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Kirchhoff’s Current And Voltage Law (KCL And KVL) With Xcos
Example

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Real world applications electric circuits are, most of the time, quite Alok on How to calculate the
complex and hard to analyze. But, by breaking them apart into smaller volumetric efficiency of an
subsystems (circuits), we can apply Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL) and internal combustion engine
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Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)
In an electrical circuit, a node (or junction) is the intersection point of at
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least 3 wires. If, by convention, we consider that the current going in the
node is positive (+) and the current going out from the node is negative
(-), we can write Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL) as:

∑ Ik = 0

k=1

where:
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n [-] – is the total number of wires going into the node
Ik [A] – the electrical current through the wire k
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In words, Kirchhoff’s Current Law translates as: the sum of the simulation
electrical currents, in any node of a circuit, is zero.
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Kirchhoff’s Current Law is based on the principle of conservation of (*.csv) in Scilab

electric charge and states that, in every node of an electrical circuit, the How to create a multiple y-
sum of the electrical currents flowing into the node is equal with the axes plot in Scilab
sum of the electrical currents flowing out of the node.
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Let’s take as example the following electrical circuit. The node consists
architectures
of 4 wires, each with an electrical current passing through. Even if the
wires are connected to different electrical components (coil, resistor, Exhaust Gas Recirculation
voltage source, etc.), Kirchhoff’s Current Law is applicable. (EGR) complete guide –
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Image: Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL) Cookie Policy

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where:
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L1 [H] – inductance of a lamp

R1 [Ω] – resistance of a resistor

E [V] – electromotive force
I1 [A] – current through the inductor

I2 [A] – current through the wire

I3 [A] – current through the resistor

I4 [A] – current through the voltage source

For this particular node Kirchhoff’s Current Law can be written as:

I1 + I2 – I3 – I4 = 0

If we want to separate the electrical currents going in the node from the
electrical current going out from the node, we can write:

I1 + I2 = I3 + I4

For a better understanding of Kirchhoff’s Current Law, we can compare

the  electrical circuit with a fluid circuit. Imagine having a pipe through
which a fluid is flowing with the volumetric flow rate Q1. If the pipe is
split into three smaller pipes, the sum of the volumetric flow rates of the
outgoing pipes will be equal with the volumetric  flow rate of the
incoming pipe.

Image: Kirchhoff’s Current Law – analogy with fluids

Q1 = Q2 + Q3 + Q4

where:
Q1 [m3/s] – incoming volumetric flow rate

Q2, Q3, Q4 [m3/s] – outgoing volumetric flow rate

Kirchhoff’s Current Law is applicable to any lumped parameter electrical

circuit.

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)

An electrical circuit can contain at least one or more closed loops
(mesh, network). Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL) states that, for any loop
in an electrical circuit, the sum of the electrical voltage across the loop
is zero.

∑ Uk = 0

k=1

where:

n [-] – is the total number of voltages

Uk [V] – the voltage the branch k

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law is based on the principle of the conservation of

energy. It can be also written in the form: the sum of the electromotive
forces (emf) in any circuit loop is equal with the sum of voltage drops in
the same loop.

Let’s take as example the following circuit. It has two loops, A and B,
and two nodes, C and D. With the arrows is defined the positive flow of
the electrical current.

Image: Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL) circuit example

For loop A, Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law is:

I1 R1 + I3 R3 = E2 + E1

For loop B, Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law is:

I2 R2 + I3 R3 = E2 + E3

To have a complete set of equations, we can write Kirchhoff’s Current

Law for node C:

I1 + I2 = I3

We have only one KCL equation because, for node D, the same electrical
current relationship applies.

Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law applies to lumped parameters electrical circuits

which can contain  also other types of passive components like
capacitors or inductors.

Example. Calculate the voltage drop and electrical current for each
component of the following electrical circuit, using Kirchhoff’s Current
and Voltage Laws.

Image: Simple electric circuit schematic

where:

E [V] – electromotive force

R1, 2, 3, 4 [Ω] – electric resistance

For this example we will consider that: E = 12 V, R1 = 1 Ω, R2 = 2 Ω, R3 =

3 Ω and R4 = 4 Ω.
The electrical circuit has two loops, A and B, and two nodes, C and D.
The first step is to highlight the currents flowing through the wires and
the voltage drop across every component (resistor).

Image: Simple electric circuit schematic – voltages and currents

where:

Ia, b, c [A] – electric current

U1, 2, 3, 4 [V] – voltage drop

The first equation is deduced by writing KCL for node C:

Ia = Ib + Ic (1)

Second and third equations are defined by KVL for loops A and B:

U1 + U3 + U2 = E

U4 – U3 = 0

From Ohm’s Law we know that:

U = IR

Rewriting the equations for the both loops, we get:

Ia R1 + Ic R3 + Ia R2 = E (2)

Ib R4 – Ic R3 = 0 (3)

Replacing equation (1) in (2) gives:

(Ib + Ic )(R1 + R2 ) + Ic R3 = E
 Ib (R1 + R2 ) + Ic (R1 + R2 + R3 ) = E (4)

From equation (3) we get the expression of Ib:

Ic R3
Ib = (5)
R4

Replacing (5) in (4) gives:

Ic R3
(R1 + R2 ) + Ic (R1 + R2 + R3 ) = E
R4

R3 (R1 + R2 )
Ic ( + R1 + R2 + R3 ) = E
R4

E
Ic =
R3 (R1 +R2 )
+ R1 + R2
R4

Replacing the values of the resistances and electromotive force, we get

the value of Ic:

Ic = 1.454545 A

Now we can calculate the rest of the currents and voltage drops:

Ic R3
Ib = = 1.090909 A
R4

Ia = Ib + Ic = 2.545454 A

U1 = Ia R1 = 2.545454 V

U2 = Ia R2 = 5.090908 V

U3 = Ic R3 = 4.363635 V

U4 = Ib R4 = 4.363636 V

In order to verify if our calculations are correct, we are going to create

an Xcos block diagram for our electric circuit. In the Electrical
Palette within Xcos we are going to use the:   ConstantVoltage
block, Resistor block, Ground block and VoltageSensor and
CurrentSensor for displaying the calculated values.
Image: Simple electric circuit – Xcos block diagram

The voltage source and resistance parameters are define in the

Scilab  workspace. Also the values of the currents and voltages are
calculated in Scilab for a further verification with the script:


clc()
R1=1;
R2=2;
R3=3;
R4=4;
E=12;
Ic = E/(R3*(R1+R2)/R4+R1+R2+R3);
Ib=Ic*R3/R4;
Ia=Ib+Ic;
U1=R1*Ia;
U2=R2*Ia;
U3=R3*Ic;
U4=R4*Ib;

First we run the Scilab instructions, second we simulate the Xcos

diagram. Since it’s a static model (no dynamics) the simulation time can
be as small as possible (e.g. 1 s ).

As you can see, the results are matching which gives confidence to our
calculation method and equations.

For any questions, observations and queries regarding this article, use
the comment form below.

Don’t forget to Like, Share and Subscribe!

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One Response

Electrical Engineering 

I like the way you have describe the article. I contents all the details
about the topic. Its a great share..
Thanks for sharing..

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