Department of Electrical Engineering

Academic year: 2024-25, Semester: I

100106: Basic Electrical Engineering

Module 1: DC Circuits

Lecture: Network Theorem (Thevenin’s Theorem)

Instructor: Dr. Bablesh Kumar Jha

1 Objectives:
• State and explain Thevenin’s theorem.

• Apply Thevenin’s theorem to calculate current flowing through any branch of an active electric
network.

• Explain with the help of an example the procedure for applying Thevenin’s theorem to an
electric network.

2 Thevenin’s Theorem
Why do we use?
It is possible to simplify any linear circuit, irrespective of how complex it is, to an equivalent circuit
with a single voltage source and a series resistance.

Figure 1: Thevenin’s illustration

The Thevenin circuit must be ”Equivalent” from terminal point of view, i.e. it must provide same
voltage & current to the load as original circuit.

Example: Imagine the utility socket in your home. Each appliance in your home has a differ-
ent impedance. So, every time you plug in an appliance to the socket the load added to the circuit
is different. Whereas the other circuit’s remaining parameters such as wire resistance remain con-
stant at normal temperature. Hence, the circuit needs to be analyzed each time a different appliance
is plugged in.
To avoid this problem, Léon Charles Thévenin came up with a new approach of circuit analysis,
by which the fixed elements of the circuit can be replaced by their equivalent.

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Statement: A linear active bilateral two-terminal network can be replaced by an equivalent voltage
source VT h in series with an equivalent resistor RT h .

Figure 2: Thevenin’s illustration

2.1 Steps to Analyse: Thevenin’s equivalent

1. Open the load resistor (RL ).

2. Calculate the open circuit voltage (VT h ).

3. Open current sources and short voltage sources.

• In an ideal condition the Voltage source have Zero internal resistance and Current source
have infinite internal resistance.
When the Voltage source is short circuited, NO voltage is applied and the internal resis-
tance is No more with the circuit. When the current source is open circuited NO current
flows and the internal resistance is NO more with the Circuit. This is the ideal condition.

4. Calculate the equivalent resistance (RT h ).

5. Now, redraw the circuit with calculated open circuit Voltage VT h in Step (2) as voltage source
and equivalent resistance (RT h ) in Step (4) as a series resistance and connect the load resistor
which we had removed in Step (1).

6. Now find the total current flowing through the load resistor by using the Ohm’s Law: I =
VT h /(RT h + RL ).

Example: Calculate the current through the load resistance RL = 10 Ω in the given circuit as
shown below in Figure, using Thevenin’s theorem.

Figure 3: Example-1

Solution:
Step-1: Open the load resistor (RL ).

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 Figure 4: Solution of Example-1

Figure 5: Solution of Example-1

Step-2: Calculate the open circuit voltage (VT h ).

To calculate VT h (VAB ): Apply superposition theorem to calculate the total current flowing through
the 8 Ω resistor.
• Considering the 24 V source only:
24
I1 (A → B) = = 1.5 A
4+4+8

Figure 6: Solution of Example-1

• Considering the 12 V source only:

Figure 7: Solution of Example-1

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 12
I2 (B → A) = = 0.75 A
4+4+8
• Considering the 2 A source only:
4 8
I3 (A → B) = 2 × = = 0.5 A
4+4+8 16

Figure 8: Solution of Example-1

So, current flows through the 8 Ω resistor.

I(A → B) = I1 + (−I2 ) + I3 = 1.5 − 0.75 + 0.5 = 1.25 A

Now,
VTh = VAB = 1.25 × 8 = 10 V
Step-3: Open current sources and short voltage sources.

Figure 9: Solution of Example-1

Step-4: Calculate the equivalent resistance (RT h ).

Figure 10: Solution of Example-1

(4 + 4) × 8
RTh = =4Ω
(4 + 4) + 8

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 Figure 11: Solution of Example-1

Step-5: Draw Thevenin equivalent circuit.

Step-6: Find the Total current flowing through the load resistor (10 Ω)

VT h 10
IL = = = 0.714 A
RT h + RL 4 + 10
Example-2 Find the Thevenin’s equivalent network of the network to the left of A-B in the Fig.
12.

Figure 12: Example-2

Solution: Calculation of VTh (Fig. 13)

From Fig. 13,

Figure 13: Solution of example-2

Ix = I1 − I2 (1)
For Mesh-I,
I1 = 1 (2)
Applying KVL to Mesh 2,
−5(I2 − I1 ) − 10Ix − 10I2 = 0
−5(I2 − I1 ) − 10(I1 − I2 ) − 10I2 = 0
5I1 + 5I2 = 0 (3)

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Solving Eqs (2) and (3),
I1 = 1 A; I2 = −1 A; Ix = I1 − I2 = 2 A
Writing the VT h equation,
10I2 − 10 − VT h = 0
10(−1) − 10 − VT h = 0
VTh = −20 V
Calculation of IN (Fig. 14)
From Fig. 14,

Figure 14: Solution of example-2

Ix = I1 − I2 (4)
For Mesh-I,
I1 = 1 (5)
Applying KVL to Mesh 2,
−5(I2 − I1 ) − 10Ix − 10(I2 − I3 ) = 0
−5(I2 − I1 ) − 10(I1 − I2 ) − 10(I2 − I3 ) = 0
−5I1 − 5I2 + 10I3 = 0 (6)
Applying KVL to Mesh 3,
−10(I3 − I2 ) − 10 = 0
10I2 − 10I3 = 10 (7)
Solving Eqs (5), (6) and (7),

I1 = 1 A; I2 = 3 A; I3 = 2 A; IN = I3 = 2 A

Calculation of RT h ,
VT h −20
RT h = = = −10 Ω
IN 2
Thevenin’s Equivalent Network (Fig. 15)

Figure 15: Solution of example-2

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 Problems for Practice
Question-1 Find the current through the 10 Ω resistor in Fig. 16.

Figure 16: Practice problem-4

Answer: 0.37 A(↑)

Question-2 Find the current through the 10 Ω resistor in Fig. 17.

Figure 17: Practice problem-5

Answer: 0.43 A(↑)

Question-3 Find the current in the 9 Ω resistor in Fig. 18.

Figure 18: Practice problem-6

Answer: 2 A(↑)
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