ECE590 Electronics &

Microprocessors

Fakulti Kejuruteraan Mekanikal,

UiTM Shah Alam
CHAPTER 1: CIRCUIT THEORY
 Circuit Concepts :
 Voltage,V & Current, I,
 Resistance, R; Inductance, L; & Capacitance, C

 Circuit Laws :
 Ohm’s Law,
 Kirchoff’s Voltage Law (KVL),
 Kirchoff’s Current Law (KCL),
 Circuit Elements in Series & Parallel,
 Thevenin’s Theorem
What is voltage and current?
 Voltage is the measure of specific potential
energy (potential energy per unit charge)
between two locations.
 When a voltage source is connected to a circuit,
the voltage will cause a uniform flow of electrons
through that circuit called a current.
Analogy:
Concept of Voltage & Current
Ohm’s Law
 Ohm’s Law simply states that current in a
resistive circuit is directly proportional to its
applied voltage and inversely proportional to
its resistance.
Example – Ohm’s Law
Cont..

 As with all circuit elements, we need to know how the current

through and voltage across the device are related
 Materials with a linear relationship satisfy Ohm’s law: v = ± mi
 The slope, m, is equal to the resistance of the element
 Ohm’s Law: v = iR
Voltage Symbols
 Power
Series Resistor
R1 R2
I
+ VR1 - + VR2 -
+
Vs VRN RN
-
- VR3 +

R3

 Total Resistance: RT = R1 + R2 + R3 + …….. + RN

The supplied power = Total power dissipated by resistors

PT = PR1 + PR2 + PR3 + …….. + PRN

VS
I
RT
Parallel Resistor
IT
I1 I2 I3

Vs R1 R2 RN

1 1 1 1
   ....... 
RT R1 R2 RN
The total current is equal to the total sum of the branch current,

IT = I1 + I2 + …….. + IN
Exercise:
Kirchoff’s Laws
 The foundation of circuit analysis is
 The defining equations for circuit elements (e.g. Ohm’s law)
 Kirchoff’s current law (KCL)
 Kirchoff’s voltage law (KVL)
 The defining equations tell us how the voltage and current
within a circuit element are related
 Kirchoff’s laws tell us how the voltages and currents in
different branches are related
Kirchoff’s Current Law (KCL)

 Kirchoff’s Current Law (KCL): the algebraic sum

of currents entering a node (or a closed boundary) is
zero
 The sum of currents entering a node is equal to the
sum of the currents leaving a node
Kirchoff’s Current Law for Boundaries
Example – KCL
Kirchoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)

 Kirchoff’s Voltage Law (KVL): the algebraic sum of

voltages around a closed path (or loop) is zero
 Voltage drop at each element must be same with the
voltage supply.

v4 + v1 + v2 + v3 = 0
 Example – KVL Solution:

Consider the circuit shown in the figure From Loop 1 we get:

above, with the following Parameters: V1 − VR3 − VR1 = 0
V1 = 15V
V2 = 7V From Loop 2 we get:
V2 − VR3 − VR2 = 0
R1 = 20Ω
R2 = 5Ω
R3 = 10Ω
Find current through R3 using Kirchhoff's
Voltage Law.
Voltage Divider Rule
 The voltage divider is useful in
determining the voltage drop across a
resistor within a series circuit.
Example
Analyze a simple series circuit, determining
the voltage drops across individual
resistors
Current Divider Rule
 Current Divider Rule is useful in
determining the current flow through one
branch of parallel circuit.
IT
I1 I2 R2
I1  T
+ + R 1  R2
V1 R1 V2
Vs - -
R1
I2  T
R 1  R2
SHORT CIRCUIT

 An element with zero resistance (R = 0) is

called a ‘short circuit’
 Often just drawn as a wire (line)
OPEN CIRCUIT

 Current can only exist when there is a conductive path

(e.g. a length of a wire).
 In the circuit shown in the figure above, I = 0, since there
is no conductor between points a and b. We refer to this
as an ‘open circuit’, with infinite resistance (R = ∞)
Thevenin’s Theorem
 simplify any linear circuit
 single voltage source and series resistance
connected to a load.
 equations must be linear (passive components
(such as resistors, and later, inductors and
capacitors))
 useful in analyzing power systems and other
circuits where one particular resistor in the circuit
(called the “load” resistor) is subject to change,
and re-calculation of the circuit is necessary with
each trial value of load resistance
Objective
Objective
 How??
 1) Find the Thevenin source voltage by removing the load resistor
from the original circuit and calculating voltage across the open
connection points where the load resistor used to be.
 Voltage/Thevenin Source
 1) Find the Thevenin source voltage by removing the load resistor
from the original circuit and calculating voltage across the open
connection points where the load resistor used to be.

Voltage
Thevenin=VTH=?
?
Voltage/Thevenin Source

Ohm’s Law, and

Kirchhoff’s Voltage
Law:
Voltage/Thevenin Source

Ohm’s Law, and

Kirchhoff’s Voltage VTH=??
Law:
Voltage/Thevenin Source

Ohm’s Law, and

Kirchhoff’s Voltage
Law:
Voltage/Thevenin Source

??????
Thevenin Resistance
 (2) Find the Thevenin resistance by removing all power sources in
the original circuit (voltage sources shorted and current sources
open) and calculating total resistance between the open connection
points.

RTH = ??
Remove
source
Thevenin Resistance
Parallel
resistor
Thevenin Equivalent Circuit
 (3) Draw the Thevenin equivalent circuit, with the Thevenin voltage
source in series with the Thevenin resistance. The load resistor re-
attaches between the two open points of the equivalent circuit.
Voltage & Current at load
 (4) Analyze voltage and current for the load resistor following the rules
for series circuits.
Benefit
 Notice that the voltage and current figures for R2 (8 volts,
4 amps) are identical to those found using other methods
of analysis.
 Also notice that the voltage and current figures for the
Thevenin series resistance and the Thevenin source
(total) do not apply to any component in the original,
complex circuit.
 Thevenin’s Theorem is only useful for determining what
happens to a single resistor in a network: the load.
Example

Given the following circuit, determine the

equivalent Thevenin’s Circuit between
points A & B. Calculate the:
 Equivalent Thevenin’s Voltage, VTH
 Equivalent Thevenin’s Resistance, RTH
Example

Step 0: The original circuit

Step 1: Calculating the equivalent output

voltage
Continue..

Step 2: Calculating the equivalent

Step 3: The equivalent circuit
resistance