PHY 2212 – Lecture 6

DC Circuits

Course organization
CHU, Sai Tak
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 3442-4968
Office: G6762
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Lecture 05 – Review
 In Lecture 05, we studied the characteristics of noise and
introduced signal-to-noise ratio SNR as a measure of the
relative noise in the system.
 We categorized noise into two types: Chemical and
Instrumentation noises.
 Chemical noise refers to those from an uncontrollable variable
in chemistry, such as a change in temperature, external
lighting, .. etc.
 Instrumentation noise are related to the electrical and/or
mechanical noise associated with each component of
instrument.
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Lecture 05 - Review
 We discussed ways to enhance the SNR, adapting both
software and hardware methods.
 The most common software methods are ensemble and
boxcar averaging. Both can be used to smooth out the noise
but each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
 We stated that the evaluation of a measurement system can
be specified in terms of static and dynamic performances.
 We were shown that the responses of the 1st order system
can be investigated by the different types of input signals,
where a step input results in a transient response, a ramp
input results in the linear response and a sinusoidal input
results in a frequency response.
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Current and Charge
 An electric current is a flow of electric charge
dQ
I=
dt
 At an atomic level a current is a flow of electrons
 each electron has a charge of 1.6 × 10-19 coulombs
 conventional current flows in the opposite direction
 Rearranging above expression gives
Q = ∫ Idt
 For constant current
Q=I×t

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Voltage Sources
 A voltage source produces an electromotive force (e.m.f.)
which causes a current to flow within a circuit
 unit of e.m.f. is the volt
 a volt is the potential difference between two points when a
joule of energy is used to move one coulomb of charge from
one point to the other
 Real voltage sources, such as batteries have resistance
associated with them and its potential is affected by loading.
 in analyzing circuits we use ideal voltage sources
 we also use controlled or dependent voltage sources

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Voltage Sources and their Symbols

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Current Sources

 We also sometimes use the concept of

an ideal current source
 unrealizable, but useful in circuit
analysis
 can be a fixed current source, or a
I
controlled or dependent current source
 while an ideal voltage source has zero
output resistance, an ideal current
source has infinite output resistance

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Kirchhoff’s Laws
 Node
 a point in a circuit where two or more circuit components are joined
 Loop
 any closed path that passes through no node more than once
 Mesh
 a loop that contains no other loop
 Examples:
 A, B, C, D, E and F are nodes
 the paths ABEFA, BCDEB
and ABCDEFA are loops
 ABEFA and BCDEB are meshes

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Kirchhoff’s Laws – Current Law

 At any instant, the algebraic sum of all the currents

flowing into any node in a circuit is zero
 if currents flowing into the node are positive, currents
flowing out of the node are negative, then ∑ I n = 0
n

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Kirchhoff’s Laws – Voltage Law

 At any instant the algebraic sum of all the voltages

around any loop in a circuit is zero
 if clockwise voltage arrows are positive and
anticlockwise arrows are negative then ∑Vn = 0
n

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Principle of Superposition

 In any linear network of resistors, voltage sources

and current sources, each voltage and current in the
circuit is equal to the algebraic sum of the voltages
or currents that would be present if each source
were to be considered separately.
 When determining the effects of a single source the
remaining sources are replaced by their internal
resistance.

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Principle of Superposition
Example
 Determine the output voltage V of the following circuit.

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Principle of Superposition
Example (continued)
 first consider the effect of the 15V source alone

V = 15 200//50 = 15 40 = 4.29 V
1 100 + 200//50 100 + 40

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Principle of Superposition
Example (continued)
 next consider the effect of the 20V source alone

V = 20 100//50 = 20 33.3 = 2.86 V

2 200 + 100//50 200 + 33.3

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Principle of Superposition
Example (continued)
 so, the output of the complete circuit is the sum of these two
voltages.

V =V1 +V2 = 4.29 + 2.86 =7.15 V

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Nodal Analysis

 Six steps:
 Chose one node as the reference node
 Label remaining nodes V1, V2, etc.
 Label any known voltages
 Apply Kirchhoff’s current law to each unknown node
 Solve simultaneous equations to determine voltages
 If necessary calculate required currents

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Nodal Analysis
Example

 Determine the current I1 in the following circuit

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Nodal Analysis
Example (continued)

 first we pick a reference node and label the various node

voltages, assigning values where these are known

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Nodal Analysis
Example (continued)

 next we sum the currents flowing into the nodes for which the
node voltages are unknown. This gives
50 −V2 V3 −V2 0 −V2 V2 −V3 100 −V3 0 −V3
+ + =0 + + =0
10 20 15 20 30 25

 solving these two equations gives

V2 = 32.34 V
V3 = 40.14 V
 and the required current is given by
V3 40.14 V
I1 = = = 1.6 A
25 Ω 25 Ω

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Mesh Analysis

 Four steps:

 Identify the meshes and assign a clockwise-flowing

current to each. Label these I1, I2, etc.
 Apply Kirchhoff’s voltage law to each mesh
 Solve the simultaneous equations to determine the
currents I1, I2, etc.
 Use these values to obtain voltages if required

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Mesh Analysis
Example

 Determine the voltage across the 10 Ω resistor

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Mesh Analysis
Example (continued)

 first assign loops currents and label voltages

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Mesh Analysis
Example (continued)
 Next apply Kirchhoff’s law to each loop, this gives
E − VA − VC − VF − VH = 0
VC − VB − VD + VE = 0
VF − VE − VG − VJ = 0
 Which gives the following set of simultaneous equations

50 − 70 I1 − 20(I1 − I 2 ) − 30(I1 − I 3 ) − 40 I1 = 0
20(I1 − I 2 ) − 100 I 2 − 80 I 2 + 10(I 3 − I 2 ) = 0
30(I1 − I 3 ) − 10(I 3 − I 2 ) − 60 I 3 − 90 I 3 = 0

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Mesh Analysis
Example (continued)
 These can be rearranged to give
50 − 160I 1 + 20I 2 + 30I 3 = 0
20I 1 − 210I 2 + 10I 3 = 0
30I 1 + 10I 2 − 190I 3 = 0

 Which can be solved to give

I 1 = 327 mA
I 2 = 34 mA
I 3 = 53 mA

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Mesh Analysis
Example (continued)
 The voltage across the 10 Ω resistor is therefore given by

VE = RE(I 3 − I 2 )
= 10(0.053 − 0.034)
= 0.19 V

 since the calculated voltage is positive, the polarity is as

shown by the arrow with the left hand end of the resistor more
positive than the right hand end

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Solving Simultaneous Circuit Equations
 These equations can be expressed as

160 − 20 − 30   I1  50
 20 − 210 10   I  =  0 
  2   
 30 10 − 190  I 2   0 

 Which can be solved by hand (e.g. Cramer’s rule)

 or can use automated tools
 e.g. scientific calculator
 Computer software such as MATLAB, Mathcad
 Computation resources www.wolframalpha.com

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Choice of Techniques

 How do we choose the right technique?

 nodal and mesh analysis will work in a wide range of
situations but are not necessarily the simplest methods
 no simple rules
 often involves looking at the circuit and seeing which
technique seems appropriate

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Equivalent Circuits
 In the study of electric circuits, it is often necessary to
reduce a complex circuit into a simpler from.
 For the linear electrical networks any collection of voltage,
current and resistors with two terminals is electrically
equivalent to
 Thévenin's equivalent circuits
 A single voltage source V and a single series resistor
 Norton’s equivalent circuits
 A single current source I and a single parallel resistor
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Thévenin's Theorem
 As far as its appearance from outside is concerned, any two terminal
network of resistors and energy sources can be replaced by a series
combination of an ideal voltage source V and a resistor R, where V is the
open-circuit voltage of the network and R is the voltage that would be
measured between the output terminals if the energy sources were
removed and replaced by their internal resistance.

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Norton’s Theorem
 As far as its appearance from outside is concerned, any two terminal
network of resistors and energy sources can be replaced by a parallel
combination of an ideal current source I and a resistor R, where I is the
short-circuit current of the network and R is the voltage that would be
measured between the output terminals if the energy sources were
removed and replaced by their internal resistance.

VOC
ISC =
R

VOC
R=
ISC

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Analysis Equivalent Circuits Procedures
Thévenin Norton
 Determine Voc  Determine Isc
 Remove ‘load’ from the two  Short-circuits the two terminal
terminal network. of the network.
 Calculate Voc at across the  Calculate Isc between the
terminals. terminals.
 Find equivalent resistance  Find equivalent resistance
 Short-circuits all voltage  Short-circuits all voltage
sources and open-circuits all sources and open-circuits all
current sources. current sources.
 Calculate equivalent  Calculate equivalent
resistance R. resistance R.
 Connect Voc and R in series  Connect Isc and R in parallel
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Example
 Determine Thévenin and Norton equivalent circuits
of the following circuit.

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Example (continued)
 if nothing is connected across the
output no current will flow in R2 so
there will be no voltage drop across
it. Hence Vo is determined by the
voltage source and the potential divider
formed by R1 and R3.
30
 if the output is shorted to ground, R2 is V
OC
= = 15 V
in parallel with R3 and the current taken 2
from the source is 30V/15 kΩ = 2 mA.
ISC = 1 mA
This will divide equally between R2 and R3
so the output current, and so
VOC 15 V
R= = = 15 kΩ
 the resistance in the equivalent ISC 1 mA
circuit is therefore given by

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Example (continued)
 Hence equivalent circuits are

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Bridge Circuit Example
 The bridge circuit shown below consists of an element R5
placed in between two parallel arms of a resistor network.
Often it is required to determine the current through the
element.

R1 R2

R5
V A B

R3 R4
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Bridge Circuit Example
(continued)
 We first remove the load R5 from the circuit and find the open circuit
voltage across AB
 This reduces to two parallel voltage-
dividers
 We can determine the potential at
R1
points A and B.
R2

R3 R4
V A B VA = V VB = V
R1 + R3 R2 + R4

R3 R4
 R3 R4 
VAB =V  − 
R
 1 + R3 R2 + R4
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Bridge Circuit Example
(continued)
 To find the equivalent resistance, we shorted all voltage sources.

 This reduces to a series-parallel

network
R1 R2

R1 R2

A B
A B
R4
R3 R4 R3

R = R1 // R3 + R2 // R4
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Bridge Circuit Example
(continued)
 Using the Thévenin's equivalent circuit, the original circuit
becomes
R = R1 // R3 + R2 // R4

 R R4 
VAB = V  3 −  R5
 R1 + R3 R2 + R4 
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Wheatstone Bridge
 The circuit described in the previous example is known as the
Wheatstone Bridge.
 It is used to measure an unknown electrical resistance by balancing
the two legs of the circuit, with one leg of which includes the
unknown resistance.
 If the VAB = 0 and with the knowledge
of three of the four resistances, we will
be able to determine the unknown
R1 R2 resistance.
 R3 R4 
VAB = V  −  =0
 R1 + R3 R2 + R4 
V A B
R3 R4 R + R3 R2 + R4
= ⇒ 1 =
R1 + R3 R2 + R4 R3 R4
R3 R4
R1 R2
=
R3 R4
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Wheatstone Bridge – Application
Temperature Controller
 One of the most common application of
the Wheatstone bridge circuit is in
control systems and circuits.
R1
 In the temperature controller R2
application, one of the resisters in the
circuit is replaced by a thermistor Rx, a V A B
sensor that usually has a negative
temperature coefficient. As the
temperature increase, its resistance R3 RX
decreases.
 To facilitate the function of setting the
temperature by the users, the
resistance of the corresponding resistor
R3 is made to be adjustable.
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Wheatstone Bridge – Application
Temperature Controller (continued)
 When the controller is in operation, the
voltage between terminals A and B is
monitored and is connected to a trigger
circuit. R1 R2

 At the set temperature, the resistance of

the thermistor along with the three other V B
A
resistances are balanced, so that VAB=0
𝑅𝑅1 𝑅𝑅3
and = . R3
𝑅𝑅2 𝑅𝑅𝑥𝑥 RX

 If the temperature is below the set

𝑅𝑅1 𝑅𝑅3
temperature, > , VAB< 0 the
𝑅𝑅2 𝑅𝑅𝑥𝑥
trigger circuit will activate the heating
system.
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Tutorial 1
 Determine the value of the current I.

I
5A

1A

4A
2A
3A
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Tutorial 2
 The circuit is a simplified approximation of an amplifier circuit, V2 is
a dependent source whose value is a function of V1.

I in
3Ω I out 1) Compute Iout
2) Compute Vout
V2 = 79.8 V1
3) Compute Pout, the power
Vin = 40 mV V1 47 Ω 16 Ω Vout 8Ω absorbed by the 8 Ω resistor
4) Compute Iin
5) Compute the input power to the
amplifier, Pin
Pin 6) Compute the power gain
Pout/Pin
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Tutorial 3
 Find the Thévenin's equivalent of the network below

2Ω R

6Ω 3Ω
30 V

A B 24 Ω 1A ≡ VOC

15 Ω 10 Ω