Monsoon 2021

EXPERIMENT-05: Superposition theorem

The objective of this experiment is to learn how Superposition theorem can simplify the analysis of linear circuits. We will
use two d-c voltage sources and one a-c source in this experiment. The circuit consisting of these three independent
voltage sources, four resistors, one inductor and one capacitor, along with the connections of the three voltage sources,
is shown in Fig. 4.1.

Fig. 4.1(a) Circuit with Three Independent Voltage Sources Fig. 4.1(b) Circuit with Voltage and Current Sources

Circuit-A:
Superposition theorem states that the response of the circuit of Fig. 4.1(a) to the three voltage sources , and
acting together is given by the algebraic sum of the responses obtained from three separate circuits obtained
by keeping only one of the three sources and replacing the other two voltage sources by wires (short circuit).
These three circuits, each having only one source, have the same structure, as shown in Fig. 4.2, where the output
voltage is denoted by / / depending on the applied source / / , respectively.

1. Draw the schematic of circuit in Fig. 4.1 (a).

2. The DC Voltage Sources has been adjusted to give = + 4.8V, and = – 3.0V
3. The AC voltage source is set to give a 100-kHz sinusoidal having a peak-to-peak value of 3.6V
with zero-offset.
4. Use component values R1 = 3.00kW, R2 = 1.00kW, L = 1mH and C = 0.001mF. In this experiment, each of the
three points A, B and C of the circuit will have to be connected either to Gnd or to the respective source ( ,
, ).
5. Connect A, B, C to , , respectively by connecting the wires appropriately.
6. Run transient analysis for 20µ sec.
7. Note the measured min and max voltage levels of . Output voltage is now due to all the three inputs
applied together. Also note the min and max voltage levels of to make sure that the values set in step 2 are
unchanged.
8. Leaving A connected to , and disconnecting B and C so as to disconnect them from and and connect
them to Gnd. This replaces the sources and by short-circuits. Note the min and max voltage levels of
, due to alone.
9. Run transient analysis for 20µ sec.
Monsoon 2021

10. Disconnect A from and connect it to Gnd, thereby replacing by a short-circuit. Disconnect B from Gnd
and connect it to . Note the resulting min and max values of the output voltage , and take the average of
the min and max values to obtain the true (d-c) value of the output voltage due to alone. Verify by
analysis that theoretically, = 0.8V, and compare this value with the measured value.
11. Run transient analysis for 20µ sec.
12. With A remaining connected to Gnd, disconnect B from and connect it to Gnd. Now disconnect C from
Gnd and connect it to . Note the resulting min and max values of the output voltage , and take the
average of the min and max values to obtain the true (d-c) value of the output voltage due to alone.
Verify by analysis that theoretically, = – 0.5V and compare this value with the measured value.
13. Run transient analysis for 20µ sec.
14. Verify Superposition Principle by comparing the values of the min and max values of the output voltage ,
as measured in step 7 with all three sources present, with ( ½min + + ) and( ½max
+ + ) calculated from the measurements made in steps 8, 10 and 12.
15. Change the frequency to 200kHz and repeat steps 7-13.

All Three Sources Verification of

VOLTAGE SOURCE
Connected Superposition Theorem
MIN
MAX

Circuit-B
1. Connect the circuit as shown in Fig. 4.1(b) in LT-SPICE, and perform DC operating point analysis (.op).
2. Measure the current values of and when both voltage and current source are connected.
3. Disconnect a from voltage source and connect it to Gnd, thereby replacing V(a) by a short-circuit. Measure the
current values of and .
4. Connect a to the voltage source and disconnect current source from the circuit. Measure the current values of
and .
5. Verify Superposition principle by comparing the values of and obtained from the steps 3, 4 and 5.

NOTE: Use potential difference and divide by resistor value to measure the current in the circuit (eg. = ( ( ) −
( ))/ instead of direct current or absolute measuring in LT SPICE which you adopted in previous experiments.

( )− ( ) ( ) Verification of
VOLTAGE SOURCE V(a) V(b)
= = Superposition Theorem
6 9
Current source
Voltage source
Both sources

Now, interchange sources position and also modify the resistance value from 6Ω to 10Ω and 9Ω to 2Ω. Repeat the
SAME step 3 – 5, thereby verify superposition principle.