ECE 211 Electrical Circuits Lab I

LAB #9
Fall 2013

Name ___________________

Section ______________

Thevenins Theorem
OBJECTIVE:
1. To understand how to apply Thevenins theorem in a circuit.

COMPONENTS AND EQUIPMENT:

1. Variable DC supply
2. Digital multimeters
3. Leads
4. Resistors of various values

ECE 211 Electrical Circuits Lab I

LAB #9
Fall 2013
Experiment 1
a) Pick 6 resistors in order to meet the following constraints and build the
circuit:

b)
c)
d)
e)
f)

Record your resistor values.

Analyze and find VTH and RTH (always between terminals A and B).
Measure VOC and ISC.
Compare VTH with VOC and RTH with VOC/ISC.
Pick a random resistor RL and connect it in the output (between A and B).
Record the resistor value. Measure V L and RL on the original circuit.
g) Draw and build the Thevenin equivalent circuit.
h) Connect RL to the equivalent circuit and compare this results with the ones in
question f.

ECE 211 Electrical Circuits Lab I

LAB #9
Fall 2013

Experiment 2
a) Deactivate all sources in the circuit used for experiment 1. When
deactivate the sources, make you replace the source with a wire. Apply
voltage VT to the output at a and b and measure the current IT being
drawn from it for several values of VT. Plot VT as a function of IT. How is
the slope of this plot compare to RTH?
b) Measure RTH directly with the ohmmeter.
c) Explain why you need to replace the source with a wire.

Experiment 3
a) Connect a potentiometer to the output terminals. Measure V L as a function
of RL.
b) Compute PL using

and plot it. At what value of RL is the power

maximum? How does this value relate to R TH?