Bahir Dar University

Bahir Dar Institute of

Technology Faculty of Electrical
and Computer Engineering
Fundamental of Electricity and
Electronics Device 2nd Year IT

20/11/ 2024
17/01/2025 1
 Outline
 Fundamental Electrical Concepts
 Atoms and their structure Electric Charges
 Nature of electricity
 Electric circuit and its elements
 Ohms Law
 Power and Energy
 Electrical circuits and
 introductory DC circuit analysis
 Kirchhoffs Voltage Law(KVL)

17/01/2025 2
 Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Atoms and
their structure

Atoms and their structure

 An atom is the smallest particle of an element that
retains the characteristics of that element.

 It consists of a nucleus of protons and neutrons

surrounded by a group of orbiting electrons.

 As you learned in physics, the electrons are negatively

charged, while the protons are positively charged.

 The nucleus, however, has a net positive charge, since it

consists of positively charged protons and uncharged
neutrons.

 The force of attraction between the electrons and the

protons in the nucleus keeps them in orbit.
17/01/2025 3
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Atoms and
their structure

The basic structure of an atom in Figure 1.a(shown

as below) applies to all elements, but each element
has its own unique combination of electrons,
protons, and neutrons.
For example, the hydrogen atom, the simplest of
all atoms, has one proton and one electron, while
the copper atom has 29 electrons, 29 protons, and
35 neutrons.
The orbits in which the electrons revolve are called
SHELLS, which are designated by letters
K,L,M,N,..... at increasing outward from nucleus.

Figure 1: Simplified representation of the atom.

Electrons travel in spherical orbits called ’Shells’
17/01/2025 4
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Atoms and
their structure

Different atoms will have various numbers of

electrons in each shells about the nucleus
Each shells can contain a Maximum number of
electrons for stability depending on the formula of
2n2 , where n is the shell number (n =1,2,3,4 )
For example, there can be up to 2 electrons in the K
shell, up to 8 in the L shell, up to 18 in the M shell,
and up to 32 in the N shell.
The number in any shell depends on the element.
For instance, the copper atom, which has 29
electrons, has all three of its inner shells completely
filled but its outer shell (shell N) has only 1 electron.
See the following fig.

17/01/2025 5
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Atoms and
their structure

Figure 2: Copper atom:

This outermost shell is called its valence shell,

and the electron in it is called its valence
electron.
No element can have more than eight valence
electrons; when a valence shell has eight electrons, it
is filled. has directly affects its electrical
element
17/01/2025properties. 6
As we shall see, the number of valence electrons that
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Atoms and
their structure

Cont.

The valence shell of atom can contain up to eight

electrons. The conductivity of the atom depends on
the number of electrons that are in the valence shell.
When an atom has only one electron in valence
shell, it is almost a perfect conductor.
When an atom has eight valence electrons the valence
shell is said to be complete and the atom is an
insulator.
Therefore, conductivity decreases with an increase
in the number of valence electrons
The best conductors are Silver , Copper Gold. All
have one valence electron.
17/01/2025
Electricity is the flow of free electrons that provides 7
electric current in the metal conductor 7/
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric
Charges

Electric Charges
 Electrical charge is an electrical property of
matter that exists because of an excess or
deficiency of electrons, is symbolized by Q.
 Atoms are composed of charge carrying particles:
electrons and protons, and neutral particles,
neutrons.
• Charge in an electron: q =−1.602x 10−19C
• Charge in a proton: q = 1.602x 10−19C
One coulomb is the total charge possessed by 6.25 X
1018 e −
1C=6.24X 1018 electrons
The total charge Q, expressed in coulombs, for a
given number of electrons
Q= number is stated in the following
of electrons
formula:
6.24X
17/01/2025 8
1018electrons/C
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric
Charges

When a valence electron is pulled away from the

atom by the application of energy, the atom is left
with a net positive charge (more protons than
electrons) and becomes a positive ion.
If an atom acquires an extra electron in its outer
shell, it has a net negative charge and becomes a
negative ion.
The amount of energy required to free a valence
electron is related to the number of electrons in
the outer shell.
The more complete the outer shell, the more stable
the atom and thus the more energy is required to
release an electron.
The charged atom is referred to as an ion.
17/01/2025If the atom loses an electron, it is called a positive 9
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric
Charges

Example:- the formation of +ve ion and -ve

ions can be illustrated on Na and Cl elements
as the following
Neutrally, Na has 11 electrons and 11 protons, while
Cl has 17 electrons and 17 protons.
So that, Na has 1 valance electrons and Cl has 7
valance electrons.
At this state both are at unstable state
The stability of an atom will be formed by sharing
the valance electrons
Here, Na become stable by donating the 1e- to
Cl and Cl become stable by accepting 1e- from
Na.
17/01/2025
Now, Na become +ve ion and Cl become ve ion. 10
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric
Charges

Examples
1 An initially neutral body has 1.7µC of negative
charge removed. Later, 18.7x 1011 electrons are
added. What is the body’s final charge?

Figure 3: Copper atom:

17/01/2025 11
 Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Nature of
electricity

Nature of electricity
Electricity is the movement of free electrons that
provides electric current in the metal conductor.
Some practical applications of the effects of an
electric current include:
Magnetic effect: bells, relays, motors,
generators, transformers, telephones, car-
ignition and lifting magnets Chemical effect:
primary and secondary cells and electroplating
Heating effect: cookers, water heaters, electric
fires, irons, furnaces, kettles and soldering
irons.Light bulbs also works due to the heating
effect. Once the filament is heated by electricity,
it starts glowing.
Depending on the conductivity, electrical engineering
17/01/2025materials can be divided into three: 1- Conductors,12
 Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric circuit
and its elements

Electric circuit and its elements

Voltage
Voltage (or potential difference) is the energy
required to move a unit charge through an
element, measured in volts (V).
A certain amount of energy must be exerted, in
the form of work, to overcome the force and move
the charges a given distance apart.
By definition, the voltage between two points is
one volt if it requires one joule of energy to move
one coulomb of charge from one point to the
other. In equation form.
W
V = [Volts, V (1
Q
] )
where W is energy in joules, Q is charge in coulombs, and
V is the voltage
resulting
17/01/2025 13
14 /
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric circuit
and its elements

Example
1 If it takes 35 J of energy to move a charge of 5 C
from one point to another, what is the voltage
between the two points?
2 The voltage between two points is 19 V. How much
energy is required to move 67x 1020 electrons from
one point to the other?
Answe
r 1)7V
2)
20468
J
17/01/2025 14
 To calculate the energy of an electron in an electric field, you can use the
formula:

𝐸=𝑞𝑉
where:

E is the energy (in joules),

q is the charge of the electron (approximately1.6× coulombs),
V is the voltage (in volts).
Given:

𝑉= 19
The number of electrons is 67×
First, calculate the total charge of the electrons:

𝑞 total =𝑛⋅𝑞= 67×. 1.6×= 1072C

Next, substitute this total charge into the energy formula:

𝐸 =𝑞 total⋅ 𝑉 =1072 C ⋅19V = 2468J =20468J

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Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric circuit
and its elements
CURRENT
Earlier, you learned that there are large
numbers of free electrons in metals like copper.
These electrons move randomly throughout the
material (Figure-2a), but their net movement in
any given direction is zero.

Assume now that a battery is connected as in

Figure 2b. Since electrons are attracted by the
positive pole of the battery and repelled by the
negative pole, they move around the circuit,
passing through the wire, the lamp, and the
battery.

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Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric circuit
and its elements

The more electrons per second that pass through

the circuit, the greater is the current.
Thus, current is the rate of flow (or rate of
movement) of charge and the symbol for current
is I.
Expressed
I = tQ wheremathematically,
Q is the charge and t is the time
which it over
interval is measured. Through algebraic
manipulations, we
have Q = It [coulombs] and Q t =
I
[seconds,S]
The SI unit of current is ampere(A), and
From this, we get that , One ampere (1 A) is the
amount of current that exists when a number of
electrons having a total charge of one coulomb (1 C)
move through a given
cross-sectional area in one second (1 s).
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Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric circuit
and its elements

Example
1 If 840 coulombs of charge pass through the give
point during a time interval of 2 minutes, what is
the current?
2 If 12.48x 1020 electrons pass a certain point in a
circuit in 2.5 s, what is the current in amperes?
3 If there are 8 A of current through the filament of
a lamp, how many electrons are move through the
filament I=
in 1.5 s?

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Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric circuit
and its elements
RESISTANCE (R)
When there is current through a material, the free
electrons move through the material and
occasionally collide with atoms.
These collisions cause the electrons to lose some
of their energy, thus restricting their
movement.
The more collisions, the more the flow of
electrons is restricted.
The property of a material to restrict or oppose
the flow of electrons is called resistance, R.
Resistance is expressed in ohms, symbolized by
the Greek letter omega ().
The resistance of any material with uniform cross-
sectional area depends on the following factors:
Type of material
Length of
17/01/2025 19
material Cross-
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric circuit
and its elements

For example, silver atomic number 47 has more free

electrons than copper, and so the resistance of a
silver wire will be less than the resistance of a
copper atomic number 29 wire having the identical
dimensions.We may summarize this effect as follows:
The resistance of a conductor is dependent upon
the type of material
If we were to double the length of the wire, we can
expect that the number of collisions over the length
of the wire would double, thereby causing the
resistance to also double.We may summarize this
effect as follows:
The resistance of a metallic conductor is directly
proportional to the length of the conductor.
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Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Electric circuit
and its elements
As the cross-sectional area is increased, the moving
electrons are able to move more freely through the
conductor, just as water moves more freely through
a large-diameter pipe than a small-diameter pipe.We
may summarize this effect as follows: The resistance
of a metallic conductor is inversely proportional to
the cross-sectional area of the conductor
The factors governing the resistance of a conductor
at a fixed temperature of 20C (room temperature)
may be summarized mathematically as follows:
ρ
R=
lA
[Ohms,Ω]
where:
ρ = the resistivity of the material in ohm metres,
(Ω-m)
17/01/2025
l = the length of the material, in m 21
A = the cross-sectional area of the material, in
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Ohms Law

Ohms Law
Relates the three basic electrical quantities( i.e.
Voltage, current and resistance) mathematically.
Ohm’s law states that current is directly proportional
to voltage and inversely proportional to resistance,
which is given in the following formula:
V
I= (3
R
)
For a constant value of R, if the value of V is
increased, the value of I increases; if V is decreased,
I decreases. If V is constant and R is increased, I
decreases. Similarly, if V is constant and R is
decreased, I increases.
By rearranging Equation 3, you can obtain
voltage and resistance. V = IR ,
expressions
17/01/2025R =
for I 22
V
 Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Power and
Energy

Power and Energy

Energy is the ability to do work, and Power is
the rate at which energy is used.
Power (P) is a certain amount of energy (W) used in
a certain length of time (t), expressed as follows:
W
P= [Watt]
t
(4)
The SI unit of power is the watt(W) and that of
Energy is joules(J)
N.B:- you can see that one watt equals one joule
per second.
POWER IN ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
In electrical power, we need expressions for P in
terms of electrical quantities.
We know that, voltage is defined as work per unit
17/01/2025 23
charge and current as the rate of transfer of charge,
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Power and
Energy

From Equation 1, W = QV and Substituting this

into Equation 4 yields P = W/t = (QV)/t =
V(Q/t). Replacing Q/t with I, we get
P = VI
Additional relationships are obtained by direct
substituting of ohms law (V= IR and I=V/R) into
Equation 2.7:

P = I 2R
2
P=V
R
where: P = is Power delivered to the
load.
V = is the voltage across the
load
I = is the current through the
17/01/2025 24
load
 Fundamental Electrical Concepts
Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit
analysis

Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit

analysis
 An electrical Ckt is an interconnection of electrical
components. A simple and basic electrical circuit
consists of:
• Voltage source(E)
• The load; is a device that dissipate/
converts electrical energy.
• The connecting wires
 The voltage source pressures charges to flow through
the circuit.
 All electric circuits obtain their energy either from a
direct current (DC) or from an alternating current
(AC) source.
 In this chapter, we examine the operation of circuits
supplied by dc sources.
 Although AC circuits have fundamental differences when
compared with DC circuits, the laws, theorems, and rules 2525 /
17/01/2025
Fundamental Electrical Concepts
Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit
analysis
Consider the following Circuit

Defining the direction of conventional

flow for single-source dc
circuits

Figure Defining the polarity resulting from a

5 conventional current I through a
resistive element
By convention, the direction of conventional
current flow is opposite to that of electron flow.
Conventional current flow always passes from a
high(+ve) to a low(-ve) potential when passing
through a resistor for any number of voltage
sources in the same circuit.
By following the direction of conventional current
17/01/2025flow, we notice that there is a rise in potential 26
26 /
Fundamental Electrical Concepts
Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit
analysis

Depending on how the components are connected,

electrical circuits can be grouped in to four types:
1 Series Circuit
2 Parallel Circuit
3 Series-Parallel
4 Circuit
Complex Circuit
SERIES CIRCUIT
Two elements are in series if:
They have only one terminal in common (i.e., one
lead of one is connected to only one lead of the
other).
The common point between the two elements is not
connected to another current-carrying element.
The circuit of Fig. (a) has three elements joined at
three terminal points (a, b, and c) to provide a
closed path for the current I.
17/01/2025
Since all the elements are in series, the network 27
is called a series circuit.
Fundamental Electrical Concepts
Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit
analysis

Current will leave the positive terminal of the

voltage source, move through the resistors, and
return to the negative terminal of the source.
If the above circuit is modified such that a current-
carrying resistor R3 is introduced, as shown in Fig.
(b) below, the resistors R1 and R2 are no longer in
series due to a violation of number 2 of the above
definition of series elements.

17/01/2025 28
Fundamental Electrical Concepts
Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit
analysis
TOTAL CURRENT IN SERIES CKT(IT )
A series ckt provides only one path for current
between two points in a circuit, so that the
current is the same through series elements.i.e.
Is = I1 = I2 = I3 = ......
= I
TOTAL RESISTANCE INNSERIES CKT(RT )
The total resistance of a series circuit is the
sum of the resistance levels.
In general, to find the total resistance of N resistors
in series, the following equation is applied:
RT = R1 + R2 + R3 + ...... + (Ohms,Ω
Once RT RisN known, the current drawn)from the
source can be determined using Ohms law, as
follows: E
Is = (amperes,
T
17/01/2025
A) 29
R
Fundamental Electrical Concepts
Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit
analysis
VOLTAGE DROP ACROSS EACH RESISTOR
The fact that the current is the same through each
element of series circuit, the voltage across each
resistor can be calculated using Ohms law:
V1 = IR1, V2 = IR2, V3 = IR3........VN =
IRN the total sum of each voltage drops
From this,
across each resistor is equal to the source voltage(
E ). E = V1 + V2 + V3...... +
VN
The power delivered to each resistor can then be
determined using any one of three equations as
listed below for R1: (V1)2
2
P1 = V1I1 = (I1) R1
R1
=
Generally, delivered power at each resistor can be
calculated: (Vn)2
2
Pn = VnI = I Rn
Rn
17/01/2025 == 30
Fundamental Electrical Concepts
Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit
analysis
The power delivered by the
source is: Pdel = EI
The total power delivered to a resistive circuit is
equal to the total power dissipated by the resistive
= P1 + P2 + P3 + ..... +
Pdel is:
elements. That
PN

17/01/2025 31
Fundamental Electrical Concepts
Electrical circuits and introductory DC circuit
analysis
VOLTAGE SOURCES IN SERIES
Voltage sources can be connected in series, as
shown in following Fig. (a) and Fig. (b) , to
increase or decrease the total voltage applied to a
system.
The total Voltage is equal to the algebraic
sum of the individual Voltages, which are
connected in series.
The net Polarity is the polarity of the larger sum
and when summing Voltages, take care of their
polarities, Example :-

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Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

Kirchhoffs Voltage Law(KVL)

Provides an important relationship among

voltage levels around any closed loop of a
network.
KVL states that the algebraic sum of the potential
rises and drops around a closed loop (or path) is
zero. That is:

N.B: A closed loop is any continuous path that leaves

a point in one direction and returns to that same
point from another direction without leaving the
circuit, Consider the following series ckt:

17/01/2025 33
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

To apply KVL:
Use either CW or CCW direction,( CW direction is
chosen for uniformity)
A plus sign is assigned to a potential rise ( - to +
), and a minus sign to a potential drop ( + to -).
Applying KVL, to the circuit above, we have:
+E − V1 − V2 = 0
E = V1 + V2
Implies, the applied voltage of a series circuit equals
the sum of the voltage drops across the series
elements.
KVL can be stated in another form as:

Which in words states that the sum of the rises

17/01/2025 34
around a closed loop must equal the sum of the
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
VOLTAGE DIVIDER RULE
The voltage dropped across any series resistor is
proportional to the magnitude of the resistor. The
total voltage dropped across all resistors must equal
the applied voltage source(s) by KVL.
The voltage divider rule allows us to determine
the voltage across any series resistance in a single
step, without first calculating the current.
Consider the following circuit:

17/01/2025 35
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
To derive the voltage divider formula, consider the
following circuit;

RT = R1 + R2
I = E , where I = I1 =
RT
ApplyingI2 ohm’s
law E
V1 = I1 R R1E1
=1 RT R = RT
E
V2 = I2 R R2E2
=2 RT R = RT
In general, to find the voltage across Rx in series
circuit is: Rx E
Vx =
RT
17/01/2025Where: Vx : the voltage across Rx, E : source 36
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

Example
1) Use the voltage divider rule to determine the voltage
across each of the resistors in the following circuit.
Show that the summation of voltage drops is equal to
the applied voltage rise in the circuit.

17/01/2025 37
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
Example
2) Using the voltage divider rule, determine the voltages
V1 and V3 for the following series circuit.

17/01/2025 Figure 38
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
2. PARALLEL CIRCUIT
We will now examine the parallel circuit and all the
methods and laws associated with this important
configuration.
Two elements, branches, or networks are in
parallel if they have exactly two points in
common.
This points of connection are often referred to as
nodes. For instance, elements A and B are in
parallel b/c they have terminals a and b in
common.

Figure
17/01/2025
9 39
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

In Figure below, all the elements are in parallel

because they satisfy the above criterion.
Three configurations are provided to demonstrate
how the parallel networks can be drawn.
In the illustrations of the following Figure, notice
that every element has two terminals and that
each of the terminals is connected to one of the
two nodes.

Figure
10

17/01/2025 40
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

Very often, circuits contain a combination of series

and parallel components. Consider the networks
shown in Figure below.
In the circuit of Figure (a), we see that element B
is in parallel with element C since they each have
common nodes. This parallel combination is now
seen to be in series with element A.
In the circuit of Figure (b), element B is in series with
element C since these elements have a single
common node. The branch consisting of the series
combination of elements B and C is then determined
to be in parallel with element A.

17/01/2025 41
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

KIRCHHOFFS CURRENT LAW (KCL)

Kirchhoffs current law states that the summation of
currents entering a node is equal to the summation
of currents leaving the node.
In mathematical form, Kirchhoffs current law is
stated as follows:

Figure
11

17/01/2025 42
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
Example : Verify that Kirchhoffs current law applies at
the node shown in figure below.

3mA+6mA+1mA=2mA+4mA+4mA
17/01/2025 43
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
Let consider is the following simplest of parallel
circuits. All the elements have terminals a and b in
common.

Since the terminals of the battery are connected

directly across the resistors R1 and R2, the voltage
across parallel elementE =isVthe
1 =same
V3 = =
Vn
If we were to apply Kirchhoffs voltage law around
each closed loop in the parallel circuit of the above
Figure, we would find that the voltage across all
17/01/2025parallel resistors is exactly equal, (E=V1=V2) 44
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
TOTAL RESISTANCE,RT
Applying Kirchhoffs current law to the above circuit ,
the
we have Is = I1 +
In general, forI2single-source parallel networks, the
expression:
source current (Is ) is equal to the sum of the
= I1 + currents
individualIs branch I2 + ..... +
Since E isINthe voltage across each of the parallel
resistors, by Ohm’s law, I1 = V1/R1, I2 = V2/R2
and so on.
By
E substitution
E E into
E the equation
E (eq. 2.2.3), for
=
current, + + + ........
RT + R1 R2 RN
Simplifying
R3 the above expression gives us the
general expression for total resistance of a
1
parallel 1circuit
1 as 1
= + + + ........
1
RT + R1 R2 RN
17/01/2025 45
R3
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

Since conductance was defined as the reciprocal of

resistance, we ma write the above equation in terms
of conductance, namely,
GT = G1 + G2 + ....... + (S)
An importantGeffect
n of combining parallel resistors
is that the resultant resistance will always be
smaller than the smallest resistor in the
combination.
R R
For two resistors in parallel,
R = 1 2
T R1 + R2

For three resistors in

parallel,
R1R2R3
RT =
R1R 2+ R1 R3 + 2R
17/01/2025
R3 46
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

The power delivered by the source and that

dissipated by the resistors is:
2
P1 = I1V1 = 1I 2R1 V 1
R1
=
P2 = I2V2 = 2I 2R2 V 22
R
=
2
2
Ps = sI Vs = s s
RT
I R = E
2

17/01/2025 47
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
CURRENT DIVIDER RULE
In parallel networks, the voltage across all parallel
elements is the same. However, the currents through
the various elements are typically different.
The current divider rule (CDR) is used to
determine how current entering a node is split
between the various parallel resistors connected to
the node.
To drive the CDR, let Consider the network of
parallel resistors shown in Figure below.

Figure
17/01/2025 15 48
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
If this network of resistors is supplied by a voltage
source, the total current in the circuit is
E
IT = T ....................
R
Since each of the (*)n parallel resistors has the same
voltage, E, across its terminals, the current through
any resistor in the network is given as,
E
Ix = x .......................
R
(**)
By rewriting Equation (*) as E = IT RT and then
substituting this into Equation (**), we obtain the
general form for the
RT current divider rule as follows:
I = I
x Rx T .......................(***)

where Ix is refers to the current through a parallel

17/01/2025branch of resistance, Rx 49
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

The CDR in words, the current through any parallel

branch is equal to the product of the total resistance
of the parallel branches and the input current
divided by the resistance of the branch through
which the current is to be determined.
If the network consists of only two parallel resistors,
then the current through each resistor may be
found as below.

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Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

Recall that for two resistors in parallel, the

R R
total parallel R = 1 2
T R1 + R2
resistance is given as
R1R2
IT
IT RT R1 +
I1 = =
R1 RR21
R2
which simplify1 I =
R1 + R2
I R1
T

2
Similarly, I =R1 + R2I
T
In words, for two parallel branches, the current
through either branch is equal to the product of the
other parallel resistor and the input current divided
by the sum (not the total parallel resistance) of the
17/01/2025two parallel resistances. 51
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

Several other important characteristics of parallel

networks become evident.
If current enters a parallel network consisting of any
number of equal resistors, then the current entering
the network will split equally between all of the
resistors.
If current enters a parallel network consisting of
several values of resistance, then the smallest value
of resistor in the network will have the largest
amount of current.
Inversely, the largest value of resistance will have the
smallest
amount of current.
This characteristic may be simplified by saying
that most of the current will follow the path of
17/01/2025
least resistance. 52
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs

3) SERIES-PARALLEL NETWORKS
Voltage Law(KVL)

 In general, series-parallel networks are networks that contain both series and
parallel circuit configurations
 By practicing (not memorizing) the techniques outlined in this section, you
will find that most circuits can be reduced to groupings of series and parallel
combinations.
 In analyzing such circuits, it is imperative to remember that the rules for
analyzing series and parallel elements still apply.

 The same current occurs through all series elements.

 The same voltage occurs across all parallel elements.
 In addition, remember that Kirchhoffs voltage lawand
 Kirchhoffs current law apply for all circuits regardless of whether the
circuits are series, parallel, or series-parallel.

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59 /
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

COMPLEX CIRCUITS
Complex circuits are circuits that contains none of
the three types so that it is impossible to say
parallel, series, or
series-parallel.
Such kind of circuits arrangement is analyzed
using the following two Kirchhoff’s laws:
Kirchhoffs Voltage law(KVL)

Kirchhoffs Current
law(KCL)

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Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
OPEN AND SHORT CIRCUITS
Anopen circuit is simply two isolated terminals not
connected by an element of any kind, as shown in
fig. below
Since a path for conduction does not exist, the
current associated with an open circuit must
always be zero.

an open circuit can have a potential difference

(voltage) across its terminals, but the current is
always zero amperes. A short circuit is a very low
17/01/2025
resistance, direct connection between two 55
terminals of a network, as shown in Fig.below
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)
The current through the short circuit can be any
value, as determined by the system it is connected
to, but the voltage across the short circuit will
always be zero volts because the resistance of the
short circuit is assumed to be essentially zero ohms
and V = IR = I (00Ω) = 0V

As shown in Fig.above the current through the 2 Ω

resistor is 5 A.If a short circuit should develop across
the 2 Ω resistor, the total resistance of the parallel
combination of the 2 Ω resistor and the short (of
essentially zero ohms) will be 2 Ω / / 0 Ω=0 2 Ω and
the current by
determined willOhms
rise tolaw:
very
I=high levels,
= as
E R 10V
17/01/2025=⇒ ∞ 56
0Ω
Fundamental Electrical
Concepts Kirchhoffs
Voltage Law(KVL)

Determine the voltage Vab for the

network

Solution: The open circuit requires that I be zero

amperes. The voltage drop across both resistors is
therefore zero volts since V = IR = I (00Ω) = 0V
Applying Kirchhoffs voltage law around the closed
loop,Vab = 20V
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