Syllabus for ELE-212



AC Circuits (ELE-212) is intended for students who plan to pursue an academic path in electronics. It continues and normally follows the course DC Circuits (ELE-211) and provides an introduction to alternating current, inductance, capacitance, inductive and capacitive reactance, fundamental ac circuitry, and single-phase transformer.

Knowledge of basic dc circuits (or a course equivalent to ELE-211, DC Circuits) and an understanding of basic trigonometric functions (or proficiency in a course equivalent to at least MAT-121, College Algebra) is needed to succeed in this course.


After completing this course, you should be able to: 

  1. Identify a sine wave, square wave, and triangle wave.
  2. Calculate the period and peak voltage of a sine wave from a scope trace or graph.
  3. Use Ohm's law and Kirchhoff voltage and current laws to solve circuits containing resistors, capacitors, and inductors.
  4. Describe the behavior of both a capacitor and an inductor in an ac circuit.
  5. Calculate the currents, voltages, and phase angles in circuits containing resistors, capacitors, and inductors.
  6. Calculate the resonant frequency of an RLC circuit.
  7. Calculate the impedance at any frequency of an RLC circuit.
  8. Identify and calculate the three types of powers within an alternating current system: resistive (watts), reactive (VAR), and apparent (VA).



Required Textbook

  • Electronics Technology Fundamentals, Conventional Flow Version, 3d ed., by Robert T. Paynter and B. J. Toby Boydell (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2009).

    ISBN-13: 978-0558395391

Required Software

  • NI Circuit Design Suite (package), with NI Multisim (formerly Electronics Workbench Multisim), version 10.0.1, from National Instruments.

Note: NI Circuit Design Suite is a Windows-based product and will not run on Macs. You can run this software and other Windows software on your Mac using Apple's Boot Camp technology or third-party virtualization tools like Parallels or VMWare Fusion. These tools make it possible to run Mac OSX and a Windows operating system side by side. This solution will require a Windows license.


AC Circuits is a three-credit online course, consisting of seven modules. Modules include learning objectives, study materials (readings and exercises from the course textbook and self-check quizzes from the textbook's companion Web site), a written assignment, and a module-ending test. Modules 3–7 also include circuit simulation problems that you complete as a group activity. Module titles are listed below.


For your formal work in the course, you are required to complete seven written assignments, participate in five group activities involving circuit simulation problems, and take seven online module tests. You are also required to take a proctored midterm examination. See below for more details.

Consult the Course Calendar for assignment due dates.

Written Assignments

You are required to complete seven written assignments that consist of short-answer, essay-type questions and end-of-chapter problems selected from the textbook.

Online Participation

In addition to an ungraded Introductions Forum in Module 1, AC Circuits requires you to participate in five group activities involving circuit simulation problems. Click link for the activities' ground rules.

Communication and collaboration among fellow students and with the mentor is a critical component of online learning. The circuit simulation problems provide an opportunity for you to apply textbook concepts and computational skills within an interactive team setting. In so doing, you can benefit from the help of your classmates and share your understanding of electrical circuits and chapter concepts.

You will be evaluated both on your group participation (i.e., how well you fulfill your team responsibilities of posting solutions, commenting on the work of others, and participating in team decisions) and on the quality of your work (i.e., the correctness and thoroughness of the final team reports).

Due dates for posting responses to the simulation problems are given in the course Calendar.

See Modules 3–7 for specific directions for completing the group activities and circuit simulation problems.

Module Tests

At the conclusion of each module, following the written assignment, is an online module test. The tests consist of  twenty multiple-choice questions and are up to 45 minutes long.

Consult the Course Calendar for test deadlines.

Midterm Examination

You are required to take a proctored midterm examination. The exam requires that you use the College's Online Proctor Service (OPS). Please refer to the "Examinations and Proctors" section of the Online Student Handbook (see General Information area of the course Web site) for further information about scheduling and taking online exams and for all exam policies and procedures. You are strongly advised to schedule your exam within the first week of the semester. Consult the course Calendar for the scheduling of this examination.

The proctored midterm exam covers all material assigned in Modules 1, 2, 3, and 4. It is two hours long and consists of 25 multiple-choice questions like those on the module tests.


Statement about Cheating




Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:































Below 60



First Steps to Success

To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:

Study Tips

Consider the following study tips for success:




Academic Dishonesty











Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism 

When to Quote and When to Paraphrase

Writing Assistance at Smarthinking

Originality Report Checking at Turnitin


Disciplinary Process

