CEBU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY

Name: Florita, Girlie C. & Yunsal, Jewel Grace P. Date Performed: September 3, 2020
Program & Year: BSEE - 2 Date Due: September 5, 2020
Group: Team YF

EE 281
ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS I LABORATORY
Laboratory Experiment No. 2
SUPERPOSITION METHOD AND MILLMAN’S THEOREM

OBJECTIVES
1. Verify Superposition Theorem in a two source circuit
2. Verify the concept of Millman’s Theorem in a two source circuit

LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Apply Superposition Theorem in calculating electrical circuit current or voltage
2. Use Millman’s Theorem in calculating electrical circuit current or voltage

APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT
R1 = 360 Ω - ¼ W
R2 = 510 Ω - ¼ W
R3 = 1 kΩ - ¼ W

INTRODUCTION
Superposition method can be applied only to physical systems having a linear
behavior. A physical system has a linear behavior when there is proportionality bond
between cause and effect.

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 When a complex network of linear behavior is composed of only two nodes (i.e. it
is composed of more than one arm in parallel), the voltage and current in each arm can
be calculated by applying Millman’s theorem.

THEORY
Let’s consider an example of a trolley being pushed by hand. When the force
used in pushing the trolley is doubled (cause), the distance that the trolley will cover
doubles as well (effect). Hence, this is a linear system. In the same way, an electrical
circuit is considered linear when doubling its source voltage will cause the current to
double in effect. The theorem can be expressed in the following way: in an electrical
network having more than one source or generator, the current in an arm or the voltage
at its terminals can be calculated by summing up algebraically the currents or voltages
produced by each source or generator acting separately. This theorem can be
illustrated with an example.

Consider the circuit in Figure 2.1. Let’s determine the current I3.

R1 = 1kΩ A R2 = 4.7kΩ

+
V1 = 5V R3 = I3 V2 = 5V
2.2 kΩ
-

B
Figure 2.1

The circuit in Figure 2.1 can be divided into elementary circuits each having just
one generator or source. This can be done by considering one voltage source while
removing the rest of the voltage sources from the circuit and short-circuiting the
terminals where they were previously connected. Therefore, the circuit in Figure 2.1 can
be divided into two elementary circuits as shown in Figure 2.2.

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 R1 A R2 R1 A R2

+ -
V1 R3 I’3 R3 I’’3 V2
- +

B B
a) b)
Figure 2.2

Calculation of currents in each of the elementary circuits in Figure 2.2:

Circuit a) Figure 2.2

Circuit b) Figure 2.2

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 If the directions of these currents are the same, they are added. If not, they are
subtracted and the resulting current will take the direction of the current which is greater
in value. In the example, I’3 is greater in value than I’’3 and they take directions
opposite to each other. Hence, I’’3 will be subtracted from I’3 and the resulting current
will take the direction of I’3.

Consider the circuit in Figure 2.3.

R1 I1 R3 I3 I2 R2
1kΩ 2.2kΩ 4.7kΩ

+ - + -
B
V1 = 5V V2 = 5V

Figure 2.3

Applying Millman’s theorem, the voltage between nodes A and B can be

expressed by the following relationship:

Vi and Ri are the generator voltage and resistance of each arm respectively. Vi
will take a positive sign if it is in agreement with VAB, otherwise, it is negative. In case
an arm doesn’t contain a voltage source or generator, voltage Vi is equal to zero.
Applying Millman’s theorem in the example, we obtain the following relationship:

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 If the known values are substituted, we obtain that VAB = 2.36 V. It would now be
easy to solve for the currents in each arm.

FIGURE

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PROCEDURE
1. Using the dedicated software, construct the circuit as shown in Figure 2.4
2. Set the voltage source +V to 10 volts.
3. Measure the current flowing in R3 and record the value in Table 2.1 under I’3
4. Measure the voltage across R3 and record the value in Table 2.1 under V’ab.
5. Using the dedicated software, construct the circuit as shown in Figure 2.5
6. Adjust the voltage source -V to -10 volts.
7. Measure the current flowing in R3 and record the value in Table 2.1 under I’’3
8. Measure the voltage across R3 and record the value in Table 2.1 under V’’ab.
9. Using the dedicated software, construct the circuit as shown in Figure 2.6
10. Adjust the voltage sources +V to 10 volts and –V to -10 volts.
11. Measure the current flowing in R3 and record the value in Table 2.1 under I3
12. Measure the voltage across R3 and record the value in Table 2.1 under Vab.
13. Verify that the algebraic sum of the values read by the instruments with a single
generator connected one after the other corresponds to the values read by the
instruments when both generators are connected at the same time.
14. Calculate the current I3 and the voltage VAB by applying Superposition method.
Record the results in Table 2.2.
15. Calculate the current I3 and the voltage VAB by applying Millman’s theorem.
Record the results in Table 2.2.

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RESULTS, DATA, CALCULATIONS

Ve1 (+V) Ve2 (-V) V’AB I’3 V’’AB I’’3 VAB I3

[V] [V] [V] [mA] [V] [mA] [V] [mA]
Measured value
10 V -10 V 4.841 V 4.841 mA -3.417 V -3.417 mA 8.257 V 8.257 mA
Table 2.1

VAB I3 VAB I3
[V] [mA] [V] [mA]
Calculated value Calculated value
Superposition method Millman’s Theorem
8.2574 V 8.2574 mA 8.2574 V 8.2574 mA
Table 2.2

Superposition Theorem Millman’s Theorem

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OBSERVATIONS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
In this experiment, Superposition Theorem is used, so the two-source circuit is
separated into elementary circuits with only one source. The given circuit has two voltage
sources, 10 V and -10V. Because the superposition method is used here, the circuit will
be divided into two circuits, namely, circuit A and circuit B. Circuit A has only 10 V, which
disregarded the presence of a -10 V source by short-circuiting its terminals. Meanwhile,
circuit B has voltage source of -10 V.
For circuit A, the measured value of the current flowing in R3 and the voltage across
it is 4.841 mA and 4.841 V, respectively. These values are the same with the solved
values using the formula provided by the Superposition Theorem.
On the other hand, circuit B's measured values are -3.4169 V across R3 and -3.4169
mA current flowing in it. These values are also manually solved by using the formula of
the same theory and the results obtained from the simulation and calculations are
identical.
In order to get the value of I3, the I'3 from circuit A and I''3 from circuit B are
subtracted from each other. Their difference which is 8. 2574 mA serves as the value of I3.
The same procedure is done to V'AB and V''AB to get the value of VAB. Their difference of
8.2574 V is the overall voltage of the given circuit.
Another way to calculate the solved values mentioned above is by using the
Millman’s Theorem. This is applied by redrawing the circuit as a set of parallel connected
branches, each branch with its own voltage source and series resistance; then using the
theorem's corresponding formula. By doing these procedures, it was found out that the
current I3 in the given circuit has the value of 8.2574 mA and the voltage V AB is 8.2574 V.
Furthermore, one of the procedures in the experiment is to verify that the algebraic
sum of the values read by the instruments with a single generator connected one after the
other corresponds to the values read by the instruments when both generators are
connected at the same time. Basically, the values obtained using the Superposition
Theorem must coincide with the values from using the Millman’s Theorem. Based on the
calculations done, the data gathered from using both theorems are identical with each
other, wherein VAB is 8.2574 V while I3 is 8.2574 mA.

CONCLUSION

In general, the purpose of this experiment was to verify Superposition theorem and
Millman's theorem in calculating electrical circuit current or voltage. From the data and
interpretations, this purpose was met. It can be concluded that branch current is the
algebraic sum of currents due to individual voltage source; hence Superposition method
was verified. Meanwhile, Millman's theorem finds the voltage across all branches by
considering the supply voltage and the resistance within each branch. These two theorems
make circuit analysis simpler but only to a given extent since these cannot be applied in
more complex circuits.
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PROOFS OF SIMULATION using Multisim
Division of Labor:

Girlie Florita ran the Multisim simulation then interpreted the data that were
obtained from it. She’s also the one who edited this file. As for Jewel Grace Yunsal, she did
the Superposition theorem and Millman’s theorem calculations and at the same time
formulated the conclusions that were drawn from this experiment.