Theorems

Learning Outcome

 Students will able to use KVL, KCL, voltage divider
rule, and current divider rule in solving electrical
problems.
Topic 2.1

Kirchoff’s Law
 Topic 2.1.1

Kirchoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
 KVL

 The sum of all the voltage drops around a single
closed path in a circuit is equal to the total source
voltage in that closed path.
 A mathematical shorthand way of writing KVL is

V
i 1
i 0

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 KVL


VS  V1  V2  V3  V4  ..............  Vn
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Illustration Of A Verification Of Kirchhoff’s Voltage
Law.


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Topic 2.1.1.1

Voltage Dividers

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 Voltage Divider

 A series circuit acts as a voltage divider.
 Voltage divider is an important application of series
circuit.
 Example of a two – resistor voltage divider

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 Voltage Divider Formula

 Generalized voltage divider with n resistors

VS
I
RT
where

RT  R1  R2  R3  R4  ..............  Rn 10
 Voltage Divider Formula

 Let Vx represent the voltage drop across any one of
the resistor
 Rx represent the number of a particular resistor or
combination of resistor
Vx  IRx
 VS 
 Therefore,
Vx    Rx
 RT 
 Rx 
 Rearranging Vx   VS
 RT 
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 Example

 Determine V1 (the voltage across R1) and V2 (the
voltage across R2) in the circuit

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Potentiometer as an Adjustable Voltage
Divider


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 Topic 2.1.2

Kirchoff’s Current Law (KCL)
 KCL

 KVL deals with voltages in a single closed path.
 KCL applies to currents in multiple path
 KCL states that:
 The sum of the currents into a node (total current in) is
equal to the sum of the currents out of that node (total
current out)
Node A
IT  I1  I 2  I 3
Node B
I1  I 2  I 3  IT 15
Generalized Circuit Node Illustrates Kirchhoff’s
Current Law


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An Illustration Of Kirchhoff’s Current
Law


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 Example

 Determine the current through R2

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Topic 2.1.2.1

Current Dividers

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 Current Divider

 A parallel circuit acts as a current divider because
the current entering the junction of parallel branches
‘divides’ up into several individual branch currents.

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Total Current Divides Between The Two
Branches


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The branch with the lowest resistance has the most current, and the
branch with the highest resistance has the least current

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 Current Divider Formula


VS
Ix 
Rx

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 Current Divider Formula
VS  I T RT

VS
Substitute in the equation Ix 
Rx
I T RT
Therefore I x 
Rx
 RT 
Rearranging the terms I x    I T
R where x = 1, 2, 3, 4, etc
 x 
The current, (Ix) through any branches equals the total parallel resistance (RT) divided by the
resistance (Rx) of the branch, and then multiplied by the total current (IT) into the junction of
parallel branches.
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 Example

 Determine the current through each resistor in the
circuit.

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Current Divider for Two Branches

 R2 
I1    IT
 R1  R2 

 R1 
I 2    I T
 R1  R2 

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 Example

 Find I1 and I2 in the circuit

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 Topic 2.2

Thevenin’s Theorem

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 Thevenin’s Theorem

 Provides a method for simplifying a circuit to a
standard equivalent from with respect to two output
terminals.
 General form of a Thevenin equivalent circuit is a
voltage source in series with a resistance.

VTH = open circuit (no load) voltage between

two specified output terminals in a circuit

RTH = total resistance appearing between two

specified output terminals in a circuit with all
sources replaced by their internal resistance
(which for ideal voltage is zero)
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Example of the simplification of a circuit
by Thevenin’s theorem


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 Example

 Find the Thevenin equivalent circuit between the
output terminals A and B of the circuit in Figure.

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Thevenin Equivalency Depends on the
Viewpoint


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Thevenin Equivalency Depends on the
Viewpoint


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Thevenin Equivalency Depends on the
Viewpoint


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Thevenizing a Bridge Circuit


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Thevenizing a Bridge Circuit, VTH


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Thevenizing a Bridge Circuit, RTH


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 Example

 Determine the voltage and current for the load
resistor, RL, in the bridge circuit of the figure

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 Topic 2.3

Maximum Power Transfer Theorem

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 Maximum Power Transfer

For a given source voltage, maximum power
is transferred from a source to a load when
the load resistance is equal to the internal
source resistance.

The maximum power

transfer
theorem assumes the source
voltage and resistance are
fixed.

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Maximum Power Transfer

2
V
Pmax  S
4 RL

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 Example

 Determine the load power for each of the following
values of the variable load resistance.
 0Ω
 25 Ω
 50 Ω
 75 Ω
 100 Ω
 125 Ω

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 Topic 2.4

Superposition Theorem

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 Superposition Theorem

Some circuits require more than one voltage
or current source.
The superposition theorem is a way to
determine currents and voltages in a linear
circuit that has multiple sources by taking
one source at a time and algebraically
summing the results

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 Steps to apply superposition theorem

 Step 1
 Leave one voltage (or current) source at a time in the
circuit and replace the source with internal resistance.
 Step 2
 Determine the particular current (or voltage)
 Step 3
 Take the next source and repeat step 1 and 2
 Step 4
 To find the actual current, algebraically add the results
for all sources.

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Illustration of the superposition theorem.


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Illustration of the superposition theorem.


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 Example

 Use superposition theorem to find the current
through R2 and the voltage across it.

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 Example

 Find the total current and voltage across R3 in Figure
below

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 The End


Credits to Electronics Fundamentals: Circuits, Devices and Applications

Thomas L. Floyd & David M. Buchla

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