1

University of Waterloo
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
GEN E/ME 123: Electrical Engineering
DC CIRCUITS

Dr. Claudio Ca~nizares December 1998

1 Circuit Elements
Any circuit is made up by a combination of the the following elements:
SOURCES LOADS

i i i i i i
i

v v=α x v i v i= β y v R v C v L

VOLTAGE CURRENT RESISTOR CAPACITOR INDUCTOR

R ! v=Ri
di
L ! v = L dt i(0) = I0

C ! i = C dv
dt v(0) = V0

 Voltage Sources: These are active elements with a dened voltage; the
current is free to have any value. Dependent or controlled sources have
DC Circuits 2

a voltage that depends on any other variable x (voltage or current) in

another element in the circuit. The initial assumption is always that
the sources are delivering power, i.e., the current comes out of the +
side of the voltage. However, after solving the circuit, these elements
may actually be absorbing power, i.e., the current value is negative.
 Current Sources: These are active elements with a dened current; the
voltage is free to have any value. Dependent or controlled sources have
a current that depends on any other variable x (voltage or current) in
another element in the circuit. The initial assumption is always that
the sources are delivering power, i.e., the current comes out of the +
side of the voltage. However, after solving the circuit, these elements
may actually be absorbing power, i.e., the voltage value is negative.
 Loads: These are passive R, L or C elements. Thus, the initial assump-
tion is that the loads are absorbing power, i.e., the current goes into
the + side of the voltage. This is always true for R.
Steady state direct current (dc) circuits have all voltages and currents
constant, i.e., these values do not change with time. For these circuits, all L's
are short-circuits (v=0) and all C's are open-circuits (i=0), as all derivatives
with respect to time are zero.

2 Kirchho's Laws

The objective is to calculate all unknown voltages and currents in a given
circuit using Kirchho's laws:
1. Voltage Law (KVL): X
v 2 =0 k loop

loop

2. Current Law (KCL): X

i
k 2 node =0
node

The voltage increases in the loop are considered as positive variables in the
equations, whereas the voltage drops are considered negative. The currents
DC Circuits 3

going into the node are considered positive, and the currents coming out of
the node are considered negative.
To come up with the correct number of equations and unknowns (vari-
ables) to solve the circuit, one may follow the following procedure:
1. Set the direction in which one estimates the currents are owing (com-
pletely arbitrary). For current sources this is not necessary, whereas
for voltage sources one assumes that the current is coming out of the
positive side of the voltage (delivering power to the circuit).
2. Once the currents are decided, set the voltages direction for each ele-
ment in the circuit; this will depend on whether the element is an R,
L or C load (current going into the +), or a current source (current
coming out of the +).
3. Apply KVL to all internal circuit loops.
4. Apply KCL to all but one of the circuit nodes.

3 Series Circuits (Voltage Division)

Capacitors, inductors and resistors may be connected in series (same current,
dierent voltages) to obtain a new equivalent value, and to \divide" the
voltage.
i

C1 C2 Cn +

i i i
v C

+ - + - + -
v1 v2 vn -

+ v -

1 = 1 + 1 +


+ 1 = X 1 n

C C1 C2 C =1 C n k k
DC Circuits 4
i

L1 L2 Ln +

i i i
v L

+ - + - + -
v1 v2 vn -

+ v -

X
L = L1 + L2 +


+ L =
n

n L
k

k =1

R1 R2 Rn +

i i i
v R

+ - + - + -
v1 v2 vn -

+ v -

X
R = R1 + R2 +


+ R =
n

n R k

k =1

v = v R + R R+


+ R
k
k
! voltage division
1 2 n

4 Parallel Circuits (Current Division)

Capacitors, inductors and resistors may be connected in parallel (same volt-
age, dierent current) to obtain a new equivalent value, and to \divide" the
current.
i i

+ i1 i2 in +

v .... v C
C1 C2 Cn
- -
DC Circuits 5

X
C = C1 + C2 +


+ C =
n

n C k

k =1

i i

+ i1 i2 in +

v L1 L2 .... Ln v L

- -

1 = 1 + 1 +


+ 1 = X 1 n

L L1 L2 L =1 L n k k

i i

+ i1 i2 in +

v .... v R
R1 R2 Rn
- -

1 = 1 + 1 +


+ 1 = X 1 n

R R1 R2 R =1 R n k k

1
i = i
k 1
+ 1
R k
+


+ 1 ! current division
R 1 R 2 R n

5 Source Equivalents
Independent and dependent voltage sources may be transformed into equiv-
alent current sources, and vice versa, as follows:
DC Circuits 6
iL iL

RS

L v L
S
v O RS O
S vL RS vL
A A
D D

iL iL

RS

L α x L
v = αx O
RS RS O
S vL A vL A
D D

v =R i
s s s () i = Rv
s
s

6 Superposition
Any voltage and current in a linear circuit, i.e., a circuit made up of voltage
sources, current sources, R's, L's and C's may be computed as the sum of the
corresponding voltages and currents due to each independent source. This
does not apply to powers (nonlinear variable). Thus,
X
v =
x v due to each independent source
x
X
i =
x i due to each independent source
x
X
p 6=
x p due to each independent source
x

To turn o independent sources in the circuit, the voltage sources are short-
circuited (v = 0) and the current sources are open-circuited (i = 0). De-
s s

pendent (controlled) sources cannot be eliminated.

DC Circuits 7

7 Nodal Analysis
The necessary equations to solve a resistive circuit may be written by inspec-
tion as follows:
1. Transform all voltage sources in the circuit to current sources. This
step is optional.
2. Dene one of the (nontrivial) nodes as a reference node. Thus, the
voltages at the other nodes (nodal voltages V1, V2, . . . , V ) can be
n

dened with respect to this reference node.

3. Apply KCL to all node but one in the circuit, considering that the
current in a resistor R connecting two nodes i and j is dened as:
i =V ,
R
i

R
V j

The result of applying KCL is the following rule for all circuit nodes
but the reference node:
!
node 1 !
X 1 V1 ,
1 V ,


, 1 V =
2
Rconnected to node 1
n
R1 2 ; R1 ;n
X
isources entering node 1
!
node 2 !
X 1 V2 ,
1 V ,


, 1 V =
1
Rconnected to node 2
n
R2 1 ; R2 ;n
X
isources entering node 2
..
. !
node n !
X 1 V ,
1 V , 1 V ,


=
1 2
Rconnected to node n
n
R 1 R 2
n; n;
X
isources entering node n

where R is the resistance connecting nodes i and j, e.g., R1 connects

i;j ;n

nodes 1 and n. This rule generates n equations with n unknowns,

enough to solve the circuit.
DC Circuits 8

8 Mesh Analysis
The necessary equations to solve a resistive circuit may also be obtained by
mesh analysis as follows:
1. Transform all current sources in the circuit to voltage sources. This
step is optional.
2. Dene the mesh currents I as the currents circulating T in an internal
loop (mesh).
3. Apply KVL to all loops in the circuit, considering that the voltage in
a resistor R common to two loops i and j is equal to :
v = R (I , I )
R i j

The result of applying KVL is the following rule for all loops or meshes:
X 
mesh 1 ! mesh 1 I1 , R1 2 I2 ,


, R1 I =
Rin ; ;n n

X
X source increases
 in mesh 1
v

mesh 2 ! Rin mesh 2 I2 , R2 1 I1 ,


, R2 I =

; ;n n
X
vsource increases in mesh 2
..
. X 
mesh n ! Rin mesh n I , R 1 I1 , R 2 I2 ,


=
n n; n;

X
vsource increases in mesh n

where R is the resistance common to meshes i and j, e.g., R1 is the

i;j ;n

resistance shared by meshes 1 and n. This rule generates n equations

with n unknowns, enough to solve the circuit.

9 Thevenin Equivalent
Any resistive circuit can be reduced at its terminals to an equivalent voltage
source:
DC Circuits 9

iL iL

R TH

L L
O v O
vL A TH vL A
D D

LINEAR CIRCUIT THEVENIN EQUIVALENT

where:
v = v with load open-circuited (i = 0)
v
TH T T

RTH = i
TH

iN = i with load short-circuited (v = 0)

T T

For circuits with only independent sources, the Thevenin resistance may be
computed as
R TH = Equivalent resistance with all sources and load o

10 Norton Equivalent
Any resistive circuit can be reduced at its terminals to an equivalent current
source:
iL iL

L L
O i R TH O
vL A N vL A
D D

LINEAR CIRCUIT NORTON EQUIVALENT

where:
i
N = i with load short-circuited (v = 0)
T T
DC Circuits 10

R TH = vi TH

v TH = v with load open-circuited (i = 0)

T T

Observe that the Norton current source is the equivalent of the Thevenin
voltage source.

11 Maximum Power Transfer

A resistive circuit delivers maximum power to a load when the resistance of
the load is the same as the Thevenin resistance of the circuit, i.e.,
pT

iL

R TH

v RL
TH vL

THEVENIN EQUIVALENT LOAD

R =R v
) p max = 4R
2
TH
L TH T
TH