Chapter 3
Basic Circuit Laws and Analysis
• The previous chapters introduced basic concepts such as
◈current,
◈voltage, and
◈power in an electric circuit.
‣ To actually determine the values of these variables in a
given circuit requires that we understand some
fundamental laws that govern electric circuits. These
laws, known as
‣ Ohm’s law and
‣ Kirchhoff’s laws,
1
Ohm's Law
• Georg Simon Ohm (1787–1854), a German physicist, is credited
with finding the relationship between current and voltage for a
resistor.
• Ohm’s law states that the voltage v across a resistor is directly
proportional to the current i flowing through the resistor. That is,
• The proportionality constant is R
• Since the value of R can range from zero to infinity, it is
important that we consider the two extreme possible values of R.
• An element with R = 0 is called a short circuit,
• an element with R =∞ is known as an open circuit
2
Nodes, Branches, Loops And Mesh
• To differentiate between a circuit and a network, we may
regard a network as an interconnection of elements or
devices, whereas a circuit is a network providing one or
more closed paths.
• Node- A node in an electric circuit is a point where two or
more components are connected together. Generally, a
point, or a node in an circuit specifies a certain voltage
level with respect to a reference point or node.
• A branch is a conducting path between two nodes in a
circuit containing the electric elements. It represents a
single element such as a voltage source or a resistor.
3
Continued…
• loop is any closed path in an electric circuit i.e., a closed
path or loop in a circuit is a contiguous sequence of
branches which starting and end points for tracing the path
are, in effect, the same node and touches no other node
more than once.
• A loop is said to be independent if it contains a branch
which is not in any other loop. Independent loops or paths
result in independent sets of equations. A network with b
branches, n nodes, and l independent loops will satisfy the
fundamental theorem of network topology: b=n+L-1
Mesh- a mesh is a special case of loop that does not
have any other loops within it or in its interior.
4
Cont. …
Exercises: How many branches, nodes loops, and
meshes does the circuit have?
a. 5 branches, 3 nodes, 6 loops and 3 meshes
b.
Kirchhoff’s Laws
• Ohm’s law by itself is not sufficient to analyze circuits.
However, it is coupled with Kirchhoff’s two laws,
Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) and
Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL).
• Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) : the algebraic sum of
currents entering and leaving a node at any instant of
time must be equal to zero
6
Cont. …
Mathematically, KCL implies that
Where N is the number of
branches connected to the
node and In is the nth current
entering (or leaving) the node.
I1+(-i2)+i3+(-i4)+i5+(-i6)=0
I1+i3+i5=i2+i4+i6
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Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law(KVL): states that “In a closed
circuit, the algebraic sum of all source voltages must be
equal to the algebraic sum of all the voltage drops”
This may be interpreted as
Sum of voltage drops = Sum of voltage rises
- v1 – v2 + v4 + v3 = 0
or
- v3 – v4 + v2 + v1 = 0
8
Cont…
-V +IR1 +IR2 +V2 +IR3 +IR 4-V 3+IR5 –V4 =0
V 1−V 2+V3 +V4 =IR1 +IR2 +IR3 +IR4 +IR5
9
Circuit Simplification
Depending on connection of devices, basically there are three types of circuits:-
1. Series connection
In series circuit:
Elements are connected end to end.
R1 R2
There is the same current flowing through I
all the elements. + VR1 - + VR2 -
+
The total resistance is the sum of the Vs VRN RN
individual resistances. -
- VR3 +
The applied voltage is the sum of all the
voltage drops across each resistances. R3
Mathematically: RT = R1 + R2 + R3 +……….+RN
Vs = VR1 + VR2 + VR3+…..…+VRN
I = IR1 = IR2 = IR3 =………….=IRN
Voltage Divider Rule (VDR)
States that the amount of voltage drops across each element is directly
proportional to the source voltage and resistance value.
Vs R1
VR 1 R 1 R1 Vs
RT RT
Vs R2
VR 2 R 2 R2 Vs
RT RT
Vs R3
VR 3 R 3 R3 Vs
RT RT
2. Parallel Circuit IT
Elements are connected to I1 I2 I3
common nodes.
The voltage across each element
is the same.
Vs R1 R2 RN
The total current is the sum of the
individual branch currents.
Mathematically: 1 1 1 1
.......
RT R1 R2 RN
Vs = VR1 = VR2 = VR3 =…..… = VRN
IT = IR1 + IR2 + IR3 +………. + IRN
Current Divider Rule (CDR)
States that the amount of current flows through each element is directly
proportional to the total current and inversely proportional to the resistance
value.
R2 R1
I1 T I2 T
R 1 R2 R 1 R2
3. Series-Parallel circuits
Series-Parallel circuit is a combination of both series and parallel circuits.
Therefore, it has the property of both series and parallel circuit.
Delta (Δ) to Star (Y) Transformation
• There are certain circuit configurations that cannot be
simplified by series-parallel combination alone.
14
RA = , RB =
Rc =
15
Star to delta transformation
Cont. …
• Find the value of the voltage source ( Vs) that
delivers 2 Amps current through the circuit as shown
below.
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