LECTURE-2

ELECTRIC CIRCUITS

1. SERIES RESISTANCE CIRCUIT

Applying KVL to the simple series resistor circuit illustrated in Figure 1.15 yields some
useful results. Assuming a current direction I, starting at node A, and following a clockwise
direction yields
 VS  VR1  VR 2  0 (15)

R1
I

VR1

VS VR2 R2

A
Figure 1.15. Series resistance circuit
From Ohm’s law,
VR1  I R 1 and VR 2  I R 2 (16)
Substituting these two equations into equation (15) gives
 VS  I R 1  I R 2  0 (17)
and solving for I yields
VS
I (18)
 R1  R 2 
Note that, if we had a single resistor of value R 1+R2, we would have the same result.
Therefore resistors in series add and the equivalent resistance of a series resistance circuit is
R1 R 2

R eq  R 1  R 2 (19)

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In general, N resistors connected in series can be replaced by a single equivalent resistance
given by
N
R eq   R i (20)
i 1

By applying KVL to capacitor and inductor circuits, it can be shown that two capacitors in
series combine as
C1 C2 C1 C 2
C eq  (21)
C1  C 2

and two inductors in series add:

L1 L2 L eq  L 1  L 2 (22)

A circuit containing two resistors in series is referred to as a voltage divider because

the source voltage VS divides between each resistor. Expressions for the resistor voltages can
be obtained by substituting Equation (18) into Equation (16) giving
=I =I
R1 R2
VR1  VS , VR 2  VS , (23)
R1  R 2 R1  R 2

In general, for N resistor connected in series with a total applied voltage of VS, the voltage VRi
across any resistor Ri is
Ri R
VRi  VS  N i VS
R eq (24)
R j
j1

PARALLEL RESISTANCE CIRCUIT

Applying KCL to the simple parallel resistor circuit illustrated in Figure 1.16 also yields some
useful results. Because each resistor experiences the voltage VS, Ohm’s law gives
VS VS
I1  I2  (25)
R1 R2

Applying KCL at node A gives

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 I  I1  I 2  0 (26)

I
A

I1 I2

VS R1 R2

Figure 1.16. Parallel resistance circuit

Substituting the currents from Equations (25) yields
VS VS  1 1 
I  I1  I 2    VS    (27)
R1 R 2  R1 R 2 
Replacing the resistance value R1 and R2 with their conductance equivalent 1/G1 and 1/G2
gives
I  VS  G 1  G 2  (28)
A single resistor with a conductor of value (G1 + G2) would have given the same result;
therefore conductances in parallel add. We can write Equation (28) as
VS
I  VS G eq  (29)
R eq

where Geq is the equivalent conductance and Req is the equivalent resistance. By comparing
the right-hand side of this equation to Equation (27), we get
1 1 1
  (30)
R eq R 1 R 2

or
R 1R 2
R eq  (31)
R1  R 2

R1

Req

R2

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In general N resistors connected in parallel can be replaced by a single equivalent resistance
given by
N
1 1
 (32)
R e q i 1 R i

or
1
R eq  N
1 (33)
R
i 1 i

By applying KVL to capacitor and inductor circuits, it can be shown that two
capacitors in parallel add:
C eq  C1  C 2 (34)
C1

Ceq
C2

and two inductors in parallel combine as

L1 L 2
L eq  (35)
L1  L 2
L1

Leq
L2

A circuit containing two resistors connected in parallel is called a current divider

because the source current I divides between each resistor. Expression for the divided current
can be obtained by solving Equation (27) for VS and substituting into Equation (25) giving
R2 R1
I1  I, I2  I (36)
R1  R 2 R1  R 2

EXAMPLE
As an example of how the tools presented in the previous sections apply to a nontrivial circuit,
consider the following network, where the goal is to find I out and Vout. At any node in the
circuit, such as the one labeled by Vout, the voltage is defined with respect to the ground
reference denoted by the ground symbol ┴. Voltage differences between any two points can
be obtained by taking the difference between the ground-referenced values at the points.

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 R2 = 2 kΩ R4 = 4 kΩ

Iout Vout
R3 = 3 kΩ

R1 =1 kΩ V1 = 10 V R5 = 5 kΩ R6 = 6 kΩ

V2 = 20 V

The first step is to combine resistor clusters between and around the sources (V1 and
V2) and the branches of interest (those dealing with Iout and Vout) using the series and parallel
resistance formulas (Equation 19 and 22). The resultant resistances for the equivalent circuit
that follow are
R2  R4  R3
R 234   2.00 kΩ
R2  R4   R3
R5 R6
R 56   2.73 kΩ
R5  R6

+ V234 -
R234
Iout Vout

I234
R1 V1 R56

V2
Applying KVL to the left loop gives
V1  I out R 1

so
V1 10 V
I out    10 mA
R 1 1 kΩ

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Applying KVL to the right loop tells us that the total voltage across R 234 and R56 in the
assumed direction of I234 is (V1 – V2). Voltage division (Equation 23) can then be used to
determine the voltage drop across R234 in the assumed direction of I234:
R 234
V234   V1  V2    4.23 V
R 234  R 56

Since V1 is referenced to ground, the desire output voltage is

Vout  V1  V234  14.23 V

Note that since V234 was found to be negative, the actual flow of current through R234 would be
in the opposite direction from that assumed in this solution.

VOLTAGE AND CURRENT SOURCES AND METERS

When we analyze electrical network on paper, we usually assume that sources and meters are
ideal. However, actual physical devices are not ideal, and it is sometimes necessary to account
for the limitation when circuits contain these devices. The following ideal behavior is usually
assumed:
 An ideal voltage source has zero output resistance and can supply infinite current.
 An ideal current source has infinite output resistance and can supply infinite voltage.
 An ideal voltmeter has infinite input resistance and draws no current.
 An ideal ammeter has zero input resistance and no voltage drop across it.
Unfortunately, real sources and meters have terminal characteristics that are somewhat
different from the ideal cases. However, the terminal characteristics of the real sources and
meters can be modeled using ideal sources and meters with their associated input and output
resistances.

Rout
output impedance
Vout
VS
Ideal voltage source

Figure 1.17. Real voltage source with output impedance

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 As shown in Figure 1.17, a ”real” voltage sources can be modeled as an ideal voltage
source in series with a resistance called the output impedance of the device.
When a load is attached to the source and current flows, the output voltage V out will be
different from the ideal source voltage VS due to voltage division. The output impedance of
most commercially available voltage sources (e.g. a power supply) is very small, usually a
fraction of an ohm. For most applications, this impedance is small enough to be neglected.
However, the output impedance can be importance when driving a circuit with small
resistance because the impedance adds to the resistance of the circuit.
As shown in Figure 1.18, a “real” current source can be modeled as an ideal current
source in parallel with an output impedance. When a load is attached to the source, the source
current IS divides between the output impedance and the load. The output impedance of most
commercially available current source is very large, minimizing the current division effect.
However, this impedance can be importance when driving a circuit with a large resistance.

Iout
Rout
IS
output impedance
Ideal current source

Figure 1.18. Real current source with output impedance

As shown in Figure 1.19, a “real” ammeter can be modeled as an ideal ammeter in

series with a resistance called the input impedance of the device. The input impedance of
most commercially available ammeters is very small, minimizing the voltage drop VR added
in circuit. However, the resistance can be important when making a current measurement
through a circuit branch with small resistance because the output impedance adds to the
resistance of the branch.

ideal ammeter
Iin VR
I
Rin
input impedance

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 Figure 1.19. Real ammeter with input impedance

input
impedance
Vin Rin ideal V
voltmeter

Figure 1.20. Real voltmeter with input impedance

As shown in Figure 1.20, a “real” voltmeter can be modeled as an ideal voltmeter in

parallel with an input impedance. The input impedance of most commercially available
voltmeters (e.g an oscilloscope or multimeter) is very large, usually on the order of 1 to 10
MΩ. However, this resistance must be considered when making a voltage measurement across
a circuit branch with large resistance since the parallel combination of the meter input
impedance and the circuit branch would result in significant error in the measured value
because the output impedance adds to the resistance of the branch.

EXAMPLE

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This example illustrates the effects of source and meter output and input impedance on
making measurements in a circuit. Consider the following circuit with voltage source V S and
voltage meter Vm.

VS R1 R2 Vm

The equivalent resistance for this circuit is

R 1R 2
R eq 
R1  R 2

If the source and meter were both ideal, the measured voltage Vm would be equal to VS and
voltage meter Vm

VS Req Vm

However, if the source has output impedance Zout and the meter has input impedance Zin, the
“real” circuit actually looks like this:

Zout
Zin Vm
Req
real VS
voltage
source real voltmeter

The parallel combination of Req and Zin yields the following circuit (a). Zout and the parallel
combination of Req and Zin are now effectively in series since no current flows into the ideal
meter Vm. Thus, the total equivalent resistance shown in circuit (b) is
R eq Z in
R 'eq   Z out
R eq  Z in

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 Delo’en
Zout nengkene
R eq Z in
R eq  Z in  Vm
VS
R’eq Vm
VS

(b)
(a)
Note that R’eq defined in the previous equation approaches Req as Zin approaches 0. From
voltage division in circuit (a), the voltage measured by the actual meter would be
R eq Z in
R eq  Z in  R 'eq  Z out
Vm  VS  VS
R eq Z in R 'eq
 Z out
R eq  Z in 

The measured voltage Vm equals VS for Zin = ∞ and Zout = 0, but with a real source and real
meter, the measured voltage could differ appreciably from the expected ideal result. For
example, if R1 = R2 = 1 kΩ,
1.1
R eq  k Ω  0.5 k Ω
11
And if Zin= 1 MΩ and Zout = 50 Ω,
0.5 . 1000
R 'eq   0.05 k Ω  0.550 k Ω
0.5  1000
Therefore, if VS = 10 V,
 0.550  0.05 
Vm    10 V  9.09 V
 0.550 
This differs substantially from the result that would be expected (10 V) with an ideal source
and meter.

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 If no body ask,
we will continue next week

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