Basic Laws

Electrical Engineering Course

EE-103(2-0)
Mechanical Engineering

Basic Laws

Ohm's Law
Kirchhoff's Laws
Series Resistors and Voltage Division
Parallel Resistors and Current Division
Source Exchange

Georg Simon Ohm (1789 1854)

German professor who publishes a book
in 1827 that includes what is now known
as Ohm's law.
Ohm's Law: The voltage across a resistor
is directly proportional to the currect
flowing through it.

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/PictDisplay/Ohm.html
3

Ohm's Law

v iR

v
R
i

v
i
R
v i1 R

(i i1 )

Units of resistance, R, is Ohms ()

R = 0: short circuit

R : open circuit
4

Circuit Elements
5 ideal basic circuit elements:

voltage source
current source
resistor
inductor
capacitor

active elements, capable of

generating electric energy
passive elements, incapable of
generating electric energy

Many practical systems can be modeled with just

sources and resistors
The basic analytical techniques for solving
circuits with inductors and capacitors are the
same as those for resistive circuits
EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

Electrical Sources
An electrical source is a device that is capable of
converting non-electric energy to electric energy and
vice versa.
Examples:
battery: chemical
electric
dynamo (generator/motor): mechanical

electric

Electrical sources can either deliver or absorb power

EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

Ideal Independent and Dependent Voltage

Sources

Circuit element that maintains a prescribed voltage

across its terminals, regardless of the current
flowing in those terminals.
Voltage is known, but current is determined by the circuit
to which the source is connected.

The voltage can be either independent or dependent

on a voltage or current elsewhere in the circuit, and
can be constant or time-varying.
Circuit symbols:
vs +_
independent
EECS 42, Spring 2005

vs= vx +_
voltage-controlled
Week
2a

vs= ix +_
current-controlled
7

EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

Other Independent Voltage Source Symbols

Sinusoidal AC source
v(t) = Vpeaksin(t)
Veffective = Vpeak\/2
(In US, 120 V, so
Vpeak = 170 V)
Battery (realistic source)
+
VS

EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

Ideal Independent and Dependent Current

Sources
Circuit element that maintains a prescribed current
through its terminals, regardless of the voltage
across those terminals.
Current is known, but voltage is determined by the circuit
to which the source is connected.

The current can be either independent or dependent

on a voltage or current elsewhere in the circuit, and
can be constant or time-varying.
Circuit symbols:
is
independent
EECS 42, Spring 2005

is= vx
voltage-controlled
Week
2a

is= ix
current-controlled
10

Electrical Resistance
Resistance: Electric field is proportional to current
density, within a resistive material. Thus, voltage is
proportional to current. The circuit element used to
model this behavior is the resistor.
R
Circuit symbol:
Units: Volts per Ampere ohms ()

The current flowing in the resistor is proportional to the

voltage across the resistor:
v=iR

(Ohms Law)

where v = voltage (V), i = current (A), and R = resistance ()

EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

11

Resistance of an actual resistor

Material resistivity
= (-cm)

L
W
Resistance = resistivity x length/(cross-sectional area)

R = (L/WT)

EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

12

Electrical Conductance
Conductance is the reciprocal of resistance.
Symbol: G

Units: siemens (S) or mhos ( )

Example:
Consider an 8 resistor. What is its conductance?

EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

13

Short Circuit and Open Circuit

Wire (short circuit):
R = 0 no voltage difference exists
(all points on the wire are at the same potential)
Current can flow, as determined by the circuit

Air (open circuit):

R = no current flows
Voltage difference can exist,
as determined by the circuit

EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

14

Circuit Nodes and Loops

A node is a point where two or more circuit elements
are connected.
A loop is formed by tracing a closed path in a circuit
through selected basic circuit elements without
passing through any intermediate node more than
once
Example:

EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

15

Sign Convention for Power

Passive sign convention

p = vi

p = -vi

i
+
v
_

i
_

i
_

+
v
_

v
+

v
+

If p > 0, power is being delivered to the box.

If p < 0, power is being extracted from the box.
EECS 42, Spring 2005

Week 2a

16

Conductance, G

1
G
R

i
v
G

Unit of G is siemens (S),

1 S = 1 A/V

i Gv

i
G
v
17

Power
A resistor always dissipates energy; it transforms
electrical energy, and dissipates it in the form of heat.
Rate of energy dissipation is the instantaneous power
2
v
(t )
2
p(t ) v(t )i (t ) Ri (t )
0
R

2
i
(t )
2
p (t ) v(t )i (t ) Gv (t )
0
G
18

Basic Laws

Ohm's Law
Kirchhoff's Laws
Series Resistors and Voltage Division
Parallel Resistors and Current Division
Source Exchange

19

Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824 1887)

Born in Prussia (now Russia), Kirchhoff
developed his "laws" while a student in
1845.
These laws allowed him to
calculate the voltages and currents in
multiple loop circuits.

http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/PictDisplay/Kirchhoff.html
20

CIRCUIT TOPOLOGY
Topology: How a circuit is laid out.
A branch represents a single circuit (network)
element; that is, any two terminal element.
A node is the point of connection between two or
more branches.
A loop is any closed path in a circuit (network).
A loop is said to be independent if it contains a
branch which is not in any other loop.

21

Fundamental Theorem of Network Topology

For a network with b branches, n nodes
and l independent loops:

b l n 1
Example

b 9
n 5
l 5
22

Elements in Series
Two or more elements are connected in series if they
carry the same current and are connected sequentially.

23

Elements in Parallel
Two or more elements are connected in parallel if they
are connected to the same two nodes & consequently
have the same voltage across them.
I
I1

R1

I2

R2

24

Kirchoffs Current Law (KCL)

The algebraic sum of the currents entering a
node (or a closed boundary) is zero.
N

i
n 1

where N = the number of branches connected to

the node and in = the nth current entering
(leaving) the node.
25

Sign convention: Currents entering the node are positive,

currents leaving the node are negative.

i
n 1

i2
i1
i5

i3
i4

i1 i2 i3 i4 i5 0
26

Kirchoffs Current Law (KCL)

The algebraic sum of the currents entering
(or leaving) a node is zero.
Entering:

i1 i2 i3 i4 i5 0

Leaving: i1

i2

i1

i5

i2 i3 i4 i5 0

i3
i4

The sum of the currents entering a node is

equal to the sum of the currents leaving a node.

i1 i2 i4 i3 i5

27

Kirchoffs Voltage Law (KVL)

The algebraic sum of the voltages around
any loop is zero.
M

v
m 1

where M = the number of voltages in the loop

and vm = the mth voltage in the loop.
28

Sign convention: The sign of each voltage is the polarity of the

terminal first encountered in traveling around the loop.
The direction of travel is arbitrary.
Clockwise:

V0 V1 V2 0
Counter-clockwise:

V2 V1 V0 0
V0 V1 V2
29

Basic Laws

Ohm's Law
Kirchhoff's Laws
Series Resistors and Voltage Division
Parallel Resistors and Current Division
Source Exchange

30

Series Resistors
V0 V1 V2 IR1 IR2

I R1 R2

IRs

Rs R1 R2

31

Voltage Divider
V0
V0
I

Rs R1 R2

I
R1

V1

R2

V2

A
V0

R1
Also V1
V0
R1 R2

V0
V2 IR2
R2
R1 R2

R2
V2
V0
R1 R2

32

Basic Laws

Ohm's Law
Kirchhoff's Laws
Series Resistors and Voltage Division
Parallel Resistors and Current Division
Source Exchange

33

Parallel Resistors
I
I1

R1

I2

V V
I I1 I 2
R1 R2
R2

1
1
1

R p R1 R2

R1 R2
Rp
R1 R2

1 1
V

R1 R2

Rp

34

Current Division
R2
v(t )
i1 (t )

i (t )
R1
R1 R2
R1
v(t )
i2 (t )

i (t )
R2
R1 R2
R1 R2
v(t ) R p i (t )
i (t )
R1 R2
Current divides in inverse proportion to the resistances
35

Current Division
N resistors in parallel

1
1
1
1


R p R1 R2
Rn
Current in j branch is
th

v(t ) R p i (t )

v(t ) R p
i j (t )

i (t )
Rj
Rj

36

Basic Laws

Ohm's Law
Kirchhoff's Laws
Series Resistors and Voltage Division
Parallel Resistors and Current Division
Source Exchange

37

Source Exchange

We can always replace a voltage source in series with a

resistor by a current source in parallel with the same resistor
and vice-versa.
Doing this, however, makes it impossible to directly find the
38
original source current.

Source Exchange Proof

RL
vL
vs
Rs RL
vs
ia
Rs RL

Rs
vs
ia '
ia
Rs RL Rs
RL
vL ia ' RL
vs
Rs RL

Voltage across and current through any load are

39 the same