeable enough but in the context of teaching technicians you make a real strong point for sticking to Omega.
Well done. I subbed!
Thank you for addressing the variable naming scheme. I always found it difficult to remember and thought it never made much sense.
Professionally, I'm an IT administrator, so I'm a "tech" in that sense only. I never learned electronics in school or really understood electricity. Friends who ARE electronics geeks have tried to explain Ohm's law to me and I got about as much out of it as a Labrador watching Nova. In the first 2 minutes of this video, you gave me a clearer picture of what Ohm's law is about than I have had in 40 years since high-school. I'll continue this in another comment because you hit a bigger point.
I absolutely concur with your teaching method of ohms law
Thank you Sir, these educational videos are invaluable to those who can't afford to go to college.....we appreciate every thing you do
+otis shane sharp No prob. Happy it all worked out.
As a former student of Auto Tech. in high school and college, I could not agree more. Thank you.
Finely a common sense method, I can understand. I have always had a terrible time wrapping my head around the old way. My Grandchildren have brought home math that should be easily answered, but the way the schools have them do it, takes half a sheet of paper to come up with the same answer.This puts a great deal of pressure on the student's. It's no wonder the USA is falling behind in almost every field, in education. Thank you Sir. I look forward to checking out the book shown in the last part of the video.
I firmly agree with this lesson. When I get new guys in my shop looking to learn a little bit about electrical issues... All I every hear is "Electrical just isn't my thing I hate it! Makes no sense..." They spend maybe two or three cases with me. I teach them the more "realistic" methods to electrical systems. Very near what you are saying in this video. HAH! And now they are steal my jobs. But, it feels like I made a difference. They have all said, "I really didn't think it was THAT easy. It seemed so hard in school". Thanks for the share and thanks for the Loadpro.
Thank you for making these videos. I'm not in school and I've been LOOKING for somewhere that I can learn the basics! I tried to learn and I got lectures on how computers are programed. That's not what I want to know. I am very interested in this stuff but I need to know the vocabulary and I want to make a mental picture of reality.
I wish someone would explain this to my instructor. 3 weeks into class and I am on the verge of quitting, I'm not the quitting type, I know I have to hang in there. But I'm frustrated with it all. I finally figured out how to apply Ohm's Law thanks to UA-cam videos. I like your videos they have helped me understand Ohm's and Kirchhoff's Laws and how they are applied in real world applications.
I like your methodology for teaching Ohm's Law, as a former apprentice instructor (fire protection sprinkler fitters) I know full well that the worse thing an instructor can do to their students is to confuse them at the onset.
When i was teaching, my goal was to "produce" an apprentice that can go to work and use what they've learned and be productive in whatever stage of apprenticeship they're in.
To the person who wants to have a "deeper understanding" or maybe a hydraulic or civil engineer's "understanding" of the scope of their work, there's college courses for that, I'm teaching future journeymen on how to be productive employee for those companies that pay them to be productive.
Thanks for the video.
this is great. I agree with you sir. I'm an electronics tech but now an HVAC tech and going back again to basics and see things in diff. way the way you teach. I'm going to buy that book. hopefully you have also for HVAC sir
Excellent videos!, finally an educator that explains electronics in a way that I am able to understand!
As a working Engineer for over 20 years, I've had the pleasure of interfacing with many intelligent and skilled techs that can troubleshoot circuits and systems better than many of my peer engineers, despite having very little clue about the physics, and associated math, behind the electronics.
I used to think that if Ohm's law was considered hard math, maybe electronics wasn't the right field to pursue, but learned that this isn't the case. Glad to see that someone thinks about electronics from the technician's point of view. There is no need to turn off prospective electronic techs just because of math.
Thank you! I'm in automotive school and I'm learning electrical and I feel the same way as do other students. It's should be taught simple as possible and math last.
Great video ive been trying to learn electronics and your method works for me keep posting and teaching thanks
Dear Sir: you have my support! and my respect! I really appreciated you point of view and agree with you.You have my Thumb up!
ps. I love your videos btw! I just think you can do everything from scratch with *kids*...why not. I got an engineering degree and never knew what was INSIDE the meter which is insane! When i finally built one myself I realized how crazy it is to hide those details....since all the meters are just current meters with different configurations.
FWIW, IMHO;
Your point on Ohms law is spot on; I'm not an electronic engineer - just passing/general interest - learnt the V=IR equation as a kid which gives the relationships but doesn't tell you what drives what - i.e. doesn't tell you which one is fixed in a circuit, and remains confusing in my mental model to this day.
As soon as there are multiple components in a circuit it feels like Ohms law sends you round in circles , i.e. amps derrived from resistance which affects volts which in turn affects the amps etc .etc... I 'know' my mental model is wrong - just emphasising how confusing it can get if starting from the wrong teaching place & effectively a blocker to more in depth experimentation.
Daniel, thank you for creating your videos. On an annual basis I voluntarily teach high school graduates that work on ski lifts basic electricity. I have honed my presentations over the last 8 years but feel that I am over-teaching some of the students. I only get 3 hours to teach this class so my delivery has to be simple and concise. I use ohm's triangle to teach ohms law and I probably spend 15 minutes on using ohm's triangle to figure out the unknown (be it V, A, or Ω).
Your video shows me why I am teaching over some of the students. I do teach the three type of electrical faults but I never really tied it into ohm's law/triangle. I like how you mechanically linked faults to V/Ω.
BTW my background is electrical engineering, I am always making a conscious effort to remember who I am teaching to.
I teach ohms law in many of my high school CTE classes and I always wait till we have been in class for a couple weeks before starting students on ohms law. As far as the letters E=Electromotive Force/Electrical Potential, I=Induced Current/Intensity and R=Resistance they make complete sense and this is how it should be taught in my opinion. Volts, Amperes, and Ohms are just the units of measure and do not describe what you are measuring. That would be like saying ft*lbs instead of torque or inches instead of distance, which in my opinion does not necessarily teach the student what they are measuring. I do understand where you are coming from as far as what they read on the meter but I expect all my students to understand it completely by the time they graduate high school. I think the big difference here is that I have a great deal more time to spend on the basics than instructors at a college or tech school.
I have 4 days - you likely have 4 months or more. I teach the guys you very likely will never have in class. I've said more times than I can count that we must crawl, then walk, then run. It's crucial to remember that if a "general education" were truly a general education, then we wouldn't have 80% of students leaving high feeling stupid. The order in which we teach things doesn't dictate what can eventually be taught, and in my mind, there's no such thing as "basic" electricity. PWM is Ohm's Law. Corrosion is Kirchoff's Law. Lightning is Lenz's Law. The words "basic" and "advanced" are only of value to teachers writing course descriptions and calendars and outlines. We need to ignore these false delineations and teach the subject as it is meant to be understood. Education is a lifelong experience - not a short term event for a grade. I'll teach your guys how to use the theories to fix a coal truck; you teach my guys about the theories their diagnostic methods depend upon.
Technicians and engineers have a lot of common ground and serves both to be able to communicate with the other in their own language. Further more, a pure physics exposure in automotive, heating and refrigeration or home wiring curricula is neither irrelevant nor useless. I'm not a phys-tech generalist, but I do appreciate a whole approach as a physicist who is the son of a technician, best friend of a google programmer and brother of an engineer.
YOU SIR , are the first GREAT Electronics TEACHER, hands down. And your right, when I wanted to learn V A O Pyramid And it was presented to me as I R P or E I thought I was going in the wrong direction and clicked out of the class come to think of it. I could never remember what the hell any on of the (Non Representatives Letters Translated to) SO it did really set me up to fail as its nonsense . I AM SO HAPPY i found your lessons, I feel like all the electronics teachers i had where a complete waste of my life. SO thanks for doing a super good job. You pull the Nonsense Curtain Off to expose the reality. Thus I learn and memorize the information WAYYYY Faster!
What you said makes A LOT of sense and it's funny because all you ever hear is "E", "I", and "R" but as you noted that makes no sense sense they won't see that when they look at their mulimeters, for example. I also like you you said that all you really need to know is that voltage and resistance = Amps and that that's really what you should focus on. I think that that's a very interesting analysis. I also liked how you said that there's only three things that can happen in a circuit: open, short, or high resistance. Very wise observation, Sir. Thank you. I learned basic electricity in 1971 but I feel that after what you said it makes more sense than ever. One last thing: saving "the math" is a very interesting idea but I have to say I like it. By the way, I had never heard that "teaching Ohm's Law is controversial". Interesting. I don't know how you could learn electricity without doing so which is basically what you say afterwards. VERY GOOD VIDEO, Mr. Sullivan! Thank You for making it and posting it.
Youa 100% correct, and make it's a lot easier for people to learn and understand the Ohm's law.
B B ROY of G(reat) B(ritain) has a V(ery) B(eautiful) W(ife)
This is what I learned during my college days in Electronic Classes, was very easy to learn the color codes of Resistance.
BTW very good Video regarding the codification of Voltage Resistance and Current.
Unique but highly relevant presentation. Volts/ohms = amps does get to the root of the problem but is never the way it is taught. Thank you for presenting this approach.
Thanks - it's simply a matter of doing what works without being fearful that we'll "get in trouble" for thinking for ourselves.
I couldn't possibly agree more! I field trained telco techs for years and consistently found they came out of the classroom not really understanding the basics of what their meters were telling them.
Thanks - they're a work in progress. Working on the crashed iMac today so I can hopefully go back to work...
I too am an educator and worked in electronics and software design. I welcome alternative approaches to concepts and thinking differently. As I watched the video, I got the impression that your classes are for troubleshooting and repair. Technicians often do not need to know the intricacies of the design. I agree that the content of the course should be optimized to reach the desired outcomes. Teaching Math of Electronics is essential in other disciplines of course.
you sir bring up an excellent point. I agree so much with all that.
mercifully, much better pace than "what is voltage drop" excellent but too rapid. but this is normal pace. Logical, straightforward, no nonsense, excellent communication skills an principles. Thank you from North east england
As a trainer for major appliance techs, I also agree that E,I & R are terms that may be beneficial to electronics students and architects, the use of V, Ω and A is the best method to train new techs who make a living doing field diagnostics. I have been a tech for 40 years now, and am a national trainer for a major appliance trade association, and this is the easiest and shortest way to emphasize the rules as they apply to our industry.
Mr Sullivan, thank you for your reply. I do not have your background and vast experience, I graduated on Aeronautical Engineering and I've been working on the HVAC business for the past 5 years. My comment is my personal opinion and nothing more, ultimately you're right, messages are tailored to the audience. I came across your video because I never taught electricity and I'm looking for the best way to do it, so I'm taking in all into account.
What this guy says is absolutely true and it applies to almost every form of western education. As a programmer I analyze and reorganize workflows and by nature people defend broken systems out of peer pressure and laziness. This man is trying to help us break through to a higher level of communication and the resistance and defensiveness in these comments remind me of system users at companies who would rather keep doing a job that takes 10 hours than change one thing so it takes them 10 min.
E, I and R are fine, so long as you teach them that Voltage is an Electromotive Force, Teach them that Amps is the amount of Intensity/Impetus of the force, and Resistance is measured in Ohms Ω. Once they understand that, E/V I/A and R/Ω mixups are much less common. There is a difference between memorizing variables and understanding the phenomenon.
I'm with Dan on this, I have an ONC, 2 degrees and have taught electronic theory for too many years, the academic is fine in the academic world, but, when teaching in the real world with instruments that deal with volts amps and ohms it's the only way to easily make the troops understand. The meaning in the practical "real sense" is certainly not lost and my perspective is that it makes it far easier to understand, I measure Voltage, I know the max current, I can work out resistance etc..simple
Daniel,I would agree in what you are saying here ,I was slow on the up take I thought` but not the case, I soon realised in the way teachers taught me in class it was not me with a problem it was them due to there incompetence In not realising were not programed to learn all the same way,I learnt more when I left school in a short time than what they tried to teach me in the last 5 years.The general public had explained to me what I needed to know in a more practical way for me to understand,My grand farther was 3 years a head in maths for his year and he said there is always an easy way to learn if only the teacher know how to teach it to there students.How many students would of learnt more at school only if the teacher would have the common sense to see it from a pupils way of thinking rather than the way they think it should be teached,like you say all the years we spend in our schools and what did we actually learn.My kids come home struggling with what the teachers are teaching them`so I always teach them an easy way to look at a solution which would make them remember,We all had a teacher at school who seam to get the work piece over to us in a way we would under stand` this was not because the pupil had the brain to connect to that subject`it was that the teacher had away of making the student understand what he or she was putting over to us, and if you understand you don`t mind listening instead of being board and messing about,
Things have to change the way pupils are taught in these schools or else the pupils will not progress in life, they will have more stress and feel more inadequate due to more work they are expected to do buy the teachers`because our government has told the schools to push more work on to our kids because we are three years be hind china in our education .The basics of any study you learn in life must be taught first`and common sense will follow,if you jump the gun and miss out the basics you will learn things but not truly under stand why and how,this is why you can have high grades on paper but you forget very quickly what you learnt,Ask your self this` if you under stud how a clutch worked on a car rather than how your are taught to move the clutch pedal` would you of managed a hill start when learning to drive much quicker,if the answer is yes then you would prefer to learn the basic prisables be for jumping the gun,Both ways might get you the same result but under standing how it works lessons the chance of stalling and clutch burning,
I100% agree with you. I'm working on a curriculum for Khan Academy which ditches the formula. Instead we should make galvanomaters and figure out everything from scratch.
Dear Daniel. As a teacher of students like you describe, I can confirm you are 100% correct. Thanks for taking the time and putting in the effort to make this clip and sharing it with a broader audience. - Robert Cook, Melbourne, Australia.
Awesome analogy! Never thought that way, but makes sense!
When I talked about components I was referring to the zener diode. I started to simulate circuits in class, and when I put a voltmeter in parallel with a 5V zener diode(inversed polarized), I get the voltage drop of ~5V, but I thought it should "let go" only 5V to the next component, because I was taught that it is designed to stabilize voltage.
Well done,look forward to the next vid. Thanks
@bivideo7 those are excellent concepts u have adopted.. It dose really simplify things!!
I started this journey by creating the equivalent of a 1000 watt light, that only uses 10% of the power, and produces little heat. Now I'm getting into designing circuits, so I can use Supercapacitors to illuminate my light. The nice thing is since I never really studied this before, I don't have the mind set that it can't be done. The one thing that was scaring me about electronics is, you guessed it, "MATH"! lol
Really good info. Thank you!
Dan is right, when I went to college for automotive and diesel, electrical was taught with the equations first and theory and meter reading last. I was confused at first. I think up and coming techs need to be taught how Dan teaches it. I use Dan's methods and they make diagnosis of circuits easier. Buy the leads and buy the book! Best money I ever spent on tools.
Well, That was enjoyable !!!.... Good Job, Thanks.
Now i understand why i wasn't able to understand concepts properly. I used to bang my head against wall thinking that i am the foolest person because some electrical concepts just didn't make sense to my average brain capacity. I thought something is wrong with my brain wiring because it was difficult for me to connect the "dots of understanding". I wonder how other students were happy without proper basics. I wondered how brilliant students imagined this concept or visualise it.
Thanks for making this video sir. I wish i could buy that book but i don't think it is available in India.
Thanks for this explanation about the resistors
Congratulations of reaching out to your students to improve understanding.
Daniel, does you method work in AC circuits that same as it does in DC circuits? I find myself working on both all the time.
Keep doing exactly what your doing. If I had enjoyed the priviledge of having being your student, my future would have been more certain.
Nice common sense approach! I think it's also critical to teach what causes the resistance in a corroded wire, and how the meter actually does a resistance test, which leads to why you can't use an ohmmeter on a large gauge wire.
In my first year of university they told us "ohms law is wrong.. these are the Maxwell equations..". I always wondered what the point of all this was for real applications in electronics. Now many years later, I find myself remembering these strange equations when ohms law seems to be broken. The modern world isn't DC, and having that deep mathematical foundation really helps you see though what would otherwise be considered black magic.
Good video. Makes perfect sense.
43 years ago in my Tech school we had to take Electronics and Residential Electrical wiring because other classes were part of Building Houses and we needed a foundation for how Electrical systems worked .
But both Teachers had their version of the Theories that caused confusion , plus we had been hit with all the Math at first as part of Ohm's Law that had the E,I,R while we also were fed Amps, Watts, Current , voltage, Implied force, and how 1 Volt = 1 amp and both = 1 coulomb .
Few people from the school actually went on to get jobs with Hydro Companies , some just ended up being able to assemble a Radio set but not know WHY it actually works or what made it stop working so it could be fixed. The other Grades for Residential Electricity didn't progress much beyond wiring new homes or wiring a Rec Room in the basement which was repetition from memory for how-to but not WHY. Some people try to use the Water Pipe example , but the water drains back to the source and must be pumped back thought the system and doesn't heat up the faster it pushed.
I studied Ohm's history and research and from my point of view his Theory and Formula would make more sense if he saw the Resistor as a Variable Conductor you add to a circuit to control the flow of electrons , rather than his concept of Resisting electrons that I infer as if he DIDN'T want power in a circuit . To me it's like a Doorman to a 50 seat restaurant and he wants people to flow in but controls the number so only 50 people can come in , so if you overload the Line-up with 75 people you still limit the seating to 50 unless the restaurant is changed to handle 100 people where the Doorman now limits the load to 100 people. Except that a 100 seat Business could still have a 50 person limit for which the Doorman now stops the flow at 50 people. This example is why I have a problem when someone tells me that the Wire diameter for a circuit is too big , they don't explain why I need a smaller size unless it's just a waste of money. If electricity is like Water in a pipe , who cares if the pipe is 4" or 8" around if all I want is between 2-10 gallons and hour . If i needed more water later on I have the pipe size to carry it. \
I've never been good at just accepting what a Teacher says and then repeat it on an Exam while not having a clue about WHY and HOW something works so i can start from the end and work backwards to find the other factors. Back then
when i asked questions or didn't fully understand the Teachers lesson it was me that had the problem and never a bad teaching method.
The E = IxR and R=E/I and I=E/R means noting to me if i want to build something and all of these are unknowns and I must know the Wire sizes to buy and what the input power should be.
The chimps I saw on the Sullivan show were taught how to ride their Motor cycle in a circle , but they had no clue why the motor worked or how the gasoline produced the power .
I agree that it's confusing at first to hit someone with so many terms at once while the real World applications use a common language , plus the other problem we had was being told about Horsepower and Watts dealing with 650 lbs moved 1 foot in 1 second to = 1 hp , but later we saw how 1 HP =30'000 foot pounds or work but a Car engine with over 200 HP was rated at 180 ft lbs .
The first and most critical thing to learn is this: VOLTS & OHMS make AMPS. The formula you should use is V÷Ω=A. The triangle and circle thing work, but the math is secondary. Remember that RESISTANCE goes DOWN in parallel. Use the 1/x button for parallel problems. Let me know if you need help.
That's great. It's pretty simple math, but make sure you know more than simply how to divide. Hopefully you're getting some practical experience as well. What are you thinking you'll want to do after you graduate?
as a previous automotive student, I completely agree. it is wholly confusing to hear E=IR. It threw me through a loop trying to remember the corresponding units of measurement.
Glad it helped. Just remember that Volts and Ohms MAKE Amps. The V÷Ω=A formula makes the most sense mechanically. I can see the stuff in my head, but if I do the math I have to write the formula down every time before I start so I can get it clear in my thinking.
This is the best video 4 me. Thank's a lot.
I love math. However, I agree with what you are saying about explaining the concepts, showing students practical examples with demonstrations, and then exposing them to how the math reflects what they experienced in each circuit.
+Ralph Rahsaan Gardner Thanks.
Very Good Explanation.