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SolvingCircuitswithKirchoffLaws
Example1:Findthethreeunknowncurrents( )andthreeunknownvoltages( )inthecircuitbelow:
Note:Thedirectionofacurrentandthepolarityofavoltagesourcecanbeassumedarbitrarily.Todeterminetheactualdirectionandpolarity,
thesignofthevaluesalsoshouldbeconsidered.Forexample,acurrentlabeledinlefttorightdirectionwithanegativevalueisactually
flowingrighttoleft.
Allvoltagesandcurrentsinthecircuitcanbefoundbyeitherofthefollowingtwomethods,basedoneithertheKVLorKCL.
TheloopcurrentmethodbasedonKVL:
1. Foreachofthe independentloopsinthecircuit,definealoopcurrentaroundtheloopinclockwise(orcounterclockwise)
direction.These loopcurrentsaretheunknownvariablestobeobtained.
2. ApplyKVLaroundeachoftheloopsinthesameclockwisedirectiontoobtain equations.Whilecalculatingthevoltagedrop
acrosseachresistorsharedbytwoloops,bothloopcurrents(inoppositepositions)shouldbeconsidered.
3. Solvetheequationsystemwith equationsforthe unknownloopcurrents.
Werewritetheseas:
voltagesinthecircuit.
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WecouldalsoapplyKVLaroundthethirdloopofabcdatogetanadditionalequation:
However,thisequationissimplythesumoftheprevioustwoequations,i.e.,itisnotindependent.Substituting and
fromthefirsttwoequationsintothisequationweget .Ingeneral,ifallbranchesinthecircuithavebeencovered,
noadditionalloopcurrentswillbeneeded.
i.e.,
ThenodevoltagemethodbasedonKCL:
1. Assumethereare nodesinthecircuit.Selectoneofthemastheground,thereferencepointforallvoltagesofthecircuit.The
voltageateachoftheremaining nodesisanunknowntobeobtained.
where
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Solvingthisweget ,andallothercurrentsandvoltagescanbefoundsubsequently.
WecouldalsoapplyKCLtonoded,buttheresultingequationisexactlythesameas simplybecause
thisnodedisnotindependent.
Asspecialcaseofthenodevoltagemethodwithonlytwonodes,wehavethefollowingtheorem:
Millman'stheorem
Assumetherearethreetypesofbranches:
resistorbrancheswith .
ApplyingKCLtonode ,wehave:
Solvingfor ,weget
wherethereciprocaloftheresistance iscalledtheconductance.
Insummary,
Loopcurrentmethod:eachequationisforoneoftheindependentloops.
Nodevoltagemethod:eachequationisforoneoftheindependentnodes.
Example2:Solvethefollowingcircuit:
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and3(bottombcdb),respectively,andapplyingKVLtothethreeloops,weget
Wecanthensolvethese3loopequationstofindthe3loopcurrents.
Nodevoltagemethod:Ifwechoosenodedasground,wecanapplyKCLtotheremaining3nodesata,b,andc,andget(assumingall
currentsleaveeachnode):
Wecanthensolvethese3nodeequationstofindthe3nodevoltages.
Weseethateitheroftheloopcurrentandnodevoltagemethodsrequirestosolvealinearsystemof3equationswith3unknowns.
Example3:Solvethefollowingcircuitwith , , , , , .Thiscircuithas3
independentloopsand3independentnodes.
Loopcurrentmethod:
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Wecanalsogetthethreenodevoltageswithrespecttothebottomnodeasground: (right),
(middle),and (left).
Nodevoltagemethod:
ApplyingKCLtothefirsttwonodes,weget
Thevoltagesarethesameasbefore.
Intheproblem,wehavetakenadvantageofeitherthegivencurrentsourcetreatedasaloopcurrent,orthegivenvoltagesourcewhenoneend
ofitisassumedtobeground,sothatineithermethod,oneofthethreeunknownsreadilyavailable,weonlyneedtosolvea2equationsystem
fortheremainingtwounknowns.
Example4:(Homework)Findallnodevoltageswithrespecttothetopleftcornertreatedasreferencenode:
, , , , , .
Answer
Note:Whileusingnodevoltageandloopcurrentmethodstosolveagivencircuit,tosimplifytheanalysis,itispreferableto
chooseindependentloopstoavoidcurrentsourcesharedbytwoloops,
choosegroundnodesothatthevoltagesourceisconnectedtoground.
Example5:Thetwocircuitsshownbelowareequivalent,butyoumaywanttochoosewiselyintermsofwhichiseasiertoanalyze.Solvethis
circuitusingbothnodevoltageandloopcurrentmethods.Assume , , , , ,and
Answer
Next:NetworkTheoremsUp:Chapter2:CircuitPrinciplesPrevious:Chapter2:CircuitPrinciples
RuyeWang20150628
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