Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Thevenin equivalent circuit

Thevenin and Norton equivalents are circuit simplification
techniques
The Thevenin equivalent circuit is an independent voltage source
VTh in series with a resistor RTh which replaces an interconnection
of sources and resistors
RTh
A
A really
complicated
circuit

VTh
B

Thevenin equivalent
circuit consists of
VTh and RTh

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Thevenin equivalent circuit (cont.)
Construction of the Thevenin equivalent circuit involves the
following steps
Open the two terminals between which you want to find the Thevenin
equivalent circuit
To find VTh, calculate the open circuit voltage between the two
terminals
To find RTh, deactivate all independent voltage and current sources
(voltage sources shorted and current sources opened) and then
calculate the total resistance between the two terminals

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 1
Q: Construct the Thevenin equivalent circuit for the node pair AB.
6

12V

S: Between the node pair AB, the 4 resistor is the load.

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 1 (cont.)
S: First step: remove the load between terminals AB.
6

12V

S: To find VTh, measure the open circuit voltage,

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 1 (cont.)
S: To find RTh, calculate the total resistance as seen from the
terminals AB, i.e.,
6

B
RT

S: Finally, we put these all back into the big picture.

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 2
Q: Construct the Thevenin equivalent circuit for the node pair AB.
100

100

47
10V

RL
22

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 2 (cont.)
100

100

100

100

+
47

47
10V

Voc
22

22

Set RTh = RT

Set VTh = Voc

B
RT

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Norton equivalent circuit
The Norton equivalent circuit has an independent current source IN
in parallel with a resistor RN which replaces an interconnection of
sources and resistors
A

A
A really
complicated
circuit

IN
B

RN
B

Norton equivalent
circuit consists of IN
and RN

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Norton equivalent circuit (cont.)
Construction of the Norton equivalent circuit involves the following
steps
Short the two terminals between which you want to find the Norton
equivalent circuit
To find IN, calculate the short circuit current between the two terminals
To find RN, deactivate all independent voltage and current sources
(voltage sources shorted and current sources opened) and then calculate
the total resistance between the two terminals

Notes
The Norton resistance is identical to the Thevenin resistance, RN = RTh
The Norton (or Thevenin) resistance can also be calculated from the
ratio of the Thevenin voltage to the Norton current, i.e., RTh = RN =
VTh/IN

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 3
Q: Construct the Norton equivalent circuit for the node pair AB.
47

83.3V

100

47

RL

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 3 (cont.)
Is

47

100

A
Short-circuit the
terminal A-B

83.3V

47

Isc

To find Isc, we first find

Is =
Then Isc =
Thus IN = Isc =

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 3 (cont.)
47

100

The total resistance is

RT =
Thus RN = RT =

47

B
RT

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Source transformation
The Thevenin and Norton equivalent circuit are interchangeable
A Thevenin equivalent can be converted into a Norton equivalent
and vice versa
RTh

VTh

IN

RTh RN and VTh RN I N

RN

When converting between the

two equivalent circuits, be
careful about the polarity of
the voltage and current source

Example
Use source transformations to aid in solving for the currents i1 and i2
in the circuit.

Several approaches are possible.

1) Transform Isource and R2 into a voltage source in series with R2.
2) Transform Vsource and R1 into a current source in parallel with R1.

1) Transform Isource and R2 into a voltage source in series with R2.

Notice that the +ve polarity of the 10V source is at the top because
the 1A-source points upwards.
The single loop KVL R1i1 + R2i1 + 10 20 = 0

10
i1
0.667 A
R1 R2
Then in the original circuit,

i2 = i1 + 1 = 1.667 A

2) Transform Vsource and R1 into a current source in parallel with R1.

Notice that the current through R1 is now labeled as i3 as the current-in

from the transformed source is NOT the same as in the original circuit.
The itotal in the circuit is 5A (= 1A + 4A)

R1
5
5 1.667 A
By current-divider rule, i2
itotal
R1 R2
5 10

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 8
Q: Replace the circuit with a Thevenin equivalent circuit, given
that RL is the load resistor.
10V

20V

RL

6A

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 8 (cont.)
10V

10V

Voc

Voc

Ix
+

6A

20V

20V

Removing the load resistor RL, we find the open circuit voltage Voc.
Applying a source transformation on the pair of 6A current source and
5 resistor, we get a series circuit consisting of only resistors and
voltage sources (be careful with the polarity).

The current flowing in the circuit is Ix = (20+10+30)/(3+2+5) =

Thus VTh = Voc = 2Ix 10 =

30V

Thevenin and Norton Equivalent Circuit

Example 8 (cont.)
2

1.6

The total resistance across the load

terminals is RT = (3+5)||2 =
Thus RTh = RT =

2V

RL

Example
Find the Thevenin equivalent circuit of the circuit
below to the left of terminals a-b.

To find RTh, short the Vsource and open the Isource.

To find VTh, we can apply mesh analysis:

Solving it, we shall get i1 =

Lastly, draw the equivalent circuit
Thevenin equivalent circuit

Alternative
It is even easier to use nodal analysis

Ignore the 1 resistor since that no current flows through it.

Apply KCL at the top node gives:

and result I VTh =

*Also, we can use source transformation to find VTh