Linear Circuit Analysis
Linear Circuit Analysis
Linear Circuits
Superposition
Linear Circuits
• Most circuits we will study are linear
• Linear circuits contain linear elements – those
that have a linear relationship between their
voltage and their current
– Resistors
– Voltage and Current Sources
– Dependent sources that depend on a voltage or
current (but not if they depend on a product of
current and voltage or some current or voltage to
a power different than one)
Superposition
• Linear circuits may be analyzed by looking at
the voltages and currents produced by each
independent source when acting alone and
then adding them together
• When one source acts on a circuit, the other
independent sources must be set to zero
– A voltage source set to zero is equivalent to a
short circuit
– A current source set to zero is equivalent to an
open circuit
Sources when set to Zero
• Voltage Sources • Current Sources
+ Is Ξ Open
Vs=0 Ξ Short Circuit
- Circuit
Superposition
• Superposition allows us to reduce the
complexity of a circuit
• Superposition requires that more circuits be
analyzed (more simpler circuits)
• Superposition allows us to analyze circuits that
contain sources of different types
– DC, AC, different frequency AC sources, triangular
waves, square waves, etc.
Circuit Analysis using Linearity
• In a linear circuit with one independent
source, if you double the value of the source,
then every current and voltage in the circuit
doubles
• Therefore, you can guess at any voltage or
current in the circuit and see what the source
would have to be in order to get that current
and then apply a scale factor
Linear Circuit Analysis
• When a circuit has one independent source,
you can analyze it by choosing a current or
voltage somewhere in the circuit and then
determine what the source had to be in order
to get that value
• Then you can apply a scale factor to all the
assumed currents and voltages in the circuit to
get the actual values of the source and other
voltages and currents
Example
Short
Short
circuit
Circuit
Short
Is Short
circuit
Circuit
Short
Is Short
circuit
Circuit
Short
Is Short
circuit
Circuit
But Is = 4 A, so if we multiply
everything by a scale factor of 4/20.36
we will get the correct voltages and currents.
So I4 = 10 A ∙ (4 / 20.36) = 1.96 A
Linear Circuit Analysis
• When a circuit has one independent source,
you can analyze it by choosing a current or
voltage somewhere in the circuit and then
determine what the source had to be in order
to get that value
• Then you can apply a scale factor to all the
assumed currents and voltages in the circuit to
get the actual values of the source and other
voltages and currents
Superposition Example
Short
Is Short
circuit
Circuit
Open
Circuit
Open Vs
Circuit
Open Vs
Circuit