EE287: Circuit Theory

Lecture: Methods of Analysis

 Lecture Objective
• To develop
– techniques for circuit analysis using fundamental laws
of circuit theory
 Introduction
• Having understood the fundamental laws of circuit
theory
– Ohm’s law
– Kirchhoff’s law
• We now apply these laws to
– develop two powerful techniques for circuit analysis
• Nodal analysis
– based on a systematic application of KCL and
Ohm’s law
• Mesh analysis
– based on a systematic application of KVL and
Ohm’s law
 Introduction
• With the two techniques, we can
– analyze any linear circuit by obtaining a
• set of simultaneous equations that are solved to obtain the
required values of voltage and current
• The procedure required to
– write these simultaneous equations is the subject of
this lecture and the next
 Nodal Analysis
• Nodal analysis provides a
– general procedure for analyzing circuits using
• node voltages as the circuit variable
• Thus in nodal analysis
– we are interested in finding node voltages
• We shall consider two cases
– Case1: circuits that do not contain voltage sources
– Case2: circuits that contain voltage sources
Nodal Analysis Procedure – Case 1
• Given a circuit with n nodes without voltage
sources

• How many nodes?

 Nodal Analysis Procedure
• The nodal analysis of the circuit involves taking
the following steps:
1. select a node as the reference node
2. assign voltages v1, v2,……vn-1 to the remaining n-1
nodes
3. apply KCL to each of the n-1 non-reference nodes
1. use Ohm’s law to express the unknown currents in terms of
node voltages
4. solve the resulting simultaneous equations to obtain
the unknown node voltages
 Steps 1 & 2
• We shall now explain and apply the steps
– the reference node is commonly called the ground

– Assign voltage designations to the non-reference nodes

 Step 3
• We apply KCL to each non-reference node in the
circuit
• At node 1, applying KCL gives
I1  I 2  i1  i2 (1)

• At node 2,

I 2  i2  i3 (2)
 Step3
• In nodal analysis if
– we assign node voltages va and vb
– The branch current i flowing from a to b is then
expressed as

v a  vb
i 
R
 Step 3
• We now apply Ohm’s law to express the
– unknown currents i1, i2, and i3 in terms of node voltages

v1  0 v1  v 2 v2  0
i1  i2  i3  (3)
R1 R2 R3

– Substituting (3) in (1) and (2) yields

v1 v1  v 2
I1  I 2  
R1 R2

v1  v2 v2
I2  
R2 R3
 Step 4
• Solve for the node voltages using the
– substitution method
– elimination method
– Cramer’s rule
 Example
• Calculate the node voltages in the circuit shown
below

• Prepare the circuit

for nodal analysis
 Solution
• Consider the circuit below prepared for nodal
analysis
 Solution
• Analysis
– applying KCL at node 1 yields

i1  i2  i3
– expressing the currents in terms of voltages we’ve
v1  v 2 v1  0
5 
4 2
– multiplying each term by 4, we obtain

20  v1  v2  2v1
or
3 v1  v2  20 (1)
 Solution
• Applying KCL at node 2 yields

i2  i4  i1  i5
• Expressing the currents in terms of voltages we’ve
v1  v2 v2  0
 10  5 
4 6
• Multiplying each term by 12 results in

3v1  3v2 120 60  2v2

• or
 3v1  5v2  60 (2)
 Solution
• Now we have two simultaneous equations
– equations (1) and (2)
• Method 1
– Using the elimination technique, we add equations (1) and (2)

4v2  80  v2  20 V

– Substituting v2  20 V in equation (1) gives

40
3v1  20  20  v1   13.33 V
3
 Solution
• Method 2
– Cramer’s rule
• To use Cramer’s rule, we need to put equations (1) and (2) in matrix
form as

 3  1  v1  20
 3     
 5  v 2  60

3 1 20  1
  15  3  12 1  100  60  160
3 5 60 5

3 20
2   180  60  240
 3 60

1 160 2 240
v1    13.33V v2    20 V
 12  12
 Problem
• For the circuit below use nodal analysis to obtain
v1 and v2
 Solution
• At node 1
 v1 v1 v1  v 2
  12 
10 5 2

120 = - 8v1 + 5v2 (1)

• At node 2
v2 v1  v 2
 6  12 
4 2

72 = – 2v1 + 3v2 (2)

Solving (1) and (2)

v1 = 0 V, v2 = 24 V
 Problem
• Determine the voltages at the nodes in the circuit
below

• How many
node?
 Solution
• The circuit in this example has
– three non-reference nodes
• Assign voltages to the three nodes as shown in the circuit
below
 Solution
• Analysis
– KCL at node 1 yields

v1  v3 v1  v2
3  i1  ix 3 
4 2

• Multiplying by 4 and rearranging terms, we get

3v1  2v 2  v3  12 (1)
 Solution
• Analysis
– KCL at node 2 gives

v1  v2 v 2  v3 v 2  0
i x  i2  i3   
2 8 4

• Multiplying by 8, and rearranging terms, we get

4v1  7v2  v3  0 (2)

 Solution
• Analysis
– KCL at node 3 yields

v1  v3 v2  v3 2(v1  v2 )
i1  i2  2i x   
4 8 2

• Multiplying by 8, rearranging terms, and dividing by

3, we get
2v1  3v2  v3  0 (3)

– We have three simultaneous equations to solve to get

the node voltages
v1 , v 2 and v3
 Solution
• Method 1
– Using the elimination technique, we add (1) and (3)
5v1  5v2  12
– or
12
v1  v 2   2.4 ( 4)
5
– adding (2) and (3) gives
 2v1  4v2  0  v1  2v2 (5)

– substituting (5) into (4) yields

2v2  v2  2.4  v2  2.4, v1  2v2  4.8V

 Solution
• Method 1
– From (3), we get

v3  3v2  2v1  3v2  4v2   v2   2.4V

– thus

v1  4.8V , v2  2.4V , v3   2.4V

 Problem
• Use nodal analysis to obtain the node voltages
in the circuit below
 Solution

v1 = -2 and v2 = -14
 Nodal Analysis with Voltage Sources –Case 2

• We will now consider how voltage sources affect

nodal analysis
• scenario1
– Voltage source connected between reference node
and a non-reference node
• scenario2
– Voltage source connected between two non-reference
nodes
 Nodal Analysis with Voltage Sources
• Consider the circuit below
Nodal Analysis with Voltage Sources
• If a voltage source is connected between
– the reference node and a non-reference node
• simply set the voltage at the non-reference node equal to
the voltage of the voltage source
– e.g. v1 = 10 V

• The analysis is simplified by this

– knowledge of the voltage at this node
 Nodal Analysis with Voltage Sources
• A supernode is formed by enclosing a (dependent or
independent) voltage source connected between two
nonreference nodes and any elements connected in
parallel with it
 Nodal Analysis with Voltage Sources
• We apply both
– KCL and KVL to the supernode
• In the circuit shown earlier
– Nodes 2 and 3 form a supernode
• KCL at the supernode gives

i1  i4  i2  i3
• or
v1  v2 v1  v3 v2 v3
  
2 4 8 6
 Nodal Analysis with Voltage Sources
• To apply KVL to the supernode we redraw the circuit as
shown below

• Going around the loop in the clockwise direction gives

 v 2  5  v3  0  v 2  v3  5
 Problem
• For the circuit shown below find the node voltages
using nodal analysis
 Solution
• The supernode contains the 2-V source, nodes 1 and 2
and the 10-Ω resistor
• Applying KCL to the supernode as shown in the circuit
below gives
2  i1  i2  7 (1)
 Solution
• Expressing i1 and i2 in terms of node voltages

v1  0 v2  0
2  7  8  2v1  v 2  28
2 4

• or

2v1  v 2   20 ( 2)
 Solution
• To get the relationship between v1 and v2
– We apply KVL to the circuit shown below

– Going round the loop, we obtain

 v1  2  v 2  0  v2  v1  2 (3)
 Solution
• From equations (2) and (3), we write

v2  v1  2   20  2v1
• or

3v1   22  v1   7.333 V
• and

v2  v1  2   7.333 2   5.333 V
 Problem
• Using nodal analysis find the node voltages
in the circuit below
 Solution
• KCL to supernode