Thévenin’s Theorem

Any circuit made up of resistors and sources, viewed from two

terminals of that circuit, is equivalent to a voltage source in series
with a resistance.
So if we replace a complex circuit with a Thevenin equivalent, this
greatly simplifies calculation.

vTH  open-circuit voltage, and

RTH  equivalent resistance.
The voltage source is equal to the open-circuit voltage for the
two-terminal circuit, and the resistance is equal to the
equivalent resistance of the circuit.

vTH  open-circuit voltage, and

RTH  equivalent resistance.
 A RTH A
+
Any circuit
+
made up of
resistors and
vOC ~ vTH
-
sources
-
B B

vTH is the Thevenin voltage. In order to get this, we

need to find the open-circuit voltage. This the voltage
for the circuit that we are finding the equivalent of, with
nothing connected to the circuit. Connecting nothing
means an open circuit. vTH =voc
To find RTH , we need to calculate Short-Circuit Current
When we look at the circuit on the right, we can see
that the short-circuit current is equal to vTH/RTH vTH
iSC=
RTH

vTH
If we know the short circuit current iSC, RTH =
then we can calculate RTH
iSC

A RTH A

Any circuit
+
made up of
resistors and
iSC ~ vTH
-
iSC

sources

B B
Finding the Thévenin Equivalent
In general in order to find the Thévenin equivalent of a
circuit:

1) Find the open circuit voltage, vOC, this will be vTH

2) Find the short-circuit current, iSC, and
3) Determine the equivalent resistance, or Thevenin
Resistance RTH from

vTH
RTH =
iSC
Example1:
Find the Thevenin equivalent of the circuit below to the
left of the terminals a,b.

1) Find the open-circuit voltage:

2i  12i  10i  8(i  15)  0 Mesh current method

 i (2  12  10  8)  (8)(15)  i  3.75 A
voc  12i  45 V  VTh
2) RTH calculation: Find the short-circuit current:

note that the short circuit effectively removes the 12  resistor from
the circuit:

Using current division

8
isc  15  6 [A]
12  8
2) RTH calculation: Find the short-circuit current contd.:
Find the short-circuit current. Here we use current division,
noting that the short circuit effectively removes the 12 
resistor from the circuit:

isc  6 A, then
voc 45
RTh    7.5
isc 6

The Thevenin equivalent for this original circuit is shown

below:
Example1:
Find the Thevenin equivalent of the circuit below to the
left of the terminals a,b.

1) Find the open-circuit voltage:

v1

We can use node analysis or source transformation.

Let’s use node analysis
 v1

NVM

v1= 32[V]

Since there is no voltage drop on 4 ohm resistor

vTH= vAB= v1= 32 [V]

2) RTH calculation: Find the short-circuit current contd.:
v1

NVM

v2= 16[V] Isc=16/4= 4[A]

2) RTH calculation using short-circuit current

vTH 32
RTH = = = 8 []
iSC 4
Shortcut method for finding RTH when there are no
dependent sources, only independent sources

If there are no dependent sources in the circuit, do the following:

1) Deactivate all independent sources: This means a voltage

source is being replaced by a short circuit and a current source
replaced by an open circuit.

2) Using resistor combinations, we calculate the resistance seen

from the two terminals.
Previous Example:

We can apply this to our previous circuit to find RTH since it does not
include any dependent sources

Rth=(5 || 20) + 4
Short
Open ckt
ckt Rth= 8 []
Norton’s Equivalent
Norton’s Theorem can be stated as follows:

Any circuit made up of resistors and sources, viewed from

two terminals of that circuit, is equivalent to a current source
in parallel with a resistance.

The current source iN is equal to the short-circuit current for

the two-terminal circuit, and the resistance is equal to the
equivalent resistance (Thevenin resistance RTH ) of the circuit.
As can be seen from the figure on the right, the short circuit
current equals to Norton current

iSC = iN
To find RTH , need to calculate Short-Circuit Current
When we look at the circuit on the right, we can see
that the short-circuit current is equal to vTH/RTH vTH
iSC=
RTH

If we know the short circuit current iSC, vTH

RTH =
then we can calculate RTH from: iSC

A RTH A

Any circuit
+
made up of
resistors and
iSC ~ vTH
-
iSC

sources

B B
Finding the Norton Equivalent
In general, in order to find the Norton equivalent

1. Find the short-circuit current, iSC, this will be Norton

current iN
2. Find the open circuit voltage, vOC, this will be vTH
 This is needed to find the RTH
3. Determine the equivalent Determine the equivalent
resistance, or Thevenin Resistance RTH from
vTH
RTH =
iSC
Shortcut method for finding RTH when there are no
dependent sources, only independent sources

We can apply the shortcut method for finding RTH when there are only
independent sources. In this case, no need for vOC

1) Deactivate all independent sources: This means a voltage

source is being replaced by a short circuit and a current source
replaced by an open circuit.

2) Using resistor combinations, we calculate the resistance seen

from the two terminals.
Example: Find the Norton
Equivalent – General method

a) First we need the short circuit current isc in between the two
terminals.

There is no current thru R2 as the voltage across is 0 due to a short

circuit. If we write a KCL on the right hand side of 5 Ohm resistor.

i1+2= isc  20/5+2=6A = isc = iN

b) Find the open circuit voltage, vOC

𝑣𝑂𝐶 − 20 𝑣𝑂𝐶
0 = −2 + +
5 20
𝑣𝑂𝐶 =24 [V]
6 = 0.2𝑣𝑂𝐶 + 0.05𝑣𝑂𝐶

c) Determine Thevenin Resistance RTH

RTH = vi TH = 24
6
= 4 []
SC

Norton Equivalent ckt.

Example contd: Shortcut Method for Thevenin resistance
We could’ve used the easy method for Rth since there are
only independent sources:

a) Zero (kill) all independent sources: Replace voltage source with a

short, current source with an open

Same Norton
Equivalent ckt.
NOTE:
If the Thevenin equivalent is available, we can easily obtain the
Norton Equivalent using the “Source Transformation”

You can also get the Thevenin Equivalent from Norton equivalent
as well. This means if you have one of the equivalents, then you
get the other!
 vTH
Obtaining Norton Equivalent from Thevenin Equivalent iN=
RTH
(using source transformation)

NOTE: Remember to keep the same polarity

Obtaining Thevenin Equivalent from Norton Equivalent vTH=iNRTH

(using source transformation)

NOTE: Remember to keep the same polarity

Obtaining Norton or Thevenin Equivalent of a circuit via
Source Transformations

In circuits that there are only independent sources, we may just

use source transformations to obtain Thevenin or Norton
Equivalents. This works for most cases.

Example: Obtain Norton Equivalent of this circuit below:

5||20
Before we move on to dependent sourced circuits, a small summary:

Summary:
1-Thevenin Equivalent (There are no dependent sources:)

• General Method: Find voc. For RTH calculation get the Isc.
Find Rth from voc /isc

• Shortcut Method: Find Voc. Kill independent sources, use

resistor combinations to get RTH.

2-Norton Equivalent (There are no dependent sources:)

• General Method: Find isc. For RTH calculation get the voc.
Find RTH from voc /isc
• Shortcut Method: Find isc. Kill independent sources, use
resistor combinations to get RTH.
Summary contd:

3-Source Transformation (works mostly with independent

sources only circuit:)

• Using source transformation method, we can obtain

Thevenin or Norton Equivalents.

4- Conversion between Thevenin- Norton Equivalents

• If we know one of the equivalents, we can get the other

equivalent using single source transformation.
Special Case

If the circuit consists only of resistances, these can be combined

into one to find RTH. In that case, the open circuit voltage and short
circuit current will be both be 0.