Instituto Politécnico Nacional

Escuela Superior de Computo

Fundamental Circuit Analysis

Practice 7: Voltage and current divider.

Team:
 Rodríguez Coronado Jesús
 Rodríguez Gómez Andrés
 Pineda Muñiz Kimberly

Teacher:
Figueroa del Prado Felipe de Jesús

Group:
1CM10

Date: 19/10/2019

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 Index

Objective....................................................................................3
Material......................................................................................3
Equipment..................................................................................3
Theoric Introduction..................................................................4
Experimental Development.......................................................5
Calculations................................................................................5
Circuit Simulations....................................................................7
Values Comparisons..................................................................8
Questions....................................................................................9
Conclusions..............................................................................10
Bibliography............................................................................10

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Objective
The student will identify the circuit known as the "Voltage Divider Circuit" in
its simplest form. Understand the concept of "Voltage Division" and make the
comparison between the calculated values with the measured values in each of
the associated elements in the circuit of practice. You will understand the
usefulness of these circuits both in the analysis of more complex networks and
in applications where accuracy or high values in current consumption are not
required.
Kirchhoff Voltages Law.
Kirchhoff Current Law.
Deduce the law expression of the voltage drop in each resistor.
Deduct the expression of the current in each resistor based on the total current
entering the circuit and which is supplied by the voltage source.

Material
 4 wire banana-caiman.
 4 wire caiman-caiman.
 1 protoboard.
1
 2 resistors from 1 k Ω to 2 of w.
1
 1 resistors from 470 Ω to 2 of w.
1
 1 resistors from 560 Ω to 2 of w.
1
 2 resistors from 2.2 k Ω to 2 of w.
1
 1 resistors from 270 Ω to 2 of w.
 1 potentiometer from 10 k .
 Extra resistors (review practice).
 Connection wire for the protoboard.
 Cutting and wire tweezers.

Equipment
 1 Digital multimeter.
 1 Variable voltage source.

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Theoric Introduction
It is said that a "voltage divider circuit" is when each resistor can record a
voltage drop that has the value of an exact submultiple of the source value.
The multiplication factor that defines the submultiple is obtained as a function
of the resistors that form the circuit.

Example:

The current I in the only circuit mesh can be

obtained by Ohm's Law with the following
expression:
Vs
I=
R 1 + R 2+ R 3

Once the current is known, an expression for the

voltage in each resistor can be found in absolute
value.
V R 1=R1 I

Substituting:
Vs
V R 1=R1 ( R 1 + R 2+ R 3 )
Sorting the equation:
R1
V R 1=V s ( R1 + R2 + R3 )
Fall of the other voltages:
R2 R3
V R 2=V s ( R1 + R2 + R3 ) V R 3=V s ( R1 + R2 + R 3 )
Extract expressions to calculate the voltages in each node:
V 1 = ( R 1 + R 2+ R 3 ) I V 2= ( R 2+ R 3 ) I

V 1=V s

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Substituting:
Vs
V 2=( R 2+ R 3 ) ( R 1 + R 2+ R 3 )
Write the equation again:
R2 + R3 R3
V 2=V s ( R 1+ R 2 + R 3 ) V 3=V s ( R 1 + R 2+ R 3 )
The circuit shown in the figure is called "current divider" since the total
current I is divided into each resistor. According to Ohm's law we have to:
V
I= =VG
R

I =I R 1 + I R 2 + I R 3

I =V (G 1 +G 2 +G 3)

Voltage:
I
V=
G 1 +G 2+ G 3

Substituting for each current according to Ohm's law:

IG1 IG3
I R 1=V G1= I R 3 =V G1=
G 1 +G 2+ G3 G1 +G2+ G3

IG2
I R 2=V G 1=
G 1 +G 2+ G 3

Experimental Development

Calculations
Vs 10 V
I= I= =4.906 mA
R 1 + R 2+ R 3 1 k Ω+ 470 Ω+560 Ω

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 R1 560 Ω
V R 1= Vs V R 3= ( 10 V )=2.758 V
R 1 + R 2+ R 3 1 k Ω+ 470 Ω+560 Ω

1k Ω V 1=10 V
V R 1= ( 10 V )=4.926 V
1 k Ω+ 470 Ω+560 Ω
R 2+ R 3
V 2= V
R2 R 1 + R2 + R 3 s
V R 2= Vs
R 1 + R 2+ R 3
470 Ω+560 Ω
V 2= ( 10 V )=5.074 V
470 Ω 1 k Ω+470 Ω+560 Ω
V R 2= ( 10 V )=2.315 V
1k Ω+ 470 Ω+560 Ω
R3
V 3= Vs
R3 R 1 + R2 + R 3
V R 3= Vs
R 1+ R 2 + R 3
560 Ω
V 3= (10 V ) =2.758V
1 k Ω+470 Ω+560 Ω

Table 1. Voltage divider results. The error it represents is also recorded.

Theoretical
Data Measured value Error Λ V ∨ Δ I
value
V R1 4.93 V
V R2 2.31 V
V R3 2.76 V
V1 10 V
V2 5.074 V
V3 2.76 V
I Total 0.0049 A

Table 2.

Data R1 R2 R3

V 2=5 V

V 3=3 V

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 Table 3. In which they record the voltages obtained from the current divider
circuit, measured and calculated.

Data Theoric value Measured value Error Λ V

I R1

I R2

I R3

IR 4

I Total

Circuit Simulations
Figure 1. Figure 2.

R1 R1
1kΩ 1kΩ

V1 R2
V1 R2
470Ω
10V 2.2kΩ
10V

R3 R3
560Ω
3.2kΩ 50 %
Key=A

Figure 3. R1
1kΩ

V1
10V
R2 R3 R4
1kΩ 2.2kΩ 3.3kΩ

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Values Comparisons
Table 1. Voltage divider results. The error it represents is also recorded.

Theoretical Measured Simulated

Data Error Λ V ∨ Δ I
value value value
V R1 4.93 V 4.926 V
V R2 2.31 V 2.315 V
V R3 2.76 V 2.759 V
V1 10 V 10 V
V2 5.074 V 5.074 V
V3 2.76 V 2.759 V
I Total 0.0049 A 0.0049 A

Table 3. In which they record the voltages obtained from the current divider
circuit, measured and calculated.

Measured Simulated
Data Theoric value Error Λ V
value value

I R1 6.374 mA
I R2 3.626 mA
I R3 1.648 mA

IR 4 1.009 mA
I Total

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Questions
1. Why the existence of the error or deviation from the measured value
with respect to the calculated value?
The instruments used for measuring voltages drop and currents in the
circuits may be uncalibrated or not all decimals were used in the
calculations.
2. What is the utility of the "voltage divider" for the analysis of electrical
circuits?
Obtain the voltages of the resistors and the nodes in a slightly more
complicated way using the resistors and the circuit voltage.
3. What is the utility of the "current divider" for the analysis of electrical
circuits?
It would be to calculate the current that passes through the resistors in a
different way and to understand a little more the way in which a circuit
works.
4. Can the voltage and current divider circuits be extended to a larger
number of resistors?
Yes, it may be that each circuit has a greater number of resistors for the
current and voltage division.
5. If the voltages on each node were required with specific default values,
what should be done to obtain these values?
It would be to calculate the values of each resistance to be used in the
circuit.

Conclusions
Rodríguez Coronado Jesús

Rodríguez Gómez Andrés

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Pineda Muñiz Kimberly
In this practice, the definition of a "voltage divider" circuit and the "current
divider" circuit were understood a little better, as well as how to make
arrangements with resistors by not having the resistances obtained in practice
with the exact values.

Bibliography
ingenieria, A. d. (2019). Division de voltaje y de corriente. Retrieved from
https://analisisdecircuitos1.wordpress.com/parte-1-circuitos-resistivos-
cap-11-a-20-en-construccion/capitulo-17-division-de-voltaje-y-de-
corriente/

Jesus, F. d. (2019). Práctica 7. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 5. Retrieved

from https://www.toppr.com/guides/physics/electricity/ohms-law-and-
resistance

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