Part 1: DC Circuits

Essential & Practical

Circuit Analysis

By Solid State Workshop

 What is circuit analysis?
• Circuit analysis is a toolkit for understanding and designing
more complex circuits.

• Circuit analysis is a layer of abstraction. It is based off of

other abstractions, while other abstractions are built off of it.

Physics Circuit Analysis Electronics Systems

What will be covered in this video?
 Linear Circuit Elements
 Ohm’s Law
 Series & Parallel Circuits
 Voltage & Current Dividers
 Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)
 Nodal Analysis
 Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
 Loop Analysis
 Source Transformation
 Thévenin & Norton Equivalence
 Superposition Theorem
Linear Circuit Elements
Resistor Ohm Ω

Capacitor Farad F

Inductor Henry H

+- Voltage Source Volt V

Current Source Ampere A

 Nodes, Branches, and Loops
• A node is a junction of
connecting wires. Every Branch Branch
point on a node is at the Node Node Node
same potential (same
voltage). Loop
Branch
• A branch just another Branch Loop Loop Branch
name for any circuit
element between two
nodes.

• A loop is a closed path Node

that begins and ends at
the same node.
Ohm’s Law

I= ?

30V 75Ω
Series Circuits

100Ω

30V 50Ω

I= ?
 Parallel Circuits

150Ω 100Ω
30V
Ohm’s Law
Voltage Dividers

40Ω

10V

10Ω Vout
Voltage Dividers

R1

VS

R2 Vout
Voltage Dividers

R1

VS

R2 RL
Current Dividers
RT

Iout

IS RX R1 R2
Kirchhoff's Current Law (KCL)

Current Entering & Exiting a Node

7
6

Current (mA)
5
4
3
2
1
0
Entering Exiting
Kirchhoff's Current Law (KCL)

Node B 4mA
Node A

12mA

2mA
Nodal Analysis with KCL

+ +
Vx Vy
- -

Reference Node
(ground)
 Nodal Analysis with KCL
1

1 2

Vo
2
 Nodal Analysis with KCL
1

1 2

Vo
Kirchhoff's Voltage Law (KVL)

V1 V2 V3 V4
Kirchhoff's Voltage Law (KVL)
V2
Voltage Rise (-V)

V1 V3
Voltage Drop (+V)

Voltage Drop (+V)

V4
Kirchhoff's Voltage Law (KVL)
6V 3Ω
A

1Ω 2Ω

3Ω 15V
 Loop Analysis with KVL
• Loop analysis is a process that uses
KVL to determine loop currents.

• Loop currents are assigned to all

independent loops.

• To solve for all loop currents, write

a KVL equation for all independent
loops and then solve.
Loop Analysis with KVL
1K

2K 15V

2K 4K 5mA
 Source Transformation
• Thévenin circuit: Voltage source in series with a resistor

• Norton circuit: Current source in parallel with a resistor

• Source transformation allows simple conversion between

these circuits.
Thévenin’s & Norton’s Theorems

RTh Thévenin
Black Box Circuit VTh Equivalent
Circuit

Norton
INo RNo Equivalent
Circuit
Thévenin’s & Norton’s Theorems
Thévenin Equivalent Circuits

Known Circuit

VOC
Thévenin Equivalent Circuits

KCL

KVL
Norton Equivalent Circuits

Known Circuit

ISC
Norton Equivalent Circuits
 Superposition Theorem
• Superposition says that a circuit with
multiple sources can be solved by this
process:

1.) Set all sources = 0, except one.

2.) Solve necessary currents and
voltages, using only that source.
3.) Repeat Step 2 for each source.
4.) “Superimpose” the solutions onto
each other.
• Use the symbol prime ( ′ ) to differentiate
variables with the same name.
 Superposition Theorem

6mA
 Ending Remarks
• The key to solving circuit problems quickly and correctly is practice!

• Each technique is not terribly difficult on its own. The challenging part is
identifying which technique (or combination of techniques) is appropriate
for a given circuit.

• Experiment with circuits on your own!

 The components used in this video are inexpensive and easily obtained
through distributors such as Mouser and DigiKey.

 Use simulation software such as LTSpice (free) to verify your findings

and to learn more about circuit behavior.
Thanks for watching!
I’d love to hear your feedback!

Subscribe