BASIC CIRCUIT ANALYSIS , ELEC273/2 Section U, September 2012

Instructor:N.Suresh
NOTE SET #1 :
Summary of BASICS

Electrical phenomena are concerned with electric charge and the effects of charge
movement in materials. Charges are of two types , positive and negative, the designations
having been assigned by convention since the early days of investigation of electricity.
Charge is measured in Coulombs (C). The smallest charge entity is the electron, whose
negative charge has been found to be −1.6(10)-19 C. In engineering circuit analysis, the
unit positive charge (ie + 1C ) is taken as the reference by convention. Materials vary in
their ability to permit charge movements. They are broadly classified into three types
depending upon their electrical conductivity, which is essentially their ability to allow the
flow of charges: conductors, semiconductors and insulators( or ‘dielectrics’) in a
decreasing order of conductivity.
Most metals such as Gold, Silver, Copper, Aluminum, Mercury are good conductors,
whereas Glass, Paper, Sulphur and various Plastics are dielectric materials(‘insulators’).
Other materials (eg: Carbon, Silicon, Germanium) with intermediate conductivity fall
into the category of semiconductors .

An electric current represents a flow of ‘charge carriers’. The actual ‘charge carrier’
involved in the current can take various forms, such as electrons in conductors, ions
(with both positive & negative charges) in electrolytic liquid conductors, and both
electrons (negative) as well as ‘holes’ (an equivalent positive charge having the same
charge magnitude as the electron) in semiconductors. Since positive charge is used as the
reference, current i(t) is defined as the time-rate of variation of positive charge:

i(t) = dq(t)/dt

Thus, in a conductor (in which electrons are the charge carriers), the conventional current
flow direction is opposite to the electron flow direction [In many High School & pre-
University level physics textbooks, the direction of current is generally taken to be the ‘electron flow
direction’ and engineering students should take note of this change in reference ! ].

The unit of current is the Ampere (A) and 1A = 1 Coulomb/sec.

Current (charge movement) is only possible under a action of a source (or sources),
which is formed by creating a rise in electrical potential [ also called an electromotive
force (emf)]. The common variable called the voltage V expresses this potential
difference (PD).

Electrical Power : Power p(t) is rate of change of Energy (or Work W ) ,

p(t) = dW(t)/dt
The unit of power is the Watt , 1 Watt = 1 Joule/sec = 1 N-m/sec

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 dW ( t ) dW ( t ) dq( t )
Since p(t) = = . = v( t )i( t ) , the electrical power can be found by
dt dq( t ) dt
calculating the voltage-current product., ie P(Watts)= V(volts)I(Amps)

Integral forms of the current and power equations above enable the calculation of
charge flow q(t) and energy W(t), ie
q ( t ) = ∫ i( t )dt and W ( t ) = ∫ p( t )dt = ∫ v( t )i( t )dt
Other units encountered with sources: The basic unit of electrical energy can be
expressed as the Watt-sec.,
1 W-sec = 1 Joule = 1 N-m
The basic commercial unit of electrical energy, which is used by utility companies for
customer billing, is the kilowatt-Hour (kW-hr or kWh)

1 kW-hr = (1000)(60)(60) W-sec= 3.6(10)6 W-sec

Charge capacity : The charge capacity of electrical sources, such as batteries in

particular, is conventionally expressed using the formula Q = I t , in Ampere-hours (Ah)
or in smaller units such as mAh..This specification indicates the current versus time
capability of the battery. For example, a 800mAh battery will have the capacity of
delivering 800mA for 1 hour or 10 mA for approximately 3 days (80 hrs ≈ 3.33 days).
===========================
Electrical circuits are interconnections of ‘components’ which are modeled as ‘ideal
circuit elements’ for the purposes of analysis. Each circuit element is defined by a
specific current-voltage relationship. These elements are either ‘source’s or ‘sink’s,
the former being elements which produce electrical energy and sinks being elements
which either dissipate (such as the Resistance element, R) or store electrical energy (such
as the Inductance L and Capacitance C elements). Obviously, a circuit must contain at
least a single source for obtaining currents in it. The purpose of circuit analysis is to
theoretically determine the various currents and voltages in a circuit, when the
circuit structure and the excitations(sources) are given.
The Source-Sink Model :
A representation of a single source-single sink circuit model is shown in Figure 1.The
elements shown as rectangular blocks are called “2-terminal circuit elements”, having
the ‘terminals’ A & B.

Figure 1
[Note that the current flow direction is from the −ve terminal to the +ve within the source, while it is in the opposite
direction for the sink.]

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Source & Sink elements: The potential difference (PD) [also called an electromotive
force (emf)] required for obtaining a current flow between two conducting bodies A &
B is obtained by moving charge from one body to the other through the action of an
independent agency such as friction, chemical action (used in various battery cells!),
photoelectric effects, electromechanical action etc . The work done by the agency results
in a ‘potential rise’, which is analogous to the rise in gravitational potential energy of a
mass as it is raised above a fixed datum level(or ‘inertial reference’).
Consider two conductors A & B, which are electrically neutral to begin with, and
separated from each other by a dielectric space (Figure 2). If A is made positive with
respect to B (by moving positive charges from B to A through the action of the
aforementioned agency), we will have created an electrical source element. A & B are
called the terminals of the source. A rise in potential from B to A is obtained by the
above charge transfer. It is important to note that A & B must be separated by a dielectric
if the charge imbalance is to be maintained.

Figure 2

The energy used in creating a source can be recovered by externally connecting terminals
A and B such that a current (as shown in the above figure, at right) will flow through the
external path (the ‘conductor’ in the above figure), which in turn will result in some
desired effect such as heat, light, mechanical motion etc. An element which re-converts
electrical energy into other forms is called a sink element. A fall in potential, or
‘ potential drop’ is associated with a sink element. Sources and sinks are also known as
‘active’ and ‘passive’ elements respectively.

The magnitude of work done to create the PD (in Figure 2) is expressed by the voltage
V = VAB, which is defined as the work done per unit charge :

V(t) = dW(t)/dq(t ).

The unit of voltage is the Volt (V) and 1 Volt = 1 Joule/Coulomb , (1 N-m/C).

Before defining the source and sink elements which we will be dealing with, let us
examine the conventions used in expressing currents and voltages.

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Current & voltage sign conventions:

Current conventions: Current direction in a conductor is indicated as shown in

Figure 3. A current in the direction of ‘a’ to ‘b’ in a conductor, Iab is equivalent to a
current −Iba in the opposite direction. That is, Iba = − Iab
For example , in Figure 3, if Iab= 8 mA then Iba= − 8 mA.

Figure 3

Voltage conventions : A double-subscripted voltage VAB indicates that point A is + ve

with respect to B. For example , in Figure 4, if VXY = 9 volts is specified then the
voltage VYX = − 9 volts.

Figure 4

A double subscripted voltage such as VXY is called a ‘voltage drop’ if its value is
positive and a ‘negative voltage drop’ is called a ‘voltage rise’. , eg; − 9 volts. Voltage
drops are associated with sink elements and voltage rises are associated with
source elements.
[A single subscripted voltage (eg: Vx) is called a Node voltage. A node voltage Vx is
actually the voltage Vxg, where ‘g’ is a designated common reference node called the
ground node. The ground node is shown connected to the ground symbol as shown in
Figure 5. The ground node is considered to be at zero potential.

Figure 5
The node voltage representation is very useful in analysis. The voltage between any two
(non-grounded) nodes can be shown to be given by the difference in their node voltages.
For example, in Figure 5, Vxq = Vx−Vq .Node voltages will be used later in the analysis
technique known as “Nodal Analysis”]

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Source elements
Ideal independent sources : The basic source elements in circuit analysis are the ideal
independent voltage source and the ideal independent current source. The two
sources and their current-voltage characteristics are shown in Figure 6

Figure 6

The ideal voltage source delivers a terminal voltage v(t) =VAB =V which is independent
of the current i(t) drawn by the sink (or ‘load’) to which it is connected. The ideal current
source delivers a current I to the load which is independent of the terminal voltage v(t).
Real electrical sources exhibit characteristics which approximate the ideal curves only
over specific limited current and/or voltage ranges. As will be seen later, the above ideal
representations help in describing the characteristics of real sources
Dependent sources : Dependent sources (also called Controlled Sources) are ideal
voltage or ideal current sources whose output variable is determined by either a voltage
or a current which is defined in another arbitrarily-located element. The controlling
variable can be in the same circuit as the source or in a separate circuit. The dependent
sources are given a diamond-shaped symbol to distinguish them from the independent
sources of Figure 6.
The resulting four dependent sources are shown in Figure 7 .

Figure 7

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In Figure 7, the controlling variables Vx, Iy, Ip and Vq are variables which are associated
with some arbitrarily located elements. It can be seen that α for the VCVS and β for
the CCCS are dimensionless constants. It can also be seen that the controlling factors ‘r’
and ‘g’ have the dimensions of ‘volt per Amp’ and ‘Amp per volt’ respectively. The
latter two dimensions will be seen , respectively, to be the dimensional units of (Ohms)
for the Resistance (R) element and for its reciprocal, the element known as
Conductance(G). Dependent sources usually represent electronic devices such as the
transistor or complex circuits such as ‘operational amplifiers’.

Sink elements:
Since current represents positive charge movement, the current direction within a source
is from the negative terminal to the positive. In other words, the current flows out of the
positive terminal in a source and into the positive terminal for a sink. Under certain
conditions, however, a source can behave as a sink, as for example when a re-chargeable
battery is being charged. Among sinks, the ‘storage elements’ (C & L) can sometimes
appear as sources, whereas the dissipative element (R) always behaves as a sink.

[ The Passive Sign Convention (PSC) is a theoretical means of differentiating between

a source and a sink by calculating power. In the PSC, the v-i sign convention used for
a dissipative(or ‘passive’ or sink) element as seen on the right-hand side of Figure 1 is
taken as a reference for calculating power. Power p(t) calculated using this reference
(“current entering the positive terminal”) will be positive for a sink but negative for a
source. Thus, the power calculated, with the PSC, for the various sources and sinks in a
circuit will yield negative and positive values respectively. The sum of these powers must
necessarily be zero, a result which is known as Tellegen’s Theorem].

The Resistance (R) element and Ohm’s Law(OL):

A linear circuit element is defined by a linear current-voltage relationships such as

V= RI , I = C dV/dt or V=L dI/dt. In particular, the relationship V= RI , known as
Ohm’s Law(OL), defines the element called the Resistance R : R =V/I. The resistance
element has the symbol shown below and its unit is the Ohm (designated by the greek
letter Ω, 1 Ω = 1volt/amp).

The ‘resistance’ relationship is considered to be ‘lumped’ within the jagged-line section,

the two straight-line sections at the ends being taken to represent ‘ideal conductors’
having zero resistance. Resistance arises from dissipative collisions between the charge
carriers(free electrons) in conductors. The reciprocal of R, called the conductance G , is
found to be useful in analysis. It is given the same zig-zag symbol as R. G = 1/R and its
unit is the Siemens(S), 1S = 1 amp/volt. [In pre-SI unit days, the unit for G was the
‘mho’, which is Ohm written backwards]

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Ohm’s Law (OL) can be written in the following equivalent forms :

V=IR I=V/R= GV R=V/I= 1/G

The resistance R of a conductor of uniform geometry can also be defined, from a physical
viewpoint, by the relation R= ρ l /A where l and A are the length and cross-sectional area
respectively and ρ, called the resistivity, is a physical constant for the material of the
conductor. This relation is used to calculate the resistance of wires of various materials
and diameters. The reciprocal of resistivity is called the conductivity σ .
Resistance is a dissipative element and it is always associated with a ‘voltage drop’. The
power PR dissipated in a resistance is given by

PR = VI = I2R= V2/R = GV2 Watts.

Resistors(components representing resistances)are sized according to their ‘power rating’

(eg: 1/8 W, ¼ W, ½ W, 1W, 5W etc). The values(and ‘tolerance’or precision)of small
wattage resistors are indicated by a standard colour-coding on the body of the resistor.
[Please refer to colour coding information available on various internet sites. As electrical engineering
students you must become familiar with the colour code!]
The power rating of a resistor is very important in design. The specified power rating for
a resistor should well exceed the calculated power dissipation in order to avoid on
minimize component deterioration and failure due to temperature rise. A factor of safety
of 10x is the ideal but specifications as low as 2x are common.

A circuit is an interconnection of elements (such as the example shown in Figure 8) and

the interconnection points are called nodes (or terminals). Each node can be designated
with a number or a letter, such as 1, 2 …..6 in the circuit shown. Each element between a
node-pair is called a branch. Each closed path starting from a node and returning to the
same node, without encountering any other node twice, is called a loop, and the
elementary loops(smallest loops) are called meshes. In the given circuit, paths 1-2-3-6-1
and 3-4-5-6-3 are ‘mesh’-es, whereas path 1-2-3-4-5-6-1 is a ‘loop’.

Figure 8

Circuits will generally contain both source and sink elements. The aim of circuit
analysis is to determine the various branch voltages and currents in the circuit
when the source(s) (excitation) and other element values are specified. We shall be
considering the standard techniques used in such analyses. We shall consider only linear

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circuits (ie circuits composed of linear elements, specifically resistances ,voltage sources
and current sources at the present time.).
Kirchoff’s Laws:
In resistive circuits (ie circuits containing sources and only R elements, as in the
example above), Ohm’s Law(OL) together with two other basic laws (called Kirchoff’s
laws) are sufficient to analyze the circuit. These latter two laws are Kirchoff’s Current
Law (KCL) and Kirchoff’s Voltage Law (KVL). OL allows the determination of V or I
associated with element R , when R and one of the variables is given., eg: If R= 4 kΩ,
and the voltage across R is V= 10 volts, then the current through the resistance is
I = V/R = 10/4000 A = 0.0025 A = 2.5 mA. Resistive circuits do not involve time t as a
variable and consequently, in a resistive circuit, all voltages and currents assume their
values instantaneously when the source(s) is applied.

KCL states that “the sum of currents entering a node is equal to the sum of currents
leaving it”. KCL expresses this current-balance which is the result of the ‘law of charge
conservation’ at the node. An example of a node (n) with four currents is shown in
Figure 9.

Figure 9

The KCL equation for the node n may be written as I + i1 + i3 = i2 (ie sum of currents
entering = sum of currents leaving the node). Since currents associated with a node can
be expressed as either currents entering the node or leaving it, KCL can be written in
general form as Σ I n =0 where the subscript n designates the node under consideration,
and the summation will necessarily include negative numbers(currents). Since either
entering currents or leaving currents can be taken as reference, the summation equation
Σ I n = 0 can be written in two equivalent ways of expressing the same situation :
I + i1 + i3 − i2 = 0 (ie sum of currents entering the node = 0 )
or as − I – i1 + i2 − i3 = 0 (ie sum of currents leaving the node = 0 )

[It can also be seen the KCL is equally applicable to an area (containing several
elements) such as the dotted-line enclosure shown in the figure above]

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The second form of the KCL equation , ie sum of currents leaving the node = 0 is
used preferably, since it offers certain advantages to be described later.

KVL states that , for any closed circuit path starting and ending at the same node, “the
sum of voltage-drops and voltage-rises is zero”. KVL expresses potential-energy-
conservation in a system operating under a ‘conservative’ force field. Gravitational and
electrical forces are both conservative. In a gravitational system, the potential energy of
a mass at a given point, Eg = mgh, is only dependent upon the vertical height h and not
upon the path taken by the mass to arrive at that point from the starting point. Thus if a
mass is moved around from a certain point and then brought back to that same point, the
net work done (net potential energy change) would be zero. The intermediate steps of
movement, however, involve finite work magnitudes, necessarily both positive and
negative. Electric force is also conservative and KVL expresses the analogous situation
for a (positive) charge that is moved around a circuit and then brought back to the same
node. Since each node-to-node voltage represents work done (recall V =dW/dq) on or by
the charges, the summation of voltages (taken with proper signs : + for a voltage ‘drop’, −
for a voltage ‘rise’) must result in zero. KVL can be written in general form as Σ Vm =0
where the subscript m designates the mesh (or loop) under consideration The summation
will consist of negative numbers for the voltage rises and positive numbers for voltage
drops. For example, consider the two-mesh circuit given earlier in Figure 8 and
reproduced below in Figure 10, which additionally shows double-subscripted branch
voltages which have been arbitrarily assigned..

Figure 10

(Note that each branch voltage is double-subscripted, the first subscript indicating the +ve terminal. In the
case of resistances, the + ve terminal must necessarily be the terminal into which the current enters,
although any direction may be taken in writing the equation) .

KVL equations for the two meshes and for the single loop are given below.

Mesh 1-2-3-6-1 : V12 + V23 + V36 + V61 = 0 ie V12 + V23 + V36 – 12 = 0, since
V61= −V16.
Mesh 3-4-5-6-3 : V34 – V54 – V65 – V36 = 0
Loop 1-2-3-4-5-6-1 : V12 + V23 + V34 – V54 – V65 – 12 = 0
Note that the loop equation can be obtained by adding together the two constituent
‘mesh’ equations.

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It is obvious that KCL and KVL can be used to find an unknown current at a node and an
unknown branch voltage in a mesh or loop, respectively.

{It can be shown that in a circuit containing b branches, n nodes and l meshes, the three laws OL,KCL
and KVL provide a sufficient number of equations to solve for the required number of variables , which
is 2b (ie a current and a PD for each branch)}

==========================

Examples of solving problems using OL,KCL and KVL.

1. (a)In the circuit shown , use KCL.KVL & OL to determine I, i, V and V1.
(b)Determine whether any of the sources are behaving like ‘sinks’
(c) Determine the power dissipated in each of the resistances.

Soln: The answers to (b) and (c) depend on the answers of (a).
The voltages and currents for each resistance branch are either given or can be expressed
in terms of the given variables I, i, V and V1 using OL : Thus

Current in 4 kΩ ,left to right , is ……… V1/4 mA

Voltage drop across 8 kΩ , top to bottom,is………….8i (i in mA)

KVL : − 4 + V1 + 8i = 0
KVL : V − 6 – V1 = 0
KCL : I + (V1/4) + 13 = 0 at the +ve terminal of the 4 volt source
KCL: 5 −13 + I − (V1/4) = 0 at the ‘supernode’ which encloses the 6 volt source
We have 4 independent equations for the 4 unknowns and we can solve for the
unknowns.
Eliminate V1 from the last two equations : Adding them gives

I + 13 + 5 −13 + I = 0 or I = − 5/2 = − 2.5 mA

Substituting for I into the 3rd equation gives: − 2.5 + (V1/4) + 13 = 0 or

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 (V1/4) = − 10.5 or V1 = − 42 volts
Substituting for V1 into the 2nd equation gives: V − 6 + 42= 0 or V = − 36 volts
Finally,
Substituting for V1 into the 1st equation gives : − 4 − 42+ 8i = 0 or i = 5.75 mA

(b) Since I is negative, the 4 volt source is acting as a source.

Since V is negative, the 13 mA source is acting as a source.
The current into the −ve terminal (and hence out of the +ve terminal) of the
6 volt source is (13-5) mA or 8 mA. Hence the 6 volt source is acting as a
source.
The voltage V5 across the 5 mA current source ( +ve at top )is found from KVL:
6 + V5 – 8i = 0 or V5 = 8i −6 = 46 –6 = 40 volts, ie 5 mA is leaving the negative
Terminal, hence the 5 mA source is acting like a sink.
(c) Power dissipated in 4 kΩ is (V1)2/4000 W = 1764/4000= 441 mW
Power dissipated in 8 kΩ is (i)2(8000) W = 1764/4000= 264.5 mW

2 . For the circuit shown, use OL, KCL and KVL to find the current I

Soln: The required current is given by KCL : I + i + V21/4 = 0

where all currents are in A

ie I = V12 /4 − i = 0

Current through the 4 Ω (Node 1 to node 3) is, from OL , V13/4

OL : Current i = V23 /4

KCL for the supernode enclosing the CCVS and the 4Ω :

10 + V13/4 + i = 0
KVL for the central mesh : 2i + 4i + V31 = 0
KVL for the top mesh : V12 − 2i = 0
We have 4 equations for the 4 unknowns .

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From the OL eqn, V23 = 4i --------------(1)
The 2nd eqn is 40 + V13 + 4i = 0 --------(2)
Also the two KVL eqns are 6i + V31 = 0 -------(3)
and V12 = 2i -------(4)

From (2) & (3), 40 + 6i + 4i = 0 or i = − 4 A

Substituting in (4) , V12 = 2i = − 8A

Hence I = V12 /4 − i = − 2 – (− 4) = 2 A

3. For the network shown find Vx and V using OL, KCL and KVL

2k 2
6Vx
volts

1 27mA 3
+ + V
3k Vx 4k

Answer : V = V12 and by voltage divider rule , Vx = V13 ( 3 /7) or V13 = (7/3)Vx

OL : i12 = V12/2 mA

KCL at Node 2 : 27 + V12/2 + Vx/3 = 0

KVL (top mesh) :V12 − 6Vx − (7/3)Vx = 0 ie 3V12 − 25Vx = 0 or V12 = (25/3)Vx

Substitute Vx in the KCL eqn : 27 + (25/6)Vx + Vx/3 = 0 ,

ie 27 + (27/6)Vx = 0 , Vx = − 6 volts

V = V13 = (7/3)Vx = − 14 volts

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