NORTON’S

THEOREM
 STATEMENT

“Any two terminal linear network or circuit can be represented with

an equivalent network or circuit, which consists of a current source in
parallel with a resistor.”
 EXPLANATION OF NORTON’S THEOREM
If a circuit has multiple independent sources, dependent sources, and resistors, then the response in an element can be easily
found by replacing the entire network to the left of that element with a Norton’s equivalent circuit.
I
.
A
+
I A
+
.
Two terminal
V Load IN RN Load
linear circuit
.- .
-
B B
Two terminal linear circuit Norton’s equivalent circuit

Norton’s equivalent circuit resembles a practical current source. Hence, it is having a current source in parallel with a resistor.
The current source present in the Norton’s equivalent circuit is called as Norton’s equivalent current or simply Norton’s
current IN.
The resistor present in the Norton’s equivalent circuit is called as Norton’s equivalent resistor or simply Norton’s resistor RN.
 EXPLANATION OF NORTON’S THEOREM
Step by step procedure to solve Norton’s theorem for DC Circuits:-

i. Identify the element for which the response is to be found.

ii. Remove the load resistor and make a short circuit. Find the current through the short-circuited path by any circuit analysis
method. This current is Norton’s current (IN).
iii. Remove the load resistor and replace the voltage or current source by their internal resistance. Find the equivalent
resistance of the network seen from the open-circuited terminals. This is the Thevenin's resistance (RTH) or Norton’s
resistance (RN) of the network.
iv. Redraw the network with Norton’s current source in parallel with Norton’s resistance. Finally, add the load resistor in
parallel with the above circuit and apply current division rule to find the load current.

𝑅𝑁
𝐼𝐿 = 𝐼𝑁 ∗
𝑅𝑁 +𝑅𝐿
 EXAMPLE 1
Find the current through 10Ω resistor using Norton’s theorem.

Step 1 - To find Norton’s current, open the load resistor and make a short circuit. Then find the current through the short-
circuited terminal by any network analysis method. This short circuit current is called as Norton’s current.
 EXAMPLE 1
• Here we have three currents I1, I2, and I3. Current I1 is the total current supplied by the source. Current I2 flows through 8Ω
resistor and Current I3 flows through 2Ω resistor and the short-circuited line. Obviously, the current I3 is Norton’s current.
• Now, find the current I3 using any network analysis method.
• Here you can find the total current and then apply current division rule to find the current I3.
• The total resistance of the circuit and the total current can be calculated as follows.

8∗2
𝑅𝑒𝑞 =4+ ⇒ 5.6Ω
8+2

𝑉 48
𝐼𝐿 = = ⇒ 8.57𝐴
𝑅𝑒𝑞 5.6

8
𝐼𝑁 = 𝐼3 = 8.57 ∗ ⇒ 6.86 𝐴
8+2
 EXAMPLE 1
Step 2 - The next step is to find the Norton's resistance of the network. In order to find the resistance, remove the load resistor
and replace the 48V voltage source by a short circuit. Then calculate the resistance seen from the open-circuited terminals.

Here 8Ω and 4Ω resistors are connected in parallel and this combination is connected in series with 4Ω resistor. So the
Thevenin's resistance is calculated as follows.

8∗2
𝐼𝑛 = 𝑅𝑒𝑞 = + 3 ⇒ 4.6Ω
8+2
 EXAMPLE 1
Step 3 - Now redraw the circuit with Norton’s current source in parallel with the Norton's resistance. Then add the load
resistor in parallel with the above circuit to form Norton's equivalent circuit for the given circuit.

Apply current division rule at node A, and find the load current.

𝑅𝑛 4.67
𝐼𝐿 = 𝐼𝑛 ∗ = 6.86 ∗ ⇒ 2.18𝐴
𝑅𝑛 + 𝑅𝐿 4.67 + 10

The current through the load resistor is calculated as 2.18 Amperes.