ELEC 201: Circuit Analysis I

Additional problems 4 solutions

1. Prove that v0 and i0 have a linear relation to vs in the circuit below. What is the reason for that? What are their
values if the source is 10 V? What will their values become if you change all the resistors to 10 Ω?

By solving the circuit using KVL/KCL, we can show that V0=Vs/2 and we know that the current is simply that voltage
divided by the resistance. We see that the relations are linear. This is because all the elements in the circuit are
linear. For R = 1 Ω and Vs = 10 V, we have Vo = 5 V and io = 5 A. If all the resistors are scaled up to 10 Ω, then
still Vo = 5 V (note that it turned out that Vo = Vs/2 independently of the resistance value—this is just a feature of
the design of this particular circuit and not a general property of all circuits), but io = 0.5A.

2. Use superposition to find v0 in the circuit below.

3. Use superposition to find i. Calculate the power in the 3 Ω resistor. Can you use superposition for power?
Explain.
In general, superposition cannot be used for calculating power, since power does not follow a linear relationship
(it is the product of voltage and current, each of which has a linear relationship, but the product becomes second
order).

4. Use source transformation to find the indicated current.

5. Find the Thevenin equivalent of this circuit between the indicated terminals.

Set all independent sources to zero and find the equivalent resistance
between a and b. To do this, in general you can apply a test voltage (for
example 1 V) between those two points and find the current (by solving the
circuit using KVL/KCL), and divide the two. The result will be RTh = 10 Ω.
This can also be done using the techniques of parallel and series resistances
and wye-delta transformation.

To find the Thevenin voltage, just find out the open-circuit voltage between a and b for the circuit. (Note that the
voltage between a and b is the algebraic sum of the voltages of the 10 Ω and 20 Ω resistors.) This can be done
using KVL/KCL, or some of the simplifying techniques such as source transform. The result will by VTh = 10 V.

6. Find V0 by using Norton’s theorem.

Consider the circuit without the resistor. We want the Norton

equivalent for this. To find the Norton equivalent resistance, set
the independent sources to 0, and you see using series and
parallel combinations that RN = 5 Ω. To get the Norton current
source, we need the short-circuit current. You can just use
KVL/KCL, or source transforms to simplify things. The result will
be IN = 3.84 A. Now put the 10 Ω resistor back in and calculate
the voltage of interest, which will come out to be 12.8 V.

7. Find ix. What is the total power dissipated by the circuit?

8. Determine all the voltages.

9. If Req = 50 Ω, find R.

10. In each circuit, find the equivalent resistance between the two terminals shown.