1

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering GEN E ME 123: Electrical Engineering DC CIRCUITS
Dr. Claudio Ca~izares n December 1998

University of Waterloo

1 Circuit Elements
Any circuit is made up by a combination of the the following elements:
SOURCES LOADS

i v v= x

i v

i i v

i i= y v

i R v

i C v

i L

VOLTAGE

CURRENT

RESISTOR

CAPACITOR

INDUCTOR

R ! v=Ri di L ! v = L dt i0 = I0 v0 = V0

C ! i = C dv dt

Voltage Sources: These are active elements with a de ned voltage; the current is free to have any value. Dependent or controlled sources have

DC Circuits

a voltage that depends on any other variable x voltage or current in another element in the circuit. The initial assumption is always that the sources are delivering power, i.e., the current comes out of the + side of the voltage. However, after solving the circuit, these elements may actually be absorbing power, i.e., the current value is negative. Current Sources: These are active elements with a de ned current; the voltage is free to have any value. Dependent or controlled sources have a current that depends on any other variable x voltage or current in another element in the circuit. The initial assumption is always that the sources are delivering power, i.e., the current comes out of the + side of the voltage. However, after solving the circuit, these elements may actually be absorbing power, i.e., the voltage value is negative. Loads: These are passive R, L or C elements. Thus, the initial assumption is that the loads are absorbing power, i.e., the current goes into the + side of the voltage. This is always true for R. Steady state direct current dc circuits have all voltages and currents constant, i.e., these values do not change with time. For these circuits, all L's are short-circuits v=0 and all C's are open-circuits i=0, as all derivatives with respect to time are zero.

2 Kirchho 's Laws

The objective is to calculate all unknown voltages and currents in a given circuit using Kirchho 's laws: 1. Voltage Law KVL: X v 2 =0
k loop loop

2. Current Law KCL:

X
node

2 node

=0

The voltage increases in the loop are considered as positive variables in the equations, whereas the voltage drops are considered negative. The currents

DC Circuits

going into the node are considered positive, and the currents coming out of the node are considered negative. To come up with the correct number of equations and unknowns variables to solve the circuit, one may follow the following procedure: 1. Set the direction in which one estimates the currents are owing completely arbitrary. For current sources this is not necessary, whereas for voltage sources one assumes that the current is coming out of the positive side of the voltage delivering power to the circuit. 2. Once the currents are decided, set the voltages direction for each element in the circuit; this will depend on whether the element is an R, L or C load current going into the +, or a current source current coming out of the +. 3. Apply KVL to all internal circuit loops. 4. Apply KCL to all but one of the circuit nodes.

3 Series Circuits Voltage Division

Capacitors, inductors and resistors may be connected in series same current, di erent voltages to obtain a new equivalent value, and to divide" the voltage.
i C1 i + v1 + i + v2 v C2 i + vn Cn + v C

1 = 1 + 1 +


+ 1 = X 1 C C1 C2 C =1 C
n n k

DC Circuits
i L1 i + v1 + i + v2 v L2 i + vn Ln + v

L = L1 + L2 +


+ L =
n

X
n k

=1

i R1 i + v1 + i + v2 v R2 i + vn Rn + v R

R = R1 + R2 +


+ R =
n

X
n k

v = v R + R R


+ R 1 2+
k k

=1

! voltage division

4 Parallel Circuits Current Division

Capacitors, inductors and resistors may be connected in parallel same voltage, di erent current to obtain a new equivalent value, and to divide" the current.
i + v C1 C2 i1 i2 .... Cn in + v C i

DC Circuits
X
n k

C = C1 + C2 +


+ C =
n

=1

i + v L1 i1 L2 i2 .... Ln in + v

1 = 1 + 1 +


+ 1 = X 1 L L1 L2 L =1 L
n n k

i + v R1 R2 i1 i2 .... Rn in + v

1 = 1 + 1 +


+ 1 = X 1 R R1 R2 R =1 R
n n k

i = i
k

1
R

+ 1

1
R

+


+ 2

1
R

! current division

5 Source Equivalents
Independent and dependent voltage sources may be transformed into equivalent current sources, and vice versa, as follows:

DC Circuits
iL RS L O A D v
S

6
iL

vL

RS

RS

vL

L O A D

iL RS L O A D x RS

iL

v = x
S

vL

RS

vL

L O A D

v =R i
s s



v i =R
s

s s

6 Superposition
Any voltage and current in a linear circuit, i.e., a circuit made up of voltage sources, current sources, R's, L's and C's may be computed as the sum of the corresponding voltages and currents due to each independent source. This does not apply to powers nonlinear variable. Thus, v due to each independent source i due to each independent source X p due to each independent source To turn o independent sources in the circuit, the voltage sources are shortcircuited v = 0 and the current sources are open-circuited i = 0. Dependent controlled sources cannot be eliminated.
x

v = i = p 6=
x x

DC Circuits

7 Nodal Analysis
The necessary equations to solve a resistive circuit may be written by inspection as follows: 1. Transform all voltage sources in the circuit to current sources. This step is optional. 2. De ne one of the nontrivial nodes as a reference node. Thus, the voltages at the other nodes nodal voltages V1, V2, . . . , V  can be de ned with respect to this reference node. 3. Apply KCL to all node but one in the circuit, considering that the current in a resistor R connecting two nodes i and j is de ned as: i = V ,V R The result of applying KCL is the following rule for all circuit nodes but the reference node:
n i j R

1 V ,


, 1 V = 1 V1 , node 1 ! 2 Rconnected to node 1 R1 2 R1 X isources entering node 1  ! X 1 1 V ,


, 1 V = node 2 ! V2 , 1 Rconnected to node 2 R2 1 R2 X isources entering node 2 . . .  ! X 1 1 V , 1 V ,


= node n ! V , 1 2 Rconnected to node n R 1 R 2 X isources entering node n
X
n ; ;n n ; ;n n n; n;

where R is the resistance connecting nodes i and j, e.g., R1 connects nodes 1 and n. This rule generates n equations with n unknowns, enough to solve the circuit.
i;j ;n

DC Circuits

8 Mesh Analysis
The necessary equations to solve a resistive circuit may also be obtained by mesh analysis as follows: 1. Transform all current sources in the circuit to voltage sources. This step is optional. 2. De ne the mesh currents I as the currents circulating T in an internal loop mesh. 3. Apply KVL to all loops in the circuit, considering that the voltage in a resistor R common to two loops i and j is equal to : v = R I , I 
R i j

The result of applying KVL is the following rule for all loops or meshes:
mesh 1 I1 , R1 2 I2 ,


, R1 I = v
X source increases in mesh 1  mesh 2 ! Rin mesh 2 I2 , R2 1 I1 ,


, R2 I = X vsource increases in mesh 2 . . .
X  mesh n ! Rin mesh n I , R 1 I1 , R 2 I2 ,


= X vsource increases in mesh n
X
Rin
; ;n n ; ;n n n n; n;

mesh 1 !

where R is the resistance common to meshes i and j, e.g., R1 is the resistance shared by meshes 1 and n. This rule generates n equations with n unknowns, enough to solve the circuit.
i;j ;n

9 Thevenin Equivalent
Any resistive circuit can be reduced at its terminals to an equivalent voltage source:

DC Circuits
iL R TH L O A D iL

vL

TH

vL

L O A D

LINEAR CIRCUIT

THEVENIN EQUIVALENT

where: v R
TH TH

= = =

v with load open-circuited i = 0 v i i with load short-circuited v = 0

T T TH N T T

For circuits with only independent sources, the Thevenin resistance may be computed as R
TH

= Equivalent resistance with all sources and load o

10 Norton Equivalent
Any resistive circuit can be reduced at its terminals to an equivalent current source:
iL iL

vL

L O A D

R TH

vL

L O A D

LINEAR CIRCUIT

NORTON EQUIVALENT

where: i
N

= i with load short-circuited v = 0

T T

DC Circuits R v
TH

10 = vi = v with load open-circuited i = 0

TH N T T

TH

Observe that the Norton current source is the equivalent of the Thevenin voltage source.

11 Maximum Power Transfer

A resistive circuit delivers maximum power to a load when the resistance of the load is the same as the Thevenin resistance of the circuit, i.e.,
pT iL R TH

TH

vL

RL

THEVENIN EQUIVALENT

LOAD

R =R
L

TH

v  p max = 4R
T

TH TH