This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TCSII.2021.3059053, IEEE
Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs

A Theorem on Power Superposition in Resistive

Networks
Ivo Barbi, Life Fellow, IEEE


the total power supplied simultaneously by the current
Abstract—The superposition theorem, a particular case of the sources while the voltage sources as replaced by short
superposition principle, states that in a linear circuit with several circuit.
voltage and current sources, the current and voltage for any
element of the circuit is the algebraic sum of the currents and
voltages produced by each source acting independently. The
II. ANALYSIS
superposition theorem is not applicable to power, because it is a
non-linear quantity. Therefore, the total power dissipated in a Fig. 1 shows a system formed by three independent ideal
resistor must be calculated using the total current through (or voltage sources V1 , V2 and V3 , two independent ideal
the total voltage across) it. The theorem proposed and proved in
this paper states that in a linear network consisting of resistors current sources I1 and I 2 , and a network N consisting of
and independent voltage and current sources, the total power resistors of constant, linear and bilateral resistances. The
dissipated in the resistors of the network is the sum of the power system forms a five-port resistive network.
supplied simultaneously by the voltage sources with the current
sources replaced by open circuit, and the power supplied
simultaneously by the current sources when the voltage sources
are replaced by short-circuit. This means that the power is V1 Ix
superimposed. The theorem can be used to simplify the power I1 Vx
analysis of resistive networks.

Index Terms—Network theorem, power calculation, power V2 Iy

superposition in resistive networks, resistive networks. I2 N Vy

I. INTRODUCTION V3
I3
The superposition theorem states that for time-invariant
linear resistive networks, having more than one independent
source, the current or voltage in any branch of the circuit
equals the algebraic sum of the response caused by each Fig. 1. Five-port resistive network.
independent source acting alone, while all the other
individual voltage sources are replaced by short circuit and The equations that describe the five-port network in terms
the current sources are replaced by open circuit. of inverse-hybrid parameters (or g-parameters) are [2]
This theorem is very important in circuit theory and finds
many practical applications in network analysis. However, it I1  g11V1  g12V2  g13V3  g1x I x  g xy I y (1)
is well established that it works for voltage and current but
does not work for power. Usually, the sum of the powers of I 2  g21V1  g 22V2  g 23V3  g 2 x I x  g 2 y I y (2)
each current and voltage source acting individually, with the
other voltage and current sources set equal to zero, is not
equal to the total consumed power [1]. I 3  g31V1  g32V2  g33V3  g3 x I x  g3 y I y (3)
This paper demonstrates that there is a category of linear
networks, consisting of resistors, independent voltage Vx  g x1V1  g x 2V2  g x3V3  g xx I x  g xy I y (4)
sources and independent current sources, in which the total
power dissipated in the resistors is the algebraic sum of the
Vy  g y1V1  g y 2V2  g y 3V3  g yx I x  g yy I y (5)
total power supplied simultaneously by all voltage sources
while the current sources are replaced by open circuit, and

The power dissipated by the network resistors is

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TCSII.2021.3059053, IEEE
Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs

g xy  g yx (26)
P  P1  P2  P3  Px  Py (6)
Substitution of (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24),
where (25) and (26) in (12), (13), (14), (15) and (16) gives

P1  V1 I1 (7) P  g11V12  g 22V2 2  g33V32  2 g12V1V2  2 g13V1V3 

(27)
2 g 23V2V3  g xx I x 2  g yy I y 2  2 g xy I x I y
P2  V2 I 2 (8)

Let us define Pv and Pi as

P3  V3 I 3 (9)

Pv  g11V12  g22V2 2  g33V32  2 g12VV

1 2 
Px  Vx I x (10) (28)
1 3  2 g 23V2V3
2 g13VV
Py  Vy I y (11)
Pi  g xx I x 2  g yy I y 2  2g xy I x I y (29)
Substituting (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) in (7), (8), (9), (10)
and (11) respectively, we find Thus,

P1  g11V12  g12V2V1  g13V3V1  g1x I xV1  g1y I yV1 (12) P  Pv  Pi (30)

P2  g21VV Fig. 2 shows the network for the condition where V1  0 ,

1 2  g22V2  g 23V3V2  g 2 x I xV2  g 2 y I yV2
2
(13)
V2  0 , V3  0 , I x  0 and I y  0 .
P3  g31VV
1 3  g32V2V3  g33V3  g3 x I xV3  g3 y I yV3
2
(14)

V1 I x=0
Px  g x1V1 I x  g x 2V2 I x  g x3V3 I x  g xx I x 2  g xy I y I x (15) I1 Vx

Py  g y1V1I y  g y 2V2 I y  g y3V3 I y  g yx I x I y  g yy I y 2 (16)

V2 I y=0
I2 N Vy
In a reciprocal linear network

g1x   g x1 (17) V3
I3
g2 y   g y 2 (18)

g x2   g2x (19) Fig. 2. The five-port resistive network when I x  I y  0 .

g y1   g1 y (20) Let P be the power dissipated by the resistors when

I x  0 and I y  0 . For this condition Px  Py  0 .
g y 3   g3 y (21) Substituting the values of I  0 and I  0 in (12), (13),
x y

(14) and (6) we find

g x 3   g3 x (22)
P  g11V12  g22V22  g33V32  2 g12VV
1 2  2 g13VV
1 3  2 g 23V2V3 (31)
g12  g 21 (23)
Fig. 3 shows the network for the condition where V1  0 ,
g13  g 31 (24) V  0 V  0 I  0
2 , 3 , x and I y  0 .

g 23  g 32 (25)

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TCSII.2021.3059053, IEEE
Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs

sources when all voltage sources are replaced by a short

Ix circuit. Hence, the total power dissipated in the resistors
V1=0 I1 Vx when all voltage and current sources are simultaneously
present is equal to Pv  Pi .

V2=0 N Iy IV. CONCLUSION

I2 Vy
This paper introduces a network theorem that can be used
to simplify the determination of the total power dissipated in
the resistors of a linear network formed by resistors and
V3 =0 I3 independent voltage and current sources. It is demonstrated
theoretically that the total power is the sum of the power
supplied simultaneously by the voltage sources with all
current sources replaced by open circuit, and the power
Fig. 3. The five-port resistive network when V1  V2  V3  0 .
supplied by the current sources with all voltage sources
replaced by short circuit.
Let P be the power dissipated by the resistors when
V1  0 , V2  0 and V3  0 .
For this condition
P1  P2  P3  0 . Substitution of V1  0 , V2  0 and V3  0 REFERENCES
in (15), (16) and (6) yields [1] Edward Hughes, “Electrical and Electronic Technology”,
Twelfth Edition. Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Educational
P  g xx I x 2  g yy I y 2  2g xy I x I y (32) Limited, 2016, pp. 75-76.
[2] M. Arshad, “Network Analysis & Circuits”. Hingham,
MA02043: Laxmi Publications Pvt. Ltd, 2008.
Thus, we verify that

P  Pv (33)

P  Pi (34)

We can then conclude that the power dissipated in the

resistors is the sum of the power P supplied simultaneously
by the voltage sources when the current sources are replaced
by an open circuit, and the power P supplied
simultaneously by the current sources when the voltage
sources are replaced by a short circuit. Therefore, the total
power delivered by the sources to the resistors is the result of
the superposition of the two powers P and P .

III. A NETWORK THEOREM

In the previous sections, the proof of the theorem
formulated below was presented, which provides
simplification in the power calculation for linear and
bilateral networks, consisting of resistors and independent
voltage and current sources.

For a linear network formed by resistors and independent

voltage and current, let Pv be the sum of the powers
supplied simultaneously to the resistors of the network by the
voltage sources when all current sources are replaced by an
open circuit. Let Pi be the sum of the powers supplied
simultaneously to the resistors of the network by the current

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