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Solution:
Source transformations will work to reduce this circuit to the Thevenin Equivalent. Converting all the
voltage sources in series with resistors to current sources in parallel with those resistors gives:
Combining current sources in parallel and resistors in parallel gives the Norton Equivalent:
Week 5, Q2
Part A
Find the Thevenin Equivalent of the following circuit with respect to the terminals a and b.
Solution:
It is possible to do one source transformation in this circuit on the 20V source (converting it from a
20V source in series with a 100 ohm resistor to a 20/100 or 200 mA source in parallel with a 100 ohm
resistor). After the transformation the 100 ohm resistor is in parallel with another 100 ohm resistor
and can be combined into a 50 ohm resistor.
No more source transformations are productive for reducing the circuit to its Thevenin Equivalent.
Thus, we need to choose another method for finding the Thevenin Equivalent. Due to the number of
sources in the circuit, we choose the hybrid method (Method 3 from the Lecture Notes) where first all
the sources are de-activated and the Thevenin resistance found:
The Thevenin resistance with respect to the terminals a and b is:
(100 + 50) || 100 = 60 Ohms
Now, we can either find the open circuit voltage or the short circuit current associated with the
terminals a and b. We choose to find the open circuit voltage (equal to the Thevenin voltage):
There is one junction point voltage to be found in this circuit (that on top of the 50 ohm source). The
equation is:
(60 - Va)/200 + 20 mA = Va/50 + 200mA
Solving for Va gives:
Va = 4.8V
and the open circuit voltage is: (60 - Va) * 0.5 + Va = 32.4V
Thus, the Thevenin Equivalent circuit is:
Part B
What value of load resistance can we attach to this circuit to achieve maximum power delivered to
that load resistance?
Solution:
Maximum power transfer occurs when the load resistance = thevenin resistance
RL = 60 ohms
Part C
What is the maximum power that can be transferred to the load?
Solution:
Power = VLoad2/RL = (0.5*32.4)2/60 = 4.37 Watts
Part D
What are the values of load resistance that result in half the maximum power being delivered to this
circuit?
Solution:
1/2 Power = 2.185W = VLoad2/RL
2.185 = [32.4* (RL /(60+ RL) ]2 / RL
The measured voltage in this situation was 18V (measured across the 150 ohm resistor). By voltage
divider:
18 =20.5* (150/(150 + Rth))
Solving for Rth gives:
Rth = 20.8 Ohms
And the Norton Current is: 20.5/20.8 = 0.99A
Week 5, Q5
Find the Thevenin equivalent of the following circuit with respect to the 400 Ohm resistor
Solution:
Since this circuit contains dependent sources, we cannot use source transformations to find the
Thevenin Equivalent. We will use Method #2 (find the open circuit voltage and the short circuit
current).
The Open Circuit Voltage:
Nodal analysis on the right hand circuit gives:
(5-Va)/100 + 0.1v = Va/200
By observation: v = 5-Va
Substituting:
(5-Va)/100 + 0.1(5-Va) = Va/200
Solving:
Va = 4.78 V and v = 0.22V and ix = 4.78/200 = 0.024A
By observation:
Voc = 82.6 ix = 1.98V
The Short Circuit Current: