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Thevenin’s and Norton’s

Theorems

32

THEVENIN’S THEOREM:
Consider the following:

A
Network • Network
B
1 • 2
Coupled networks

For purposes of discussion, at this point, we consider

that both networks are composed of resistors and
independent voltage and current sources

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Suppose Network 2 is detached from Network 1 and
we focus temporarily only on Network 1.

Network •A
1 •B
Network 1, open-circuited.

Network 1 can be as complicated in structure as one

can imagine. Maybe 45 meshes, 387 resistors, 91
voltage sources and 39 current sources.
34

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Network •A
1 •B
Now place a voltmeter across terminals A-B and
read the voltage. We call this the open-circuit voltage.

No matter how complicated Network 1 is, we read one

voltage. It is either positive at A, (with respect to B)
or negative at A.

We call this voltage Vos and we also call it VTHEVENIN = VTH

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM

• We now deactivate all sources of Network 1.

• To deactivate a voltage source, we remove

the source and replace it with a short circuit.

• To deactivate a current source, we remove the

source.

36

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Consider the following circuit.
I2
V3
_+ A
R1 R3
R2
R4
_+ V1 _ I1
V2 +
B

A typical circuit with independent sources

How do we deactivate the sources of this circuit?

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM

When the sources are deactivated the circuit appears

as in the figure below.

A
R1 R3
R2 R4

B
Circuit of the previous figure with sources deactivated
Now place an ohmmeter across A-B and read the resistance.
If R1= R2 = R4= 20  and R3=10  then the meter reads 10 .
38

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
We call the ohmmeter reading, under these conditions,
RTHEVENIN and shorten this to RTH. Therefore, the
important results are that we can replace Network 1
with the following network.
A

RTH
+
_ VTH

B

The Thevenin equivalent structure.
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THEVENIN’S THEOREM

We can now tie (reconnect) Network 2 back to

terminals A-B. A

RTH
+ Network
_ VTH
2


B

We can now make any calculations we desire within

Network 2 and they will give the same results as if we
still had Network 1 connected.

40

THEVENIN’S THEOREM

It follows that we could also replace Network 2 with a

Thevenin voltage and Thevenin resistance. The results
would be as shown below.

A

RTH 1 RTH 2
+
_ VTH 1 VTH 2 _+


B

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 1.
Find VX by first finding VTH and RTH to the left of A-B.

12  4 A

+

30 V +
_ 6 2 VX
_

B

First remove everything to the right of A-B.

42

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 1. continued
12  4 A


30 V +
_ 6


B
Circuit for finding VTH for Example 1.
(30)(6)
VAB   10V
6  12
Notice that there is no current flowing in the 4  resistor
(A-B) is open. Thus there can be no voltage across the
resistor.
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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 1. continued
We now deactivate the sources to the left of A-B and find
the resistance seen looking in these terminals.
12  4 A

RTH
6


B
Circuit for find RTH for Example 1.

We see,
RTH = 12||6 + 4 = 8 
44

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 1. continued
After having found the Thevenin circuit, we connect this
to the load in order to find VX.
RTH A

8 +
+
VTH _ 10 V 2 VX
_
B

Circuit of Example 1 after connecting Thevenin circuit.

(10)( 2)
VX   2V
28 45

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM

In some cases it may become tedious to find RTH by reducing

the resistive network with the sources deactivated. Consider
the following: RTH A


VTH + ISS
_

B

A Thevenin circuit with the output shorted.
We see;
VTH
RTH  Eq. 1
I SS 46

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 2.
For the circuit below, find RTH by using Eq 1.
12  C 4 A
 

30 V +
_ 6 ISS

 
D B
Given circuit with load shorted

The task now is to find ISS. One way to do this is to replace

the circuit to the left of C-D with a Thevenin voltage and
Thevenin resistance.
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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 2. continued
Applying Thevenin’s theorem to the left of terminals C-D
and reconnecting to the load gives,
4 C 4 A
 

10 V +
_ ISS

 
D B
Thevenin reduction for Example 2.
VTH 10
RTH    8
I SS 10
8
48

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 3
For the circuit below, find VAB by first finding the Thevenin
circuit to the left of terminals A-B.
1.5 A

5
 A
10 

20 V _+ 20  17 

B


Circuit for Example 3.

We first find VTH with the 17  resistor removed.

Next we find RTH by looking into terminals A-B
with the sources deactivated.
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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 3 continued
1.5 A

5
 A
10 

20 V _+ 20 


Circuit for finding VOC for Example 3.

20(20)
VOS  VAB  VTH  (1.5)(10) 
(20  5)
 VTH  31V
50

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 3 continued

5
 A
10 

20 

B


Circuit for find RTH for Example 3.

5(20)
RTH  10   14 
(5  20)
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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 3 continued
RTH A

14  +
+
VTH _ 31 V 17  VAB
_
B

Thevenin reduced circuit for Example 3.

We can easily find that,

VAB  17V
52

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 4: Working with a mix of independent and
dependent sources.

Find the voltage across the 100  load resistor by first finding
the Thevenin circuit to the left of terminals A-B.
IS A

50  40 
30 
_+ 86 V
100 

6 IS
B

Circuit for Example 4

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 4: continued
First remove the 100  load resistor and find VAB = VTH to
the left of terminals A-B.
IS A

50  40 
30 
_+ 86 V

6 IS
B

Circuit for find VTH, Example 4.

 86  80 I S  6 I S  0  I S  1 A
VAB  6 I S  30 I S   36V
54

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 4: continued
To find RTH we deactivate all independent sources but retain
all dependent sources as shown below.
IS A

50  40 
30  RTH

6 IS
B

Example 4, independent sources deactivated.

We cannot find RTH of the above circuit, as it stands. We

must apply either a voltage or current source at the load
and calculate the ratio of this voltage to current to find RTH.
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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 4: continued
IS 1A

50  40 
30 
IS + 1 V 1A
6 IS

Circuit for find RTH, Example 4.

Around the loop at the left we write the following equation:

50 I S  30( I S  1)  6 I S  0
From which 15
IS  A
43 56

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 4: continued
IS 1A

50  40 
30 
IS + 1 V 1A=I
6 IS

Circuit for find RTH, Example 4.

Using the outer loop, going in the cw direction, using drops;
 15 
50    1(40)  V  0 or V  57.4 volts
 43 
V V
RTH    57.4 
I 1 57

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 4: continued
The Thevenin equivalent circuit tied to the 100  load
resistor is shown below.
RTH

57.4 

VTH +_ 36 V 100 

Thevenin circuit tied to load, Example 4.

36 x100
V100   22.9 V
57.4  100

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 5: Finding the Thevenin circuit when only resistors
and dependent sources are present. Consider the circuit below.
Find Vxy by first finding the Thevenin circuit to the left of x-y.

10Ix
x

20  50 

50  60  100 V +
_

IX


y
Circuit for Example 5.
For this circuit, it would probably be easier to use mesh or nodal analysis
to find Vxy. However, the purpose is to illustrate Thevenin’s theorem.
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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 5: continued
We first reconcile that the Thevenin voltage for this circuit
must be zero. There is no “juice” in the circuit so there cannot
be any open circuit voltage except zero. This is always true
when the circuit is made up of only dependent sources and
resistors.
To find RTH we apply a 1 A source and determine V for
the circuit below.
10IX

20  20 
1A
50  60 
V

1 - IX IX

Circuit for find RTH, Example 5. 60

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 5: continued
10IX

20  20 
1A
50  60 
V

1 - IX IX
m

Circuit for find RTH, Example 5.

Write KVL around the loop at the left, starting at “m”, going
cw, using drops:
 50(1  I X )  10I X  20(1  I X )  60I X  0
I X  0.5 A 61

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THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 5: continued
10IX

20  20 
1A
50  60 
V

1 - IX IX
m
n

Determining RTH for Example 5.

We write KVL for the loop to the right, starting at n, using

drops and find;
 60(0.5)  1 x 20  V  0
or
V  50 volts 62

THEVENIN’S THEOREM
Example 5: continued
V
We know that, RTH  , where V = 50 and I = 1.
I
Thus, RTH = 50 . The Thevenin circuit tied to the
load is given below.
x

50 

50  _+ 100 V


y
Thevenin circuit tied to the load, Example 5.

Obviously, VXY = 50 V 63

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NORTON’S THEOREM
Assume that the network enclosed below is composed
of independent sources and resistors.

Network

Norton’s Theorem states that this network can be

replaced by a current source shunted by a resistance R.

I R

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NORTON’S THEOREM

In the Norton circuit, the current source is the short circuit

current of the network, that is, the current obtained by
shorting the output of the network. The resistance is the
resistance seen looking into the network with all sources
deactivated. This is the same as RTH.

ISS RN = RTH

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NORTON’S THEOREM
We recall the following from source transformations.

R
+ V
_ V R I=
R

In view of the above, if we have the Thevenin equivalent

circuit of a network, we can obtain the Norton equivalent
by using source transformation.
However, this is not how we normally go about finding
the Norton equivalent circuit.
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NORTON’S THEOREM
Example 6.

Find the Norton equivalent circuit to the left of terminals A-B

for the network shown below. Connect the Norton equivalent
circuit to the load and find the current in the 50  resistor.
10 A

20  40  A


+
_ 50 V 60  50 


B

Circuit for Example 6.

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NORTON’S THEOREM
Example 6. continued
10 A

20  40 

+
_ 50 V 60 
ISS

Circuit for find INORTON.

It can be shown by standard circuit analysis that

I SS 10.7 A

68

NORTON’S THEOREM
Example 6. continued
It can also be shown that by deactivating the sources,
We find the resistance looking into terminals A-B is
RN  55 
RN and RTH will always be the same value for a given circuit.
The Norton equivalent circuit tied to the load is shown below.

10.7 A 55  50 

Final circuit for Example 6.

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NORTON’S THEOREM
Example 7.
This example illustrates how one might use Norton’s Theorem
in electronics. the following circuit comes close to representing
the model of a transistor.
For the circuit shown below, find the Norton equivalent circuit
to the left of terminals A-B.
1 k IS A

+
5V _+ 3 VX 25 IS VX 40 
_

Circuit for Example 7.

70

NORTON’S THEOREM
Example 7. continued
1 k IS A

+
5V _+ 3 VX 25 IS VX 40 
_

We first find; VOS

RN 
I SS

We first find VOS:

VOS  VX  ( 25I S )(40)   1000I S

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NORTON’S THEOREM
Example 7. continued
1 k IS A

+
5V _+ 3 VX 25 IS VX 40  ISS
_

Circuit for find ISS, Example 7.

We note that ISS = - 25IS. Thus,

VOS  1000I S
RN    40 
I SS  25 I S

72

NORTON’S THEOREM
Example 7. continued
1 k IS A

+
5V _+ 3 VX 25 IS VX 40 
_

Circuit for find VOS, Example 7.

From the mesh on the left we have;

 5  1000I S  3( 1000I S )  0
From which,
I S   2.5 mA
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NORTON’S THEOREM
Example 7. continued

We saw earlier that,

I SS   25 I S

Therefore;
I SS  62.5 mA
The Norton equivalent circuit is shown below.
A

IN = 62.5 mA RN = 40 

Norton Circuit for Example 7 74

NORTON’S THEOREM
Extension of Example 7:
Using source transformations we know that the
Thevenin equivalent circuit is as follows:

40 

+
_ 2.5 V

Thevenin equivalent for Example 7.

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