Chapter 2: Circuit Elements

Active or passive elements: An active element is the one that models a device
capable of generating electric energy. Passive elements model physical devices that
cannot generate electric energy.

Definition Electric source: An Electric Source is a device that is capable of

converting nonelectric energy to electric energy.

Electrical source (supply)

"A source of electrical power (electrical energy), a device that supplies electrical current. It can
be electrochemical (battery or fuel cell) or an electromechanical device (dynamo) or a specialized
electronic instrument. Also called ""power source (supply)."" Specialized sources can be called
""voltage source"" or ""current source,"" indicating the characteristic of the electrical power that
can be controlled by that device.

Example : Battery
Discharging battery convert chemical energy to electric energy
Charging Battery convert electric energy to chemical energy

Four double-A rechargeable batteries (AA)

Electrical generator

An electrical generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy

The source of mechanical energy may be a reciprocating or turbine steam
engine, water falling through turbine or waterwheel, an internal combustion
engine, a wind turbine or any other source of mechanical energy

Portable Electric Generator

Electric Generator

Theses sources can either deliver power like the battery when operate devices like
toys, radio, mobile phone, car electric instrument,….etc. or the electric generator that
deliver power to houses , cities, countries. Or absorb power like charging the battery
or operating electric drill.

There are two type of sources that we will discuss

Voltage Source Current Source

We are going to use ideal sources to model practical sources as will be shown next.

Those ideal sources do not exist as practical devices , they are idealized model of
the actual devices
Ideal Voltage Source : is a circuit element that maintaining a prescribed voltage across
its terminals regardless of the current flowing in those terminals

Example : if we consider the 1.5 volt dry battery you buy from the market as an ideal,
then you will get a 1.5 volt across the battery regards of what is connected across it or
in another way the battery will supply a steady 1.2 V regardless what current flowing
through it
i

1.2 V

We should know that it can not be possible, since if the current i is large due to some
load as we will see later when we discuss Ohms law, the power deliver by the small
battery will be very large

We also will classified sources as Independent and Dependent sources

Independent source establishes a voltage or a current in a circuit without relying on a
voltage or current elsewhere in the circuit

Dependent sources establishes a voltage or a current in a circuit whose value depends

on the value of a voltage or a current elsewhere in the circuit

We will use circle to represent Independent source and diamond shape to represent
Dependent sources

Dependent sources
Independent source
Independent and dependent voltage and current sources can be represented as

+
5V 3A

Independent voltage source Independent current source

+
4 ix V 4 vx A

were ix is some current were vx is some voltage

through an element across an element

Dependent voltage source Dependent current source

Voltage depend on current Current depend on voltage

The dependent sources can be also as

4 vx V 7 ix A

were vx is some voltage were ix is some current

across an element through an element

Dependent voltage source

Voltage depend on voltage Dependent current source
Current depend on current
 Example 2.1 for each of the following connections establish which interconnections
are permissible and which violate the constrains by the ideal source

Connection is valid Connection is valid Connection is not permissible

Connection is valid
Connection is not permissible

Example 2.2 for each of the following connections establish which interconnections
are permissible and which violate the constrains by the ideal source

Connection is not permissible Connection is valid

Connection is not permissible

Connection is valid
 2.2 Electrical Resistance (Ohm’s)

Georg Simon Ohm, a German physicist who is famous for defining the fundamental
relationship among voltage, current, and resistance through Ohm's law

Ohm's law states that, in an electrical circuit, the current passing through a conductor, from
one terminal point on the conductor to another terminal point on the conductor, is directly
proportional to the potential difference (i.e. voltage drop or voltage) across the two
terminal points and inversely proportional to the resistance of the conductor between the
two terminal points

were
V = the voltage in volts (V)
I = the current in amperes (A)
R = the resistance in ohms ()

Most materials exhibit measurable resistance to current. The amount of resistance

depend on the material.

This is similar in some way when water flow in a pipe. If there is a dirt or material on
the pipe it will impede ( ‫ )يعيق‬the flow of water.
 For purpose of circuit analysis, we must reference the current in the resistor to the
terminal voltage. For the passive sign convention

+ v = Ri
v R

Otherwise we introduce a minuses sign similar to what we did when we calculated power

+
v R v = - Ri

Example

2A
+ +
v 3
v = -(3)(2) = -6 V
v 3 v = (3)(2) = 6 V

2A

+
-2 A
+ v 3 v = -(3)(- 2) = 6 V
v = (3)(- 2) = -6 V
v 3
-2 A
The reciprocal of resistance is conductance and have the symbol G

1
G=
R

and have the unit S for (siemens) or  for (mho) is spelling backward
for ohm


An 8  resistor is equivalent to 1/8= 0.125 S or

We may calculate the power at the terminal of a resistor in several way

First method : we use the defining equation as follows:

+
v R p = vi For the passive sign convention

Otherwise we introduce a minuses sign

+
v R p = -vi

i
Second method : we express the power at the terminal of resistor in terms of the current
and resistor as follows:
v
+
p = vi = (iR )i = Ri 2
i R

For the non passive sign convention we have

v
+
p = -vi = -(-iR )i = Ri 2
R i

Third method : we express the power at the terminal of resistor in terms of the voltage
and resistor as follows:
v
+ v v2
p = vi =v ( ) =
R R
i R

For the non passive sign convention we have

v
p = -vi = -v ( -v ) = v
2
+
R R
R i

Fourth method : we express the power at the terminal of resistor in terms of the voltage
or current and conductance G as follows:
v
+
p = vi = v (Gv ) = Gv 2
i R
p = vi i i2
= ( )i =
G G

For the non passive sign convention we will have identical relation as the passive sign
convention

v
+
p = Gv 2
i2
R i p=
G
Example 2.3 In each circuit find the followings:

+ v a , p 8 ?

1 A 8 
va
v a = (1)(8) = 8 V
p = 8i 2 = 8(1) 2 = 8 W
v a2 (8) 2
OR p = = =8 W
8 8

i d , p 25  ?
-50
+ id = = -2 A
50 V 25  25
p 25 = 25i d2 = 25(-2)2 = 100 W
id
502
OR p 25  = = 100 W
25

2.3 Construction of a Circuit Model

This course will be focus on circuit analysis (i.e., finding voltages , currents and
powers of circuit elements)

However you would need to construct a model for the electric device as much as
analyzing it.

We are going to develop a circuit model based on the behavior of the circuit components
and interconnections
2.4 Kirchhoff’s Law

The objective of this course is to find (or solve) for voltages and currents in
every element in the circuit

Example consider the following circuit:

i1 i3

v1 i4
is + i 2 + v3
+ +
V + v2 v4

There are 9 unknowns , namely i s , i1 , i 2 , i 3 , i 4 v1 ,v 2 ,v 3 , v 4

However since i s = i1 and i3 = i4

There are 7 unknowns , namely i1 , i 2 , i 3 v1 ,v 2 ,v 3 , v 4

 i1 i3

+ v1 i 2 + v3 i4
+ +
V + v2 v4

To solve for the 7 unknowns we need 7 equations

Ohm’s law can provide us with 4 equations, namely

v1 = 2 i1 v2 = 6 i2 v 3 = 3 i3 v 4 = 5 i3

However Ohms equations can not be sufficient to solve for the 8 unknown,
we need still 4 equations , what are these equations ?

Gustav Kirchhoff Russian scientist who first stated them in 1848 in a published paper
and they are named after him as

Kirchhoff Current Law (KCL) Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL)

Kirchhoff's Current Law ( KCL):

The algebraic sum of all the currents at any node in a circuit equals zero.

First we have to define a node.

A node is a point where two or more circuit elements meet
i1 i2

i3
Kirchhoff's Current Law ( KCL):

The algebraic sum of all the currents at any node in a circuit equals zero.
i1 i2

i3

The algebraic signify a sign on the current that is positive or negative. Since the current
is a reference quantity by direction. Then we can state the following

Current entering the node is positive and current leaving the node is negative

OR
Current entering the node is negative and current leaving the node is positive

Example
i1 i2

i3

Current entering the node is positive and leaving the node is negative

i1 + (- i 2 ) + i 3 =0 i1 - i 2 + i 3 =0

Current entering the node is negative and leaving the node is positive

(-i1 ) + i2 + ( -i 3 ) = 0 - i1 + i 2 - i3 =0 i1 - i 2 + i 3 =0

Note the algebraic sign is regardless if the sign on the value of the current
 Suppose
-1 A 2A
i1 = -1 A i2 =2 A i3 =3 A

3A
Now KCL

i1 - i 2 + i 3 =0 ( -1 ) - 2 + 3 = 0

Since electric current is a rate flow of charges then Kirchhoff's Current Law is similar to
the flow of water from different direction to a water valve

Water
Valve

Now we go back to our circuit i1 i3

+ v1 i 2 + v3
+ +
V + v2 v4

Ohms law can provide us with 4 equations, namely v1 = 2 i1 v 2 = 6 i 2 v 3 = 3 i3 v 4 = 5 i3

We have 4 nodes Node 1

Node 2
Node 1 i1 i3 Node 3

Node 2
+ v1 + v3 Which can be redrawn as
+ i2
+ +
V
+ v2 v4
5V

Node 3
short short

Node 4 Node 4
Same Node
 Node 2
Now if we apply KCL to each node Node 1 i1 i3 Node 3

we will have the followings

+ v1 + v3
+ i2
+
Node 1 V
+ v2 v4

Node 1 i1 short short

Node 3
Node 3
i1 Node 4 i3
i1 - i1 = 0
Same Node

+
V i3
 i1 = i1
i3 - i3 =0
Nothing new !
 i3 = i3
Node 2
Node 2
Node 4 Nothing new !
i1 i3
i2

i2 -i1 + i 2 + i 3 = 0
i1 i3
i1 - i 2 - i 3 =0

Same as node 2
Node 4

i1 i3

+ v1 i 2 + v3
+ +
V + v2 v4

Now we have 5 equations, namely

Ohms law can provide us with 4 equations, namely

v1 = 2 i1 v 2 = 6 i 2 v 3 = 3 i 3 v 4 = 5 i3
KCL provide us with 1 equations, namely
i1 - i 2 - i 3 =0

We have now 5 equations , we still need two more equations

Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL) will provide us with the other two equations
as will be shown next
 Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL)

The algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.

First we have to define a closed path b c

a

d
f e

A closed path or a loop is defined as starting at an arbitrary node, we trace closed path in a
circuit through selected basic circuit elements including open circuit and return to the
original node without passing through any intermediate node more than once

abea

Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL)

The algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.

First we have to define a closed path b c

a

d
f e

A closed path or a loop is defined as starting at an arbitrary node, we trace closed path in a
circuit through selected basic circuit elements including open circuit and return to the
original node without passing through any intermediate node more than once

abea bceb
 Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL)

The algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.

First we have to define a closed path b c

a

d
f e

A closed path or a loop is defined as starting at an arbitrary node, we trace closed path in a
circuit through selected basic circuit elements including open circuit and return to the
original node without passing through any intermediate node more than once

abea bceb cdec

Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL)

The algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.

First we have to define a closed path b c

a

d
f e

A closed path or a loop is defined as starting at an arbitrary node, we trace closed path in a
circuit through selected basic circuit elements including open circuit and return to the
original node without passing through any intermediate node more than once

abea bceb cdec aefa

 Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL)

The algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.

First we have to define a closed path b c

a

d
f e

A closed path or a loop is defined as starting at an arbitrary node, we trace closed path in a
circuit through selected basic circuit elements including open circuit and return to the
original node without passing through any intermediate node more than once

abea bceb cdec aefa abcdefa

Kirchhoff Voltage Law (KVL)

The algebraic sum of all the voltages around any closed path in a circuit equals zero.

+ v1 + v3
+
+
+ v2 v4
V

The "algebraic" correspond to the reference direction to each voltage in the loop.

Assigning a positive sign to a voltage rise ( - to + )

Assigning a negative sign to a voltage drop ( + to - )
OR
Assigning a positive sign to a voltage drop ( + to - )
Assigning a negative sign to a voltage rise ( - to + )
 Example

+ v1 + v3
+
+
+ v2 v4
V

We apply KVL as follows:

Loop 1 v1 +v 2 - 5 = 0

Loop 2 v 3 +v 4 -v 2 =0

Example

+ v1 + v3
+
+
+ v2 v4
V

We apply KVL as follows:

Loop 1 v1 +v 2 - 5 = 0

Loop 2 v 3 +v 4 -v 2 = 0
Loop 3 v1 +v 3 +v 4 - 5 = 0
However we notice that KVL on Loop 3 is only the summation of Loop 1 and Loop 2

Therefore only two KVL equations are valid

Loop 1 v1 +v 2 - 5 = 0
Loop 2 v 3 +v 4 -v 2 = 0
Now we go back to our circuit i1 i3

+ v1 i 2 + v3
+ +
V + v2 v4

Now we have 7 equations, namely

Ohms law provide us with 4 equations, namely

v1 = 2 i1 v 2 = 6 i 2 v 3 = 3 i 3 v 4 = 5 i3
KCL provide us with 1 equations, namely
i1 - i 2 - i 3 =0

KVL provide us with 2 equations, namely

v1 +v 2 - 5 = 0
v 3 +v 4 -v 2 = 0
Now we can solve the 7 equations to obtain the 7 variables
i1 ,v1 i 2 ,v 2 i 3 ,v 3 and v 4

Example 2.6 for the circuit shown apply KCL to each node a, b, c, and d.

Note there is no connection dot at the center of the diagram (i.e, no node).
The   branch crosses the branch containing the ideal current ia

Applying KCL to nodes a, b, c, and d , we have

Node a - i1 - i 4 + i 2 + i 5 = 0
Node b - i 2 - i 3 + i1 + i b + i a = 0
Node c - i b + i3 + i 4 + ic = 0
Node d - i5 - i a - ic = 0
Example 2.7 for the circuit shown apply KVL to each designated path in the circuit

Example 2.7 for the circuit shown apply KVL to each designated path in the circuit
 Example 2.7 for the circuit shown apply KVL to each designated path in the circuit

path a -v 1 +v 2 +v 4 -v b -v 3 = 0

Example 2.7 for the circuit shown apply KVL to each designated path in the circuit

path b -v a +v 3 +v 5 = 0
Example 2.7 for the circuit shown apply KVL to each designated path in the circuit

path c v b -v 4 -v c -v 6 -v 5 = 0

Example 2.7 for the circuit shown apply KVL to each designated path in the circuit

path d -v a -v 1 +v 2 -v c +v 7 -v d =0
Example 2.7 for the circuit shown apply KVL to each designated path in the circuit

path a -v 1 +v 2 +v 4 -v b -v 3 = 0
path b -v a +v 3 +v 5 = 0
path c v b -v 4 -v c -v 6 -v 5 = 0
path d -v a -v 1 +v 2 -v c +v 7 -v d =0

Example 2.8 for the circuit shown use Kirchcoff’s laws and Ohm’s law to find io ?

Solution
We will redraw the circuit and assign currents and voltages as follows

io

Since io is the current in the 120 V source , therefore there is only two unknown currents
in the circuit namely io and i1
 io

Therefore we need two equations relating io and i1

Applying KCL to the circuit nodes namely a,b and c will give us the following

Node a io - io = 0  io = io Nothing new !

Node b i o - i1 + 6 = 0
Node c -i1 + i o + 6 = 0 The same as node b

Therefore KCL provide us with only one equation relating io and i1 namely
i o - i1 + 6 = 0
We need another equation to be able to solve for io
That equation will be provided by KVL as shown next

io

We have three closed loops

However only one loop that you can apply KVL to it namely abca
Since the other two loops contain a current source namely 6 A and since we can not relate
the voltage across it to the current through it , therefore we can not apply KVL to that loop
Applying KVL around loop abca clockwise direction assigning a positive sign to
voltage drops ( + to - ) and negative sign to voltage rise , we have

- 120 + 10i o + 50i 1 = 0

Combining this with the KCL equation i o - i1 + 6 = 0

we have two equations and unknowns which can be solved simultaneously to get
io= -3 A i1= 3 A
 2.5 Analysis of a circuit containing dependent sources
For the circuit shown we want to apply Kirchhof’s and Ohm law to find vo ?

Solution

We are going to device a strategy for solving the circuit

Let io be the current flowing on the 20  resistor

Since vo=20 → therefore we seek io

io

KCL will provide us with one equation relating io with iΔ namely

i  + 5i  - i o = 0  6i  - i o = 0

We need two equations to be able to solve for io

KVL and Ohm’s law will provide us with the additional equation
relating io with iΔ as will be shown next
 The circuit has three closed loops

However only the loop abca is the one that you can apply KVL to it

Since the other two loops contain a current source that, you will not be
able to write the voltage across it in terms of the current

Therefore
-500 + 5i  + 20i o = 0  5i  + 20i o = 500

Therefore we have two equations relating io with iΔ namely

KCL at node b 6i  - i o = 0
KVL around loop abca 5i  + 20i o = 500

Two equations and two unknowns io and iΔ , we can solve simultaneously and get

io = 24 A and iΔ = 4 A

Therefore vo=20 io = (20)(24) = 480 V