ECE159 Exam Review

QiLin Xue and Shem

April 21, 2021

Contents
1 DC Analysis 2
1.1 Voltage and Current Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Mesh and Nodal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Superposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 Source Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.5 Thevenin Equivalent Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.6 Norton Equivalent Circuit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Operational Amplifiers 3
2.1 Ideal OP Amp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Types of Amplifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 First Order Circuits 6

3.1 Overview of Capacitors and Inductors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 Natural Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3 Step Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4 AC Circuits 8
4.1 Interpreting Complex Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2 Resonance and Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.2.1 Magnitude Scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.3 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.3.1 Optimal Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.3.2 Power Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.3.3 Power Factor Correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.3.4 Apparent and Effective Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3.5 Random Things when Doing Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

1 DC Analysis
1.1 Voltage and Current Division
For a series circuit, we can calculate the equivalent resistance by adding them.
R1
A

V + R2
−

For this circuit, we have:

Req = R1 + R2 (1)
and the voltage is given by voltage division:
R2
VA = V (2)
R1 + R2
For a parallel circuit, the effective resistance is the harmonic sum:

−
V + R1 R2

i1 i2

In this circuit, we have:

 −1
1 1 R1 R2
Req = + = (3)
R1 R2 R1 + R2
and the current in the branches is given by current division:
R2
i1 = i (4)
R1 + R2

1.2 Mesh and Nodal Analysis

X
In mesh analysis, Kirchoff’s Voltage law V = 0 is written for each independent loop, and a system of equation is
solved. The number of independent loops can be determined by finding the minimum number of wire cuts needed such
that there are no loops.
X
In nodal analysis, we deal with the potentials at each node and write out Kirchoff’s current law I = 0 for the current
leaving (or alternatively, entering) each node for each node where the voltage is unknown.

1.3 Superposition
Kirchoff’s equations are linear. Each term includes only a first power of a current or a voltage, hence we can apply
superposition. Let there be n independent voltage sources and m independent current sources. The current in the j th

2
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

wire can be found as:

n+m
X
Ij = Ij (k) (5)
k=1

where Ij (k) is the current in that wire when only the k th battery (or current source) is included into the circuit. All
other batteries are short circuited and all other current sources are removed by cutting off a connection wire. This same
concept can be applied for voltage, but not power.

1.4 Source Transformation

A source transformation is the process of replacing a voltage source vs in series with a resistor R by a current source is
in parallel with a resistor R, or vice versa. For example, these two circuits are equivalent:
R
a a

vs + is R
−

b b

where vs = is R.

1.5 Thevenin Equivalent Circuit

Thevenin’s Theorem tells us that any two-terminal circuit can be replaced by an equivalent voltage source Vth in series
with a resistor Rth . These are related via:
Vth
Rth = (6)
Isc
To calculate Vth , we find the open circuit voltage between the two terminals. To calculate Rth , there are three options:
1. Remove all independent voltage and current sources and calculate the equivalent resistance across the terminals.
2. Connect the two terminals via a wire with negligible resistance. Calculate the current Isc through this wire and we
can calculate Rth using equation 6.
3. Inject a test current Itest from one node, and measure the potential difference Vtest . The resistance is then:
Vtest
Rth = (7)
Itest

1.6 Norton Equivalent Circuit

Similar to Thevenin, we can also perform a source transformation such that we can replace any subcircuit element with
an independent current source connected to a resistor in parallel. Note that calculating the equivalent resistance is done
in the same way.

2 Operational Amplifiers
An operational amplifier (op amp) is an active circuit element designed to perform mathematical operations of addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, differentiation, and integration.

v1 −
v0
v2 +

It is equivalent to the following circuit:

3
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

v1

vd Ri v0
+ R0
A(v2 − v1 )
−
+

v2

where A  1 is known as the open-loop voltage gain. The input resistance Ri is typically very big.

2.1 Ideal OP Amp

For an ideal OP Amp, we have an infinite open-loop gain, infinite input resistance, and zero output resistance. This gives
the following results:
• The currents into both input terminals are zero.
• Voltage across input terminals are zero.

4
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

2.2 Types of Amplifiers

Here is a list of common amplifiers:
• Inverting Amplifier:
R2
v0 = − vi (8)
R1
R2

R1
vi −
v0
+

• Noninverting amplifier:  
R2
v0 = 1+ vi (9)
R1
R2

R1
−
v0
vi +

• Voltage follower:
v0 = vi (10)

−
v0
vi +

• Summer:  
Rf Rf Rf
v0 = − v1 + v2 + v3 (11)
Ri R2 R3
R1 Rf
v1
R2
v2 −
R3 v0
v3 +

5
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

• Difference Amplifier:
R2
v0 = (v2 − v1 ) (12)
R1
R1 R2
v1

−
v0
+
R1 R2
v2

3 First Order Circuits

3.1 Overview of Capacitors and Inductors
A capacitor is able to store charge such that the voltage across it is:
q
V = (13)
C
where C is the capacitance. Differentiating both sides, we have:
dV i dV
= =⇒ i = C (14)
dt C dt
Since the current cannot be infinite, the voltage across a capacitor must be differentiable (i.e. smooth). When multiple
capacitors are in series, the equivalent capacitance is:
 −1
1 1
Ceq = + + ··· (15)
C1 C2

For multiple capacitors in parallel, the equivalent capacitance is:

Ceq = C1 + C2 + · · · (16)

The energy stored in a capacitor is given by:

q2 1 q
U= = CV 2 = (17)
2C 2 2V
An inductor maintains a voltage that resists a change in current (i.e. via Lenz’s Law). This means the voltage across a
resistor is:
di
V = −L (18)
dt
where L is the inductance. Since the voltage across cannot be infinite, the current across it has to be differentiable. When
inductors are added in series, the equivalent inductance is:

Leq = L1 + L2 + · · · (19)

and in parallel:
 −1
1 1
Leq = + + ··· (20)
L1 L2
The energy stored in an inductor is:
1 2
U= Li (21)
2

6
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

Idea: For RL and RC circuits, at time scales much shorter than the characteristic times τ = RC or τ = L/R (i.e.
right after a switch is opened), the capacitor’s charge and inductor’s current remain almost constant. In particular,
if a capacitor was chargeless, its voltage remains almost zero (i.e. short circuit). If there was no current in an
inductor, its current remains zero (i.e. inductor may be considered to be broken). If a capacitor had a charge Q
corresponding to a voltage V0 , its voltage remains essentially constant (i.e. it acts and can be substituted by a
battery of voltage V ). Similarly, if an inductor had a current I0 , it can be substituted by a respective constant
current source. If we try to forcefully break the current through an inductor by switching it off, a rapid fall of
dI
current I creates a huge voltage −L which usually leads to a spark at the switch.
dt
At time scales much larger than the characteristic times, the situation is reversed: the inductor can be considered a
short-circuiting wire, and capacitor as an insulator. This is because all the currents and voltages tend exponentially
towards the equilibrium state so that the different from the equilibrium value ∆ ∝ e−t/τ : the capacitor charge is
almost constant, hence there is no current, and the inductor current is almost constant, hence no voltage.

3.2 Natural Response

Since resistors provide a “decaying response” (see the mechanical analogy section), it is expected that RC and RL circuits
have a decaying exponential, when there are no voltage sources:

x(t) = x(0)e−t/τ (22)

where x(0) is the initial value of a quantity (current or voltage), and τ is the time constant. For RC circuits, we have
τ = RC and for RL circuits, we have τ = L/R. It is the characteristic time for which a certain quantity decreases by a
1
factor of . For an RC circuit, we can derive this from the equation:
e
dV V
ic + ir = 0 =⇒ C + =0 (23)
dt r
though I prefer working with Kirchoff’s Voltage Law:
dq q
− R− =0 (24)
dt C
This is because we see a similar structure for the inductor:
di
− iR − L =0 (25)
dt
di
Notice the connection between q, i, and . This is important when formulating the mathematics behind complex AC
dt
circuits later.

3.3 Step Responses

When we have a sudden change (i.e. a voltage or current source is added), the circuit may behave slightly differently.
Since it is a first order circuit, we should still expect an exponential pattern. If we add a constant voltage or current
term to the differential equation above, we can easily solve for it. Alternatively, we can abuse the fact that it is a linear
differential equation so we can write the general solution as:

complete response = natural response + forced response (26)

or
v = vn + vf (27)
or:
v = vt + vss (28)
Here, vt is the transient response, and it will die out with time. The steady state response vss is the behaviour of the
circuit a long time after an external excitation is applied. As a result, we can write out the voltage of a capacitor:

v(t) = v(∞) + [v(0) − v(∞)]e−t/τ (29)

7
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

Taking the derivative and rearranging:

Vth − V (t0 ) −t/τ
ic (t) = e (30)
Rth
and similarly for an RL circuit:
i(t) = i(∞) + [i(0) − i(∞)]e−t/τ (31)

4 AC Circuits
In AC circuits, we may have combinations of inductors, capacitors, resistors, and sinusoidal voltage sources. We are
concerned only with the steady state response. We can do this with phasors. Suppose the voltage frequency is ω, then
the impedances are:
ZR = R (32)
−j 1
ZC = = (33)
ωC jωC
ZL = jωL (34)
2
where j = −1 is the imaginary number. The admittance is the inverse of the impedance. Using these impedances, we
can effectively “solve” an AC circuit in the same way that we solve a DC circuit.

4.1 Interpreting Complex Numbers

Note that we can convert between cartesian and polar forms of complex numbers via:
a + jb = r∠θ (35)
p b
where r = a2 + b2 and tan θ = . Suppose that the voltage is in the form of:
a
V = V0 ∠θ (36)
This simply means that the voltage is a sinusoidal wave with a magnitude of V0 , and has a phase shift of θ, where the
phase shift is calculated relative to some reference (usually the input voltage). We can interpret complex current in the
same way.

4.2 Resonance and Filters

Resonance occurs when:
1
ωc = √ (37)
LC
A filter is a circuit that is designed to pass signals with desired frequencies and reject or attenuate others. A passive
filter consists of only passive elements R, L, and C. There are four different types of filters:
• Low-pass: passes low frequencies and stops high frequencies (i.e. RC)
• High-pass: passes high frequencies and stops low frequencies (i.e. CR)
• Band-Pass: Passes frequencies within a frequency band. (i.e. LCR)
• Band-stop: Passes frequencies outside a frequency band. (i.e. RCL)
The transfer function is defined as
Vo
H(ω) = (38)
Vi
describes the increase/decrease in voltage at a given load. The transfer function for each filter at key frequencies are given
below:
Type H(0) H(∞) H(ωc )
1
Low Pass 1 0 √
2
1
High Pass 0 1 √
2
Band Pass 0 0 1
Band Stop 1 1 0

8
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

4.2.1 Magnitude Scaling

In decibel scale, we define:
HdB = 20 log10 H (39)

4.3 Power
Notation: I will use bolded variables to represent complex numbers: The most general power is the complex power:
S = P + jQ (40)
∗
= Vrms (Irms ) (41)
= Vrms Irms ∠(θv − θi ) (42)
1 ∗
= V m Im (43)
2
2
= ZIrms (44)
2
Vrms
= (45)
Z∗
Z
= |S| (46)
|Z|
We will define θ = θv − θi . Here, P is the real power:
P = S cos(θv − θi ) (47)
p
and S = P 2 + Q2 is the apparent power. The reactive power is:
Q = S sin(θv − θi ) (48)

4.3.1 Optimal Power

The optimal resistance and reactance of a load such that the maximum power is delivered to it in an AC circuit is given
when:
q
RL = Rth 2 + (X + X )2 (49)
th L

XL = −Xth (50)
If both these criteria are satisfied, then:
|Vth |2
Pmax = (51)
8Req
In general, the average power delivered to the load is
1 2 |Vth |2 RL /2
P = |I| RL = (52)
2 (Rth + RL )2 + (XTh + XL )2

Warning: Do not confuse this with the power delivered to a load in a DC circuit:
2
Vth
P = (53)
4Rth
1
the reason for the extra factor of in the AC circuit case, is that the power is a sinusoidal wave and we are looking
2
for only the average power.

4.3.2 Power Factor

We can define the power factor to be:
pf = cos θ = cos(θv − θi ) (54)
such that:
P = S · bf (55)
However, note that for each power factor, there are two possible values of θ that satisfy it. As a result, we define:

9
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

• Leading pf: θ < 0

• Lagging pf: θ > 0
Special cases:
• Resistor: pf = 1
• Inductor: pf = 0 lag
• Capacitor pf = 0 lead
• RL: 0 < pf < 1 lag
• RC: 0 < pf < 1 lead
• RLC: 0 < pf < 1 lag or lead. Specifically, it depends on the sign of:
1
ωL − (56)
ωC

4.3.3 Power Factor Correction

The process of increasing the power factor without altering the voltage or current to the original load is known as power
factor correction. It can be viewed as the addition of a reactive element (usually a capacitor) in parallel with an inductive
load in order to make the power factor closer to unity.
An inductive load is modeled as a series combination of an inductor and a resistor.
The value of the required shunt capacitance C is determine to be:

P (tan θ1 − tan θ2 )
C= 2
(57)
ωVrms

where θ1 is the initial power factor angle and θ2 is the final angle. This equation is derived from the following principles.
• We want the real power P to be constant.
• We want to change the power factor, which depends solely on the power factor angle. As a result, we can only
change the imaginary part Q.
• To do so, we need to figure out how much of the imaginary power do we want to increase/decrease, and then perform
phasor math (and using impedances) to figure out the capacitance C necessary to do so. Specifically, if we need to
increase the reactance by QC to achieve the desired pf, we select the capacitance:
2
Vrms Qc
Xc = or C=− 2
(58)
Qc ωVrms

We can draw a power triangle to illustrate this:

|SC | = −Qc

Sold Qold

Snew

10
ECE159 QiLin Xue and Shem

From this, note that:

Sold + SC = Snew (59)
so we can define (note that we defined QC is a negative quantity here):

Qnew = Qold + Qc (60)

which gives:
Q
= tan θold (61)
P
and:
Qnew
= tan θnew (62)
P
To make the power factor unity, we set QC = −QL where QL is the reactance of the load.

4.3.4 Apparent and Effective Value

The effective value of a periodic current is the DC current that delivers the same average power to a resistor as the
periodic current: s
1 T 2
Z
Ieff = i dt (63)
T 0
for an arbitrary periodic function x(t), the effective (or root mean square value) is:
s
1 T 2
Z
Xrms = x dt (64)
T 0

We can convert between the rms value and the peak values of a sinusoidal function:
Vm Im
Vrms = √ , Irms = √ (65)
2 2

4.3.5 Random Things when Doing Practice

2
• |S| and |Z| are scalar multiples of each other. As a result, S has the same power factor angle as Z: S = ZIrms .
• The angular frequency is not the same as frequency:

ω = 2πf (66)

This conversion factor also works if we are working with complex voltages.

11