Announcements

New topics:
Mesh (loop) method of circuit analysis
Superposition method of circuit analysis
Equivalent circuit idea (Thevenin, Norton)
Maximum power transfer from a circuit to a load

To stop blowing fuses in the lab, note how the

breadboards are wired …

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 1

 Top view of board

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 2

 Bottom view of board – note which way
the wires go

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 3

 Primary Formal Circuit Analysis Methods
MESH ANALYSIS
NODAL ANALYSIS
(“Mesh-Current Method”)
(“Node-Voltage Method”)
1) Select M independent mesh
0) Choose a reference node currents such that at least one
1) Define unknown node voltages mesh current passes through each
branch*
2) Apply KCL to each unknown
M = #branches - #nodes + 1
node, expressing current in
terms of the node voltages 2) Apply KVL to each mesh,
=> N equations for expressing voltages in terms of
N unknown node voltages mesh currents
=> M equations for
3) Solve for node voltages
M unknown mesh currents
=> determine branch currents
3) Solve for mesh currents
=> determine node voltages
*Simple method for planar circuits
A EECS
mesh current
42, Spring 2005 is not necessarily identified with a branch current.
Week 3a 4
 Mesh Analysis: Example #1

1. Select M mesh currents.

2. Apply KVL to each mesh.

3. Solve for mesh currents.

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 5

 Mesh Analysis with a Current Source

ia ib

Problem: We cannot write KVL for meshes a and b

because there is no way to express the voltage drop
across the current source in terms of the mesh currents.
Solution: Define a “supermesh” – a mesh which avoids the
branch containing the current source. Apply KVL for this
supermesh.
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 6
 Mesh Analysis: Example #2

ia ib

Eq’n 1: KVL for supermesh

Eq’n 2: Constraint due to current source:

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 7

 Mesh Analysis with Dependent Sources
• Exactly analogous to Node Analysis
• Dependent Voltage Source: (1) Formulate and
write KVL mesh eqns. (2) Include and express
dependency constraint in terms of mesh
currents
• Dependent Current Source: (1) Use
supermesh. (2) Include and express
dependency constraint in terms of mesh
currents

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 8

 Superposition Method (Linear Circuits
Only)
A linear circuit is constructed only of linear elements (linear
resistors, linear dependent sources) and independent sources.
Principle of Superposition:
• In any linear circuit containing multiple independent sources,
the current or voltage at any point in the network may be
calculated as the algebraic sum of the individual contributions
of each source acting alone.
Procedure:
1. Determine contribution due to an independent source
• Set all other sources to zero (voltage source  short circuit;
current source  open circuit)
2. Repeat for each independent source
3. Sum individual contributions to obtain desired voltage or
current
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 9
 Superposition Example
• Find Vo 2 4V
+–
+
+
24 V – 4A 4  Vo

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 10

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 11
 Equivalent Circuit Concept
• A network of voltage sources, current sources,
and resistors can be replaced by an
equivalent circuit which has identical terminal
properties (I-V characteristics) without
affecting the operation of the rest of the circuit.
iA iB
network A network B
+ +
of of
sources vA ? sources vB
and _ and _
resistors resistors

iA(vA) = iB(vB)
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 12
EECS40, Spring 2004 Lecture 6, Slide 1 Prof. Sanders
 Source Combinations
• Voltage sources in series can be replaced by an
equivalent voltage source:
+
v1 – +
v1+v2
+ ≡ –
v2 –

• Current sources in parallel can be replaced by an

equivalent current source:

i1 i2 ≡ i1+i2

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 13

 Thévenin Equivalent Circuit
• Any* linear 2-terminal (1-port) network of indep. voltage
sources, indep. current sources, and linear resistors can be
replaced by an equivalent circuit consisting of an independent
voltage source in series with a resistor without affecting the
operation of the rest of the circuit.

Thévenin equivalent circuit

a RTh a
network + iL + iL
of +
sources
and
vL RL ≡ VTh – vL RL

resistors – –
b b
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a“load” resistor 14
I-V Characteristic of Thévenin Equivalent
• The I-V characteristic for the series combination of
elements is obtained by adding their voltage drops:
For a given current i, the voltage drop
vab is equal to the sum of the voltages i
dropped across the source (VTh)
and the across the resistor (iRTh)
RTh a
v = VTh+ iR
i + v
+
VTh – vab
–
b
I-V characteristic of resistor: v = iR
I-V characteristic of voltage source: v = VTh
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 15
 Finding VTh and RTh
Only two points are needed to define a line.
Choose two convenient points:
RTh
1. Open circuit across terminals a,b
i +
i = 0, vab ≡ voc +
VTh – voc = VTh
–

2. Short circuit across terminals a,b i voc

vab = 0, i ≡ -isc = -VTh/RTh
RTh
vab
i isc -isc
+
VTh –
v = VTh+ iR
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 16
 Calculating a Thévenin Equivalent
1. Calculate the open-circuit voltage, voc
a
network +
of
sources voc
and
resistors –
b

2. Calculate the short-circuit current, isc

• Note that isc is in the direction ofa the open-circuit voltage
drop across the terminals a,b !
network
V Th  voc
of isc
sources voc
and RTh 
resistors isc
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a b 17
 Thévenin Equivalent Example
Find the Thevenin equivalent with respect to the terminals a,b:

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 18

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 19
 Alternative Method of Calculating RTh
For a network containing only independent sources
and linear resistors: network of
independent
1. Set all independent sources to zero sources and Req
resistors, with
voltage source  short circuit
each source
current source  open circuit set to zero
2. Find equivalent resistance Req between the terminals by
inspection R R Th eq

Or, set all independent sources to zero ITEST

1. Apply a test voltage source VTEST network of
independent
2. Calculate ITEST sources and
+
resistors, with VTEST –
VTEST each source
RTh  set to zero
EECS 42, Spring 2005
I 3a
WeekTEST 20
 RTh Calculation Example #1

Set all independent sources to zero:

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 21

 Comments on Dependent Sources
A dependent source establishes a voltage or current
whose value depends on the value of a voltage or
current at a specified location in the circuit.
(device model, used to model behavior of transistors & amplifiers)

To specify a dependent source, we must identify:

1. the controlling voltage or current (must be calculated, in general)
2. the relationship between the controlling voltage or current and the
supplied voltage or current
3. the reference direction for the supplied voltage or current

The relationship between the dependent source

and its reference cannot be broken!
– Dependent sources cannot be turned off for various purposes
(e.g. to find the Thévenin resistance, or in analysis using
Superposition).
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 22
 RTh Calculation Example #2
Find the Thevenin equivalent with respect to the terminals a,b:

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 23

Networks Containing Time-Varying Sources
Care must be taken in summing time-varying sources!
Example:
1 k 10 sin (100t)
– +

+
20 cos (100t) 1 k
–

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 24

 Norton Equivalent Circuit
• Any* linear 2-terminal (1-port) network of indep. voltage
sources, indep. current sources, and linear resistors can be
replaced by an equivalent circuit consisting of an independent
current source in parallel with a resistor without affecting the
operation of the rest of the circuit.

Norton equivalent circuit

a a
network + iL + iL
of
sources
and
vL RL ≡ iN RN vL RL

resistors – –
b b

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 25

 I-V Characteristic of Norton Equivalent
• The I-V characteristic for the parallel combination of
elements is obtained by adding their currents:
For a given voltage vab, the current i is
equal to the sum of the currents in
i
each of the two branches:

a i
+ i = -IN+ Gv
v
iN RN vab
–
b

I-V characteristic of resistor: i=Gv

I-V characteristic of current source: i = -IN
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 26
 Finding IN and RN = RTh

Analogous to calculation of Thevenin Eq. Ckt:

1) Find open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current
IN ≡ isc = VTh/RTh

2) Or, find short-circuit current and Norton

(Thevenin) resistance

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 27

 Finding IN and RN
• We can derive the Norton equivalent circuit from a
Thévenin equivalent circuit simply by making a
source transformation:
RTh a a
+ iL + iL
+
vTh – vL RL iN RN vL RL
– –
b b

voc vTh
RN  RTh  ; iN   isc
isc RTh

EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 28

 Maximum Power Transfer Theorem
Thévenin equivalent circuit
RTh Power absorbed by load resistor:
2
+ iL  VTh 
p  i RL  
2
L
 RL
 RTh  RL 
+
VTh – vL RL
–

dp
To find the value of RL for which p is maximum, set to 0:
dRL
dp 
 VTh 
 R  R  2
 RL  2 RTh  RL  
0
2 Th L
dRL   RTh  RL  4

  RTh  RL   RL  2 RTh  RL   0
2

 RTh  RL A resistive load receives maximum power from a circuit if the

load resistance equals the Thévenin resistance of the circuit.
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 29
EECS 42, Spring 2005 Week 3a 30