Title

Experiment 2 : Circuit Theorems

Objective
- To verify Thevenins theorem through experimental measurements
- To demonstrate that maximum power transfer to a load is achieved by the condition
R
L
= R
Th
.


Material needed
Resistors: 1 - 91 O, 220 O, 330 O, 470 O, 1 kO, 2.2 kO, 3.3 kO (1/4-W)
1 - 0-1 kO potentiometer, 0-10 kO potentiometer
Instruments: 1 - Digital Multimeter
1 - DC power supply

Abstract
The experiment is carried out to verify Thevenins theorem and to demonstrate the
condition for maximum power transfer that is R
L
= R
Th
. Electric circuits were set up and
experimental values were taken to be compared to the calculated values to verify Thevenins
theorem. A graph was also plotted to analyse the maximum power transfer. The results
verified Thevenins theorem and shows that for maximum power transfer, the condition have
to be R
L
= R
Th
.

Introduction
The Thevenin Theorem states that a linear circuit that contain one or more sources and
other linear elements such as resistor, inductor and capacitor can be summaries into a simple
circuit represented by a single voltage source and a single resistance. The Thevenin Theorem
is applied to any two terminal on a circuit. The single voltage source is called Thevenin
voltage source, V
Th
and the single resistance is called Thevenin resistor, R
Th
. Thevenins
voltage is the voltage across the load terminals with the load resistor removed, the load
resistor is replaced by an open circuit. In short words, the Thevenin Theorem simplified a
complex circuit into a simple circuit. It very useful in solving a complex circuit and finding
the maximum power transfer of a circuit.

Generally, the maximum power transfer can be apply to a low power circuit, such as an
amplifier. Before applying the maximum power transfer theorem, the first condition is to
convert the complex circuit into a Thevenin circuit. The R
L
will be replaced at the terminal of
the open circuit of the Thevenin circuit. Generally, the R
L
must be the same value of R
Th
to
fulfilled the maximum power transfer theorem. The maximum power is given by
P
max
=
E
2
Th
4R
Th
.













Procedure
Part 1 Thevenins Theorem
(a) The values of the available resistors were measured with multimeter. Given a network
as stated in Figure 2. The Thevenin voltage and resistance for the network to the left
of points a-a was calculated using the measured values of resistors. The values of
Thevenin voltage and resistance were filled in into the first column of Table 1.








Figure 2


(b) The values of E
Th
and R
Th
were filled in into the Thevenin equivalent circuit in the
report and I
L
is calculated.

Thevenin equivalent circuit:





I
L
= __________



(c) The current I
L
in the original network of Figure 2 was calculated with mesh or nodal
analysis or other method (using measured resistor values).
(d) The network as stated in Figure 2 was constructed on a breadboard. The 12-V supply
of Figure 2 was turned on and the voltage V
L
was measured. Using the measured
value of R
L
, the current I
L
was caluculated.
(e) R
Th
was determined by constructing the network of Figure 3 and measuring the
resistance between points
a a
'
with R
L
removed. The value of R
Th
was entered in
column 2 of Table 1.






Figure 3




(f) E
Th
was determined by constructing the network of Figure 4 and measuring the open-
circuit voltage between points
a a
'
. This value was entered in column 2 of Table 1.







Figure 4

Part 2 Maximum Power Transfer (Validating the Condition R
L
= R
Th
)

(a) The network of Figure 5 was constructed and the potentiometer was set to 50O. The
voltage across R
L
was measured. R
L
of the following values: 50, 100, 200, 300, 330,
400, 600, 800, and 1000O were used for the rest for the experiment. The resistance value
was set with the ohmmeter section of the miltimeter before each reading. The results
were filled into Table 2 and P
L
versus R
L
was plotted on Graph 1.






Figure 5


(b) The value of R
L
resulted in maximum power transfer to R
L
was determined by
referring to the plot of Graph 1.
(c) The value of voltages V
L
and E was calculated under maximum power transfer
conditions.
(d) The potentiometer was set to the resistance R
L
that resulted in maximum power
transfer on Graph 1 and the resulting voltage across R
L
was measured.

Result
Part 1 Thevenins Theorem

R
1
(measured) = 3.238kO R
3
(measured) =0.980kO
R
2
(measured) =2.162kO R
L
(measured) =0.462kO

Calculation of E
Th
and R
Th
Let be E
Th
,

= 4.80
E
Th
= ,
Short circuit the 12V voltage source,
R
Th
= (3238 || 2162) + 980 ,

= 2.276kO =

= 1.753mA

I
L
= 1.753mA


2.276kO

462O

4.80 V
Refer to Figure 2,
Mesh analysis,





12+( 3238 + 2162 )i
1
2162i
2
= 0 mesh 1
( 2162 + 980 + 462 )i
2
2162i
1
= 0 mesh 2
From mesh 2,
i
1
= (2162+980+462)i
2
2162 (i)
Sub (i) into mesh 2,
12 + (3238 + 2162)|(2162 + 980 + 462)i
2
2162| 2162i
2
= 0
i
2
= 1.754mA
i
2
= I
L
,

therefore I
L
= 1.754mA



3238O 980O
462O
2162O
i
1
i
2
Nodal analysis,







At node V

,

V = 2.53V
I
L
=

= 1.755mA

%difference =
||

100% %difference =
||

100%
= 0.06% = 0.11%
The value of I
L
calculated from Mesh analysis and Nodal analysis is 1.754mA and 1.755mA
respectively, their %difference are 0.06 % and 0.11% respectively. The value of I
L
calculated
form Mesh analysis and Nodal analysis is approximately the same with the value of I
L
from
Part 1 (b).

3238O 980O
462O
2162O
V
Measurement
V
L
(measured) = 0.818V
I
L
(calculated from V
L
) =

=1.770mA
% difference of I
L
=
||

100%
= 0.97%

The value of

I
L
from measurement is 1.770mA. The % difference of I
L
is 0.97% which shows
that the values are approximately the same.

Determining the R
Th
and E
Th

Table 1

Calculated Values
of E
Th
and R
Th

[ For Part 1(a)]
Measured Values
of E
Th
and R
Th

[ For Part 1(e) and 1(f)]

% Difference
E
Th
= 4.8V

E
Th
=4.83V

||

100% = 0.62%
R
Th
=2.320kO

R
Th
= 2.281kO

||

100% = 1.68%



Part 2 Maximum Power Transfer (Validating the Condition R
L
= R
Th
)
Table 2
R
1
(measured) = 325.3O

R
L
V
L

L
L
R
V
=
2
(mW)
0O 0 V 0 mW
50O 1.046V 21.88 mW
100O 1.798V 32.33 mW
200O 2.991V 44.73 mW
300O 3.767V 47.30 mW
400O 4.370V 47.74 mW
600O 5.140V 44.03 mW
800O 5.640V 39.76 mW
1000O 6.000V 36.00 mW




Graph of P
L
versus R
L


0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
P(mW)
R (O)
- Refer to Graph 1, the value of R
L
resulted in maximum power transfer is 330O.
% difference =
||

100%
= 0.00%
Therefore, we can conclude that the theoretical value of R
L
and the measured value of
R
L
is the same since there is no % difference. R
L
= R
TH
.
- E is the power supply, E is remain constant. Whereas V
L
will increase when R
L
increases but the value of V
L
will never greater or equal to E.
- The measured value of V
L
under maximum power transfer condition is 4.04V.
% different =
||

100%
= 1.00%
The % different of V
L
by calculation and measurement is 1.00%.












Discussion
Based on Part 1 of the experiment, it is found that the experiment value of I
L
has only
a percentage different of 0.97% from the calculated value, which shows that the values are
approximately the same. Moreover, the E
Th
value has only a percentage difference of 0.62%,
whereby the R
Th
value has a percentage difference of 1.68%. The calculated values are
slightly different from the experimental values due to some minor experimental error that
might have occurred during the experiment. Thus, verifying Thevenins theorem.
In Part 2 of the experiment, a graph of P
L
against R
L
was plotted to analyse the
relationship between P
L
and R
L
. From the graph, it is found that when the resistor value of
R
L
increase the power, P
L
dissipated from the resistor also increases until it reaches a peak at
330O. After 330O, the P
L
starts decreasing when R
L
is increasing. Since the peak of P
L
is at
330O, therefore we can say that, that is the maximum power transfer. According to the
condition of maximum power transfer where R
L
= R
TH
, thus the value obtain from the result
was compared to the calculated value by calculating its percentage difference which gives no
percentage difference at all. In this set up, E is the power supply, so E is remained constant.
Whereas V
L
will increase when R
L
increases but the value of V
L
will never greater or equal to
E. The measured value of V
L
under maximum power transfer condition is 4.04V and gives a
percentage difference of 1.00% from the calculated value. Hence, we can say that the
maximum power transfer condition when R
L
= R
TH
is demonstrated.
Throughout the experiment, the experimental values are deviated from the calculated
values due to some errors. For example, the connecting wires used are not equal in length and
diameter, thus the internal resistance might slightly differ from one another. Although, the
resistance of the wires are often negligible, but most of the wires are quite long and thick,
which may led to the slight percentage difference between the experimental and calculated
values. Besides, the potentiometer used for this experiment is very sensitive causing it to be
very hard to adjust it to get the exact resistance. Therefore, for some cases, when the values
adjusted is only 1 or 2 unit away from the exact value, we will assume that, that is the value.
Consequently, leading to a slight percentage difference because the resistance value we get is
not precise and accurate. Moreover, as we are running current through the circuit for a period
of time, the currents might have slightly increased the temperature of the circuits, causing
slight increase in its resistance value. Hence, the percentage difference are small and can be
said to be approximately the same.

Conclusion
From the experiment, the percentage difference between the calculated value and the
experimental are very small. Thus, can be concluded as approximately the same. Hence,
Thevenins theorem is verified and the condition of maximum power transfer where R
L
= R
TH

is demonstrated.