DC Circuits
Electrical Energy is the ability of an electrical circuit to produce work by creating an action. This action can take many forms, such as thermal, electromagnetic, mechanical, electrical, etc. Electrical energy can be both created from batteries, generators, dynamos, and photovoltaics, etc. or stored for future use using fuel cells, batteries, capacitors or…
Voltage Divider Circuits are useful in providing different voltage levels from a common supply voltage. This common supply can be a single supply either positive or negative, for example, +5V, +12V, -5V or -12V, etc. with respect to a common point or ground, usually 0V, or it could be across a…
Current Divider Circuits are parallel circuits in which the source or supply current divides into a number of parallel paths. In a parallel connected circuit, all the components have their terminals connected together sharing the same two end nodes. This results in different paths and branches for the current to flow…
Gustav Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law is the second of his fundamental laws we can use for circuit analysis. His voltage law states that for a closed loop series path the algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed loop in a circuit is equal to zero. This is because a circuit loop…
To determine the amount or magnitude of the electrical current flowing around an electrical or electronic circuit, we need to use certain laws or rules that allows us to write down these currents in the form of an equation. The network equations used are those according to Kirchhoff’s laws, and…
As its name implies, a current source is a circuit element that maintains a constant current flow regardless of the voltage developed across its terminals as this voltage is determined by other circuit elements. That is, an ideal constant current source continually provides a specified amount of current regardless of the impedance…
We have seen throughout this Basic Electronics Tutorials website that there are two types of elements within an electrical or electronics circuit: passive elements and active elements. An active element is one that is capable of continuously supplying energy to a circuit, such as a battery, a generator, an operational amplifier, etc. A passive element…
We can now solve simple series, parallel or bridge type resistive networks using Kirchhoff´s Circuit Laws, mesh current analysis or nodal voltage analysis techniques but in a balanced 3-phase circuit we can use different mathematical techniques to simplify the analysis of the circuit and thereby reduce the amount of math’s involved…
Generally, this source resistance or even impedance if inductors or capacitors are involved is of a fixed value in Ohm´s. However, when we connect a load resistance, RL across the output terminals of the power source, the impedance of the load will vary from an open-circuit state to a short-circuit state resulting…
Norton on the other hand reduces his circuit down to a single resistance in parallel with a constant current source. Nortons Theorem states that “Any linear circuit containing several energy sources and resistances can be replaced by a single Constant Current generator in parallel with a Single Resistor“. As far as…
In the previous three tutorials we have looked at solving complex electrical circuits using Kirchhoff’s Circuit Laws, Mesh Analysis and finally Nodal Analysis. But there are many more “Circuit Analysis Theorems” available to choose from which can calculate the currents and voltages at any point in a circuit. In this…
Nodal Voltage Analysis complements the previous mesh analysis in that it is equally powerful and based on the same concepts of matrix analysis. As its name implies, Nodal Voltage Analysis uses the “Nodal” equations of Kirchhoff’s first law to find the voltage potentials around the circuit. So by adding together all these nodal…