Concept Taxonomy
This document defines the categorical taxonomy for organizing the 300 concepts in the Circuits 1 learning graph.
Taxonomy Categories
| TaxonomyID | Category Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| FOUND | Foundation Concepts | Basic electrical quantities, laws, and fundamental principles |
| ANLYS | Circuit Analysis | Analysis techniques and methods for solving circuits |
| PASV | Passive Components | Resistors, capacitors, inductors and their properties |
| TRANS | Transient Analysis | Time-domain response and transient behavior |
| ACFND | AC Fundamentals | Sinusoidal signals, phasors, and complex impedance |
| POWER | AC Power | Power concepts in AC circuits |
| FREQ | Frequency Response | Transfer functions, Bode plots, and resonance |
| FILT | Filters | Filter types, design, and applications |
| OPAMP | Operational Amplifiers | Op-amp theory and circuit configurations |
| SIGNAL | Signal Analysis | Fourier analysis and signal representation |
| AUDIO | Audio Applications | Audio-specific concepts and applications |
| LAB | Laboratory | Measurement equipment and lab techniques |
Category Descriptions
FOUND - Foundation Concepts
Basic electrical quantities (charge, voltage, current, power), fundamental laws (Ohm's Law, KVL, KCL), and basic circuit configurations. These form the prerequisite knowledge for all other topics.
ANLYS - Circuit Analysis
Systematic methods for analyzing circuits including nodal analysis, mesh analysis, Thevenin/Norton equivalents, superposition, and source transformation.
PASV - Passive Components
Properties and behavior of passive components: resistors (including tolerance and power ratings), capacitors (energy storage, series/parallel combinations), and inductors (magnetic field storage, mutual inductance).
TRANS - Transient Analysis
Time-domain analysis of circuits including RC and RL transients, time constants, natural and forced responses, and second-order RLC circuit behavior.
ACFND - AC Fundamentals
Sinusoidal waveform parameters, complex number representation, phasors, impedance, reactance, and AC circuit analysis techniques.
POWER - AC Power
Power concepts specific to AC circuits: real power, reactive power, apparent power, power factor, and power factor correction.
FREQ - Frequency Response
Analysis of circuits in the frequency domain: transfer functions, Bode plots, cutoff frequencies, bandwidth, resonance, and quality factor.
FILT - Filters
Filter theory and applications: low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, and band-reject filters, filter order, passive and active filter implementations.
OPAMP - Operational Amplifiers
Op-amp theory (ideal model, feedback), basic configurations (inverting, non-inverting, follower), and applications (summing amplifier, integrator, differentiator).
SIGNAL - Signal Analysis
Signal representation and analysis: Fourier series, harmonics, frequency spectrum, time and frequency domain relationships.
AUDIO - Audio Applications
Audio-specific topics: audio signals, amplifier types (preamp, power amp), gain measurements, distortion, and signal-to-noise ratio.
LAB - Laboratory
Laboratory equipment (multimeter, oscilloscope, function generator), measurement techniques, prototyping methods, and safety practices.
Expected Distribution
Target distribution aims for roughly equal concept counts per category:
| Category | Target Count | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| FOUND | 25-30 | 8-10% |
| ANLYS | 20-25 | 7-8% |
| PASV | 20-25 | 7-8% |
| TRANS | 20-25 | 7-8% |
| ACFND | 25-30 | 8-10% |
| POWER | 15-20 | 5-7% |
| FREQ | 20-25 | 7-8% |
| FILT | 15-20 | 5-7% |
| OPAMP | 25-30 | 8-10% |
| SIGNAL | 15-20 | 5-7% |
| AUDIO | 20-25 | 7-8% |
| LAB | 20-25 | 7-8% |