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Table of Contents
Getting started ................................................................................................................. 9Running a
simulation ...................................................................................................... 10Elements:
e

and

r
........................................................................................................... 11Voltage source and resistors
.......................................................................................... 11Illustrative examples
...................................................................................................... 13Practice problems
........................................................................................................... 19Element:
j
....................................................................................................................... 29Current source
................................................................................................................ 29Illustrative examples
...................................................................................................... 30Practice problems
........................................................................................................... 31Tool:
par
......................................................................................................................... 37Dependent sources
........................................................................................................ 38Element:
s
....................................................................................................................... 49Short
circuits................................................................................................................... 49

9
Getting started
What is Symbulator?
Symbulator (“
Symb
olic Circuit Sim
ulator
”) is a 62KB TI-Basic program widely regardedas the best simulator of linear circuit ever made for a
calculator. It can perform directcurrent, alternating current, transient and frequency domain analyses of
numericaland symbolic linear circuits. It can find the Thévenin, Norton and two-port equivalentof a
circuit. It accepts elements such as resistors, inductors, mutual inductances,capacitors, independent
and dependent current and voltage sources, ideal operationalamplifiers, ideal transformers and six
types of two-ports. It can also do Bode plots.
Where does it run?
The first five versions of Symbulator were made for the TI-89 calculator. Version 6 wasthoroughly
tested in the TI-89 Titanium. Unfortulately, Symbulator does not run in theTI-Nspire machines, since
their programming platform is incompatible with the TI-89's.
Why would I use it?
Symbulator is extremely useful in solving a wide variety of circuits theory problems,such as those
taken by engineering students. In fact, a student with Symbulator andthe right knowledge on circuits
theory can solve a lot of problems in circuit coursesmuch faster and neater than ever before. Its main
advantage is that Symbulator allowsthe student to focus in the conceptual understanding of circuit
analysis, rather thanthe mathematical technics used for their solution.Symbulator is a fantastic tool
when you need a symbolic approach to a small ormedium sized circuit composed of ideal, linear
elements. You should use Symbulatorwhenever you have to manage symbolic values or need
symbolic results. Whencompared to SPICE, PSpice or Electronic Workbench, this small software
offers asimpler way to define dependent sources, and includes special elements such as
idealtransformers and six different two-ports, usually not included in other simulators.
When is it most useful?
Symbulator is most useful with linear circuits with symbolic values, such as you find inundergraduate
courses in circuit analysis. Students of Circuits I and II may benefit a lotfrom this pocket-sized “expert
system” for the numerical or symbolic solution of linearcircuits. It can help you with learning circuits
theory, doing your homework or takingthat final exam. It is not, however, a replacement for your brain
or an excuse to notstudy your circuit theory classes: you must understand circuits theory to use
it.Symbulator is not really useful in two cases: it may be slow with large linear circuitsand is useless
with circuits with non-linear elements (such as diodes and transistors.)

10
How much does it cost?
Nothing. It’s free. Has always been, will always be. (You are welcome!)
Who made this thing?
I did. I started writing it in April 1999, as a junior in Electrical Engineering atUniversidad Tecnológica
de Panamá (UTP). Version 5 was done by January 2001.Symbulator won 1
st
place in the 2000 IEEE Student Paper Contest - Latin America. Itgot me a Distinguished Alum award
from UTP in 2008; and was at least part of thereason for the Outstanding Young Person award that
the Panamanian Chapter of theJunior Chamber International gave me in 2010. In June 2013 I have
released version 6.
Get your calculator ready
You can download the latest version of Symbulator from this URL:
p e r e z - f r a n c o . c o m / s y m b u l a t o r
/
s . z i p
Symbulator relies on Lars Frederiksen’s DiffEq for Laplace transforms. Get it here:
p e r e z - f r a n c o . c o m / s y m b u l a t o r / d . z i p
Inside these two zips you will find the two files you need:
s.tig
and
diff206.89g
.Transfer both files to your calculator, following the manufacturer’s instructions.Both Symbulator and
DiffEq run faster when they are archived. In order to archivethem, just execute the following two
programs from the command line:
s \ i n s t a l l ( )
and
d i f \ i n s t a l l ( )
That is all! You are now all set. Have fun!
Running a simulation
You will learn how to simulate through the following examples. For now, let me justsay that we give
Symbulator the circuit description as a string of elements separatedby semi-colons. The description
can be stored in a variable or passed directly as anargument. To run a DC simulation in Symbulator,
we use an access program, or "gate",called
s \ d c
, which takes one argument: the circuit description in string form. Belowyou will find plenty of examples
of DC simulations.Symbulator will run faster if you make MAIN your current folder and empty it
beforeeach simulation. Symbulator will also run faster and more accurately if you useintegers and
fractions in your element values instead of decimals. It is preferable tosimulate with exact numbers
and then evaluate the answers using

, e.g.

.Ok, let’s get right into it!

Get the current versions of Symbulator and DiffEq onlineInstall the programs so they run faster
s \ d c
is the gateto run a DC simulation

11
Elements:
e

and

Voltage source and resistors

Describing a resistor
In Symbulator, an ideal
resistor
is described as follows:
first
the name of the resistor,which must start with the letter
r
, coma;
second
the name of the first node of theresistor, another coma;
third
the name of the second node of the resistor, anothercoma; and
fourth
the value of the resistor (in ohms). There is no coma at the end.
Example
An ideal resistor called
r1
, connected between nodes
a
and
b
with a resistance of
10
Ω,would be described thus:
r 1 , a , b , 1 0

Simulation answers
After the simulation in DC is complete, Symbulator stores a series of answers in thecalculator’s
memory, labeled with easy to remember names for your convenience.
•

The
voltage of each of its nodes
with reference to the ground is stored in a variablecalled
v
and the name of the node. For example, for a node called
1
, its voltagewith reference to ground is calculated and stored in a variable called
v1
.
•

The
voltage drop in the resistor
, that is to say the voltage in the first node minusthe voltage in the second node, is stored in a variable
called
v
and the name of theresistor. For example, for a resistor called
r5
, the voltage drop is stored in
vr5
.
•
The
current through the resistor
, flowing from the first node towards the secondnode, is stored in a variable called
i
and the name of the resistor. For example, thecurrent flowing through a resistor called
rx
, from its first node towards its secondnode, is stored in
irx
.
•

The
power consumed by the resistor
is stored in a variable called
p
and the nameof the resistor. For example, for a resistor called
r12
, the power consumed isstored in
pr12
.
What about conductances?
As an ideal circuit element, a conductance is not different from a resistor: they are thesame element,
with the only difference that their values are given in different terms.Resistance values are given in
ohms and conductance values are given in siemens. Aconductance value can be converted into an
ohm value by dividing 1 over theconductance in siemens. Thus, for example, an 8S conductance
between nodes a and bcould be described thus as a 1/8Ω resistor:
r 1 , a , b , 1 / 8
Examples with conductances will be presented later in this book, starting in page 30.

This is how resistors aredescribed inSymbulator.

12
Describing an ideal voltage source
In Symbulator, an ideal
voltage source
is described as follows:
first
the name of thesource, which must start with the letter
e
, a coma;
second
the name of the positivenode of the source, another coma;
third
the name of the negative node of the source,another coma; and
fourth
the value of the source (in volts). No coma at the end.
Example
An ideal voltage source called
e1
, connected between nodes
3
and
0
, with a voltage of
12
V (given as voltage of node 3 with regards to node 0), would be described thus:
e 1 , 3 , 0 , 1 2

Simulation answers
After a DC simulation, for each voltage source in a circuit, Symbulator will store aseries of answers in
the current folder of the calculator:
•

The
voltage of each of its nodes
with reference to the ground is stored in a variablecalled
v
and the name of the node. For example, for a node called
1
, its voltagewith reference to ground is calculated and stored in a variable called
v1
.
•

The
voltage drop in the source
, that is to say the voltage in the first node minus thevoltage in the second node, is stored in a variable
called
v
and the name of thesource. For example, for a source called
e5
, the voltage drop is stored in
ve5
.
•

The
current through the source
, flowing from the first node towards the secondnode, is stored in a variable called
i
and the name of the source. For example, thecurrent flowing through a source called
ex
, from its first node towards its secondnode, is stored in
iex
. The way the current direction is defined might seemcounterintuitive for voltage sources; it is such for
consistency: the same directionis applied to all other two-node elements throughout Symbulator.
•

The
power consumed by the source
is stored in a variable called
p
and the name of the source. For example, for a source called
e12
, the power consumed is stored in
pe12
; the power delivered is the negative of that, and can be found via
-pe12
(where - is the negative sign, not the subtraction operator.) For sources, the choiceto store the
consumed power instead of the delivered powered may seem odd; itis such for consistency: for all
elements, the power given is the consumed power.
•

The
equivalent resistance
of the rest of the circuit, as seen by a source, is stored ina variable called
r
and the name of the source. For example, the equivalentresistance of a circuit as seen from a source
called
e2
is stored in variable
re2
.
What about dependent sources?
Symbulator makes no distinction between independent and dependent sources.Because of this, it is
just as easy to work with dependent or independent sources. Theonly difference is that you, as a user,
will input – for a dependent source – a value thatis a function of a current or a voltage, i.e.
8 * v r 1
, or
0 . 3 * i r 2
, or
2 . 3 * ( v a - v b )
, etc.Examples with dependent sources will be presented later, starting in page 38.
This is how voltage sourcesare described inSymbulator.

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