VGU 61ECE116 - Electric Circuits 21 & 28 March 2024

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VIETNAMESE-GERMAN UNIVERSITY
Electrical and Computer Engineering Study Program

Electric Circuits

Udo Klein

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.1
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Lecture Topic 2

Linear Circuit Elements:

Resistors and Sources

Electric Circuits
Udo Klein

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.2
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Course Contents
• The electric circuit variables: voltage and current
• Linear circuit elements: resistors and sources
• Simple linear circuits
• Linear circuit analysis
• Simple nonlinear elements and circuits
• Alternating voltage and current
• Capacitance and inductance
• Power in ac circuits
• Three-phase electric circuits

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.3
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Objectives
After today’s class you will
• understand the symbols for and the behaviour of the following
ideal basic circuit elements: independent voltage and current
sources, dependent voltage and current sources, and
resistors.
• be able to state Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's current law, and
Kirchhoff's voltage law, and be able to use these laws to
analyze simple circuits.
• know how to calculate the power for each element in a simple
circuit and be able to determine whether or not the power
balances for the whole circuit.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.4
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Ideal Basic Circuit Elements

There are five ideal basic circuit elements:

• voltage sources
• current sources
• resistors
• inductors
• capacitors

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.5
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Memristor
• Memristors are a fourth
class of ideal passive basic
circuit elements.
• They exhibit their unique
properties primarily at the
nanoscale.
• Theoretically, memristors, a
concatenation of “memory
resistors”, maintain a
relationship between the
time integrals of current and
voltage across a two
terminal element.

https://www.memristor.org/

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.6
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Electrical Sources
An electrical source is a device that is capable of converting nonelectric
energy to electric energy and vice versa.
• An ideal voltage source is a circuit element that maintains a
prescribed voltage across its terminals regardless of the current
flowing in those terminals.
• An ideal current source is a circuit element that maintains a
prescribed current through its terminals regardless of the voltage
across those terminals.
• An independent source establishes a voltage or current in a circuit
without relying on voltages or currents elsewhere in the circuit.
• A dependent source establishes a voltage or current whose value
depends on the value of a voltage or current elsewhere in the circuit.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.7
Spring 2024
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Circuit Symbols of Electrical Sources

(a) (c)

independent sources
(b) (d)
dependent sources
a) voltage-controlled voltage source
b) current-controlled voltage source
c) voltage-controlled current source
d) current-controlled current source
Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.8
Spring 2024
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Electrical Sources as
Active Circuit Elements

Ideal sources are active circuit elements.

• An active element is one that models a device
capable of generating (converting) electric energy.
• Passive elements model physical devices that
cannot generate electric energy.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.9
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Example 1

Using the definitions of the

ideal independent voltage and
current sources, state which
interconnections in the figure
on the right are permissible
and which violate the
constraints imposed by the
ideal sources.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.10
Spring 2024
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Example 2

Using the definitions of the

ideal independent and
dependent sources, state
which interconnections in
the figure on the right are
valid and which violate the
constraints imposed by the
ideal sources.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.11
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Electrical Resistance
• Resistance is the property of materials to impede the flow
of current (electric charge).
• The circuit element used to model this behaviour is the
resistor.

• Moving electrons interact with the atomic structure of the

material through which they are moving and some amount
of electric energy is converted to heat.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.12
Spring 2024
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Ohm’s Law

• reciprocal of resistance
is conductance G

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.13
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Ideal Resistors
• ideal resistors are used in circuit analysis to model the
behaviour of physical devices.
• Assumptions:
– the resistance is constant over time
– …
• The ideal resistor model can be used to represent a
physical device whose resistance doesn't vary much from
some constant value over the time period of interest in the
circuit analysis.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.14
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Power in a Resistor

• regardless of voltage polarity and current direction, the

power at the terminals of a resistor is positive
→ a resistor absorbs power

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.15
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Example 3

In each circuit in the

figure on the right
either the value of v or
i is not known.
a) Calculate the
values of v and i.
b) Determine the
power dissipated in
each resistor.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.16
Spring 2024
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Example 4

Construct a circuit model of a torch.

components of interest are:
• batteries
• lamp
• switch
• case
• connector

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.17
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Example 5

The voltage and current are measured at the

terminals of the device illustrated in the figure on the
right, and the values of vt, and it are tabulated below.
Construct a circuit model of the device inside the box.

vt (V) it (A)
-40 -10
-20 -5
0 0
20 5
40 10

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.18
Spring 2024
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Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)

A circuit is said to be solved when
the voltage across and the current
in every element have been
determined.
• Terminal dots are the start and
end points of an individual circuit
element. seven unknowns: is, i1, ic, il, v1, vc,
• A node is a point where two or and vl
more circuit elements meet.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.19
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Kirchhoff’s Current Law (cont.)

Kirchhoff's current law:
The algebraic sum of all the
currents at any node in a circuit
equals zero.
reference direction must be
assigned to every current at the
node:
• a positive sign for currents
leaving a node requires a
negative sign for currents
entering a node
• vice versa
Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.20
Spring 2024
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Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)

• A closed path or loop is a path,
starting at an arbitrarily selected
node, tracing a closed path in a
circuit through selected basic
circuit elements and returning to
the original node without passing
through any intermediate node
more than once.

Kirchhoff's voltage law:

The algebraic sum of all the
voltages around any closed path
in a circuit equals zero.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.21
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Kirchhoff’s Laws
Observations:
• If you know the current in a resistor, you also know the voltage
across the resistor through Ohm's law.
• If only two elements connect to a node and you know the current
in one of the elements, you also know it in the second element.
• When just two elements connect at a single node, the elements
are said to be in series.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.22
Spring 2024
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Example 6
Sum the currents at each node in the circuit shown in the
figure below. Note that there is no connection dot (•) in the
centre of the diagram, where the 4-Ω branch crosses the
branch containing the ideal current source ia.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.23
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Example 7
Sum the voltages around each designated path in the circuit
shown below.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.24
Spring 2024
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Example 8
a) Use Kirchhoff's laws and Ohm's law to find i0 in the circuit
shown below.
b) Test the solution for i0 by verifying that the total power
generated equals the total power dissipated.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.25
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Example 9

The terminal voltage and terminal current were

measured on the device shown in the figure on the
right, and the values of vt, and it are tabulated below.
a) Construct a circuit model of the device inside the
box.

vt (V) it (A)
30 0
15 3
0 6

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.26
Spring 2024
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Example 9 (cont.)

b) Using this circuit model, predict the power this

device will deliver to a 10-Ω resistor.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.27
Spring 2024
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Circuit Containing Dependent Sources

Observations:
• Once we know i0, we can
calculate v0 using Ohm's law.
• Once we know iΔ, we also
know the current supplied by
the dependent source 5iΔ.
• The current in the 500 V
source is iΔ.
→ two unknown currents: iΔ, i0

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.28
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Example 10

a) Use Kirchhoff’s laws and Ohm's law to find the voltage vo

as shown in the figure below.
b) Show that your solution is consistent with the constraint
that the total power developed in the circuit equals the
total power dissipated.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.29
Spring 2024
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Example 10 (cont.)
a)
– There are two closed paths, the one on the left with the
current is and the one on the right with the current io.
– Once io is known, we can compute vo.

b)

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.30
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Example 11

The circuit on the right represents a

common configuration encountered in
the analysis and design of transistor
amplifiers. Assume that the values of all
the circuit elements — R1, R2, RC, RE,
VCC, and V0 — are known.
a) Develop the equations needed to
determine the current in each
element of this circuit.
b) From these equations, devise a
formula for computing iB in terms of
the circuit element values.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.31
Spring 2024
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Example 11 (cont.)

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.32
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Example 11 (cont.)

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.33
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Summary
• The circuit elements introduced in this chapter are voltage
sources, current sources, and resistors:
– An ideal voltage source maintains a prescribed voltage
regardless of the current in the device. An ideal current
source maintains a prescribed current regardless of the
voltage across the device. Voltage and current sources are
either independent, that is, not influenced by any other
current or voltage in the circuit; or dependent, that is,
determined by some other current or voltage in the circuit.
– A resistor constrains its voltage and current to be
proportional to each other. The value of the proportional
constant relating voltage and current in a resistor is called its
resistance and is measured in ohms.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.34
Spring 2024
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Summary (cont.)
• Ohm's law establishes the proportionality of voltage and current
in a resistor. Specifically,

if the current flow in the resistor is in the direction of the voltage

drop across it, or

if the current flow in the resistor is in the direction of the voltage

rise across it.
• By combining the equation for power, , with Ohm's law,
we can determine the power absorbed by a resistor:

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.35
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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Summary (cont.)
• Circuits are described by nodes and closed paths. A node is a point
where two or more circuit elements join. When just two elements
connect to form a node, they are said to be in series. A closed path is
a loop traced through connecting elements, starting and ending at the
same node and encountering intermediate nodes only once each.
• The voltages and currents of interconnected circuit elements obey
Kirchhoff’s laws:
– Kirchhoff's current law states that the algebraic sum of all the
currents at any node in a circuit equals zero.
– Kirchhoff's voltage law states that the algebraic sum of all the
voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.
• A circuit is solved when the voltage across and the current in every
element have been determined. By combining an understanding of
independent and dependent sources, Ohm's law, and Kirchhoff’s laws,
we can solve many simple circuits.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.36
Spring 2024
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Exercises
1. If the interconnection on the
right is valid, find the power
developed by the current
sources. If the interconnection
is not valid, explain why.
2. The interconnection of ideal
sources can lead to an
indeterminate solution. With
this thought in mind, explain
why the solutions for v1 and v2
in the circuit on the right are
not unique.

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.37
Spring 2024
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Exercises
3. Find the total power developed in
the circuit on the right if vo = 5 V.
4. A variety of current source values
were applied to the device shown
below. The power absorbed by the
device for each value of current is
recorded in a table. Use the values
in the table to construct a circuit i (mA) p (mW)
model for the device consisting of a 0.5 8.25
single resistor. 1.0 33.00
1.5 74.25
2.0 132.00
2.5 206.25
3.0 297.00
Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.38
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End of Lecture 2

Udo Klein Adapted from Nilsson/Riedel, Electric Circuits, 10th Ed. ©2015, Prentice Hall 61ECE116 – 2.39
Spring 2024
21/03/2024

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