THEVENIN’S THEOREM

• Used to help simplify complex circuits

• States that any linear circuit is equivalent to a single
source in series with a single resistance
• No matter how complex the circuit and no matter how
many voltage and current sources it contains, it is
equivalent to a real voltage source
• We have to replace all of the original circuit lying on one
side or the other of a pair of terminals by its Thevenin
equivalent circuit
• The Thevenin equivalent circuit consists of the
Thevenin equivalent voltage, ETH, in series with the
Thevenin equivalent resistance, RTH
• The terminals of this ETH and RTH combination coincide
with the terminals of the portion of the circuit of the
original circuit that was replaced

Thevenin and Norton Eq 1

uivalent Circuits
 THEVENIN EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT
LAYOUTS

R1 R3 RTH
a a

E ETH
R2 R4 R4

b
b

R1 x R3 R T H' x R3

E E T H'
R2 R4 R4

y y

Thevenin and Norton Eq 2

uivalent Circuits
 PROCEDURE

1. Open-circuit the terminals with respect to which the

Thevenin circuit is desired, i.e. remove all of the
circuitry that will not be replaced by a Thevenin
equivalent, leaving the terminals where it was
connected open-circuited
2. The Thevenin equivalent resistance, RTH, is the total
resistance at the open-circuited terminals when all
voltage sources are replaced by short circuits and all
current sources are replaced by open circuits
3. The Thevenin equivalent voltage, ETH, is the voltage
across the open circuited terminals. We can use
superposition to calculate this
4. Replace the original circuitry by its Thevenin equivalent
circuit with the Thevenin terminals occupying the same
position as the original terminals. The external circuitry
that was removed in step 1 may now be reconnected.
Be certain that the polarity of ETH is such that it
produces current in the external circuitry in the same
direction as the original circuit produced it

Thevenin and Norton Eq 3

uivalent Circuits
 NORTON’S THEOREM

• States that any linear circuit is equivalent to a real

current source at a selected set of terminals
• Similar to Thevenin’s theorem, except that the voltage
source is replaced by a current source
• First find the Thevenin equivalent circuit, then convert it to
an equivalent current source
• The Norton equivalent resistance RN = RTH
• The Norton equivalent current IN = ETH/RTH
• IN is the current that flows in the short circuit connected
across the terminals where the Norton equivalent circuit is
desired

RTH

IN
E TH
RL  RN RL

Thevenin and Norton Eq 4

uivalent Circuits