DC Circuits: Review

• Current: The rate of flow of electric charge past a

point in a circuit
– Measured in amperes (A)
– 1 A = 1 C/s = 6.25  1018 electrons per second
– Current direction taken as direction positive charges flow
– Analogous to volume flow rate (volume/unit time) of water in
a pipe
• Voltage: Electrical potential energy per unit charge
– Measured in volts (V): 1 V = 1 J/C
– Ground is the 0 V reference point, indicated by symbol
– Analogous to water pressure
• Resistance: Restriction to charge flow
– Measured in ohms (W)
– Analogous to obstacles that restrict water flow
College Physics, Giambattista
A Helpful Hydraulic Analogy
 A Simple DC Circuit (Lab 1–1)

V V

• Resistors have a constant resistance over a broad

range of voltages and currents
– Then V  IR with R = constant (Ohm’s law)
• Power = rate energy is delivered to the resistor =
rate energy is dissipated by the V2
resistor P  IV  I R 
2

R
 Voltage Divider (Lab 1–4, 1–6)

• Voltage divider: Circuit that produces a predictable

fraction of the input voltage as the output voltage
• Schematic:

(Student Manual for The Art of R1

Electronics, Hayes and Horowitz,
2nd Ed.)
R2

Vin
• Current (same everywhere) is: I  R  R
1 2
• Output voltage (Vout) is then given by:
R2
Vout  IR2  Vin
R1  R2
 Voltage Divider
• Easier way to calculate Vout: Notice the voltage drops
are proportional to the resistances
– For example, if R1 = R2 then Vout = Vin / 2 R1

– Another example: If R1 = 4 W and R2 = 6 W,

then Vout = (0.6)Vin R2

• Now attach a “load” resistor RL across

the output:
R1 R1

=
R2 RL R2  RL

– You can model R2 and RL as one resistor (parallel

combination), then calculate Vout for this new voltage divider
Voltage Dividers on the Breadboard

R1
Vin Vout
R1
R2 R2

R1 R1

R2
R2
 Interactive Example:
Fun With a Loaded Function Generator

Interactive activity performed in class.

 Ideal Voltage and Current Sources
• An ideal voltage source is a source of voltage with
zero internal resistance (a perfect battery)
– Supply the same voltage regardless of the amount of
current drawn from it
• An ideal current source supplies a constant current
regardless of what load it is connected to
– Has infinite internal resistance
– Transistors can be represented by ideal current sources

(Introductory Electronics, Simpson, 2nd Ed.)

 Ideal Voltage and Current Sources
• Load resistance RL connected to terminals of a real
current source:
– Larger current is through
the smaller resistance

(Introductory Electronics, Simpson, 2nd Ed.)

• Current sources can always be converted to voltage

sources
– Terminals A’B’ act
electrically exactly
like terminals AB

(Introductory Electronics, Simpson, 2nd Ed.)

 Thevenin’s Theorem
• Thevenin’s Theorem: Any combination of voltage
sources and resistors with 2 terminals is electrically
equivalent to an ideal voltage source in series with a
single resistor
RTh
(Introductory Electronics,
Simpson, 2nd Ed.)
VTh

– Terminals A’B’ electrically equivalent to terminals AB

• Thevenin equivalent VTh and RTh given by:
VTh  V (open circuit ) RTh 
V (open circuit )
(output voltage with no load attached) I (short circuit )
I (short circuit) = current when the output is
shorted directly to ground
 Thevenin’s Theorem (Lab 1–4)
• Thevenin’s theorem applied to a voltage divider:
R2 Vin
VTh  Vout  IR2  Vin I (short circuit ) 
R1 R1  R2 R1
V (open circuit ) VTh R1 R2
R2 RTh   
I (short circuit ) I (short circuit ) R1  R2

• Thevenin equivalent circuit:

RTh (a load resistance RL
(Introductory Electronics, Simpson, 2nd Ed.) can then be attached
between terminals A’
VTh and B’, in series with
RTh)
– Note that RTh = R1  R2
• Imagine mentally shorting out the voltage source
• Then R1 is in parallel with R2
• RTh is called the output impedance (Zout) of the voltage divider
 Example Problem #1.9
(The Art of Electronics,
Horowitz and Hill, 2nd
Ed.)

For the circuit shown, with Vin = 30 V and R1 = R2 = 10k, find (a) the output
voltage with no load attached (the open-circuit voltage); (b) the output voltage
with a 10k load; (c) the Thevenin equivalent circuit; (d) the same as in part b,
but using the Thevenin equivalent circuit (the answer should agree with the
result in part b); (e) the power dissipated in each of the resistors.

Solution (details given in class):

(a) 15 V
(b) 10 V
(c) VTh = 15 V, RTh = 5k
(d) 10 V
(e) PL = 0.01 W, PR2 = 0.01 W, PR1 = 0.04 W
 Norton’s Theorem (see AE 1)
• Norton’s Theorem: Any combination of voltage
sources and resistors with 2 terminals is electrically
equivalent to an ideal current source in parallel with
a single resistor

(Introductory Electronics, IN RN
Simpson, 2nd Ed.)

– Terminals A’B’ electrically equivalent to terminals AB

• Norton equivalent IN and RN given by:
V (open circuit ) V (open circuit )
RN  RTh  IN 
I (short circuit ) RN
(same as Thevenin equivalent resistance) (same as I (short circuit))
 Norton’s Theorem
• Norton’s theorem applied to a voltage divider:
Vin
IN 
R1 R1

V (open circuit ) R1 R2
R2 RN  
IN R1  R2

• Norton equivalent circuit:

(a load resistance RL
(Introductory Electronics, Simpson, 2nd Ed.) RN can then be attached
IN
between terminals A’
and B’, in parallel
with RN)

– The Norton equivalent circuit is just as good as the

Thevenin equivalent circuit, and vice versa
 Example Problem #1.7
(similar to HW Problem #1.8)
Ammeter
What will a 20,000 W/V meter read,
on its 1 V scale, when attached to
a 1 V source with an internal
resistance of 10k? What will it
read when attached to a 10k–10k
voltage divider driven by a “stiff”
(zero source resistance) 1 V
source?

Solution (details given in class):

1–V source: 0.667 V
10k–10k voltage divider: 0.4 V Voltmeter