Circuits and Electronics 1: Basic Circuit Analysis

Want to learn about circuits and electronics, but unsure where to begin? Wondering how to make computers run faster or your mobile phone battery last longer? This free circuits course taught by edX CEO and MIT Professor Anant Agarwal and colleagues is for you. This is the first of three online Circuits & Electronics courses offered by Professor Anant Agarwal and colleagues at MIT, and is taken by all MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) majors. Topics covered include: resistive elements and networks; circuit analysis methods including KVL, KCL and the node method; independent and dependent sources; linearity, superposition, Thevenin & Norton methods; digital abstraction, combinational gates; and MOSFET switches and small signal analysis. Design and lab exercises are also significant components of the course. Weekly coursework includes interactive video sequences, readings from the textbook, homework, online laboratories, and optional tutorials. The course will also have a final exam. This is a self-paced course, so there are no weekly deadlines. However, all assignments are due when the course ends.

• How to design and analyze circuits using the node method, superposition, and the Thevenin method
• How to employ lumped circuit models and abstraction to simplify circuit analysis
• How to use intuition to solve circuits
• Construction of simple digital gates using MOSFET transistors
• Measurement of circuit variables using tools such as virtual oscilloscopes, virtual multimeters, and virtual signal generators

• High school mathematical background of working with algebraic equations and basic calculus, and a high school physics background including the basics of electricity and magnetism.