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Parallel Circuit

A parallel circuit provides multiple current paths between two points by connecting two or more resistors between the same two points. Current from the source splits across the different paths, with more paths lowering the total circuit resistance. Kirchhoff's Current Law states the total current entering a junction must equal the total leaving. The current divider principle means current divides across parallel resistors proportionally to each resistor's resistance.

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39 views

Parallel Circuit

A parallel circuit provides multiple current paths between two points by connecting two or more resistors between the same two points. Current from the source splits across the different paths, with more paths lowering the total circuit resistance. Kirchhoff's Current Law states the total current entering a junction must equal the total leaving. The current divider principle means current divides across parallel resistors proportionally to each resistor's resistance.

Uploaded by

nisasoberi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CLB10402

Parallel Circuit.

 When two or more resistors are individually connected between two separate
points (nodes) in a circuit, they are parallel with each other.
 A parallel circuit provides more than one path for current.
 Each current path is called branch and a parallel circuit is one that has more than
one branch.
 Two resistors connected in parallel are shown in figure 1, as shown, the current
out of the source ( IT) divides when it gets to point A.
 I1 goes through R1, and I2 goes through R2.
 If additional resistors are connected in parallel with the first two, more current
paths are provided between point A and B.
 Figure 1:

 In figure 1, it is obvious that the resistors are connected in parallel.


 A rule for identifying parallel circuits is as follows:
o If there is more than one current path (branch) between two separate
points and if the voltage between those points also appears across each
of the branches, then there is a parallel circuit between those two
points.

VOLTAGE IN A PARALLEL CIRCUIT

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o The voltage across any given branch of a parallel circuit is equal to the voltage
across each of the other branches in parallel.
o Examine figure 2: Points A, B,C and D along the left side of the parallel circuit
are electrically the same point and form one node because the voltage is the
same along the line.
o The points E,F, G and H along the right side of the circuit form another node and
are all at a voltage equal to that of the positive terminal of the source.
o Thus voltage across each parallel resistor is the same and each is equal to the
source voltage.
o FIGURE 2:

D E

C
F

B G

A H
-ve +ve

Vs

KIRCHHOFF’S CURRENT LAW

 KCL – deals with currents in a parallel circuit.

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 KCL stated as below:


The sum of the currents into a junction (total current in) is equal to
the sum of the currents out of that junction (total current out)
 A junction /node is any point in a circuit where two or more components are
connected.
 In a parallel circuit, a junction/node is where the parallel branches come together.
For example in figure 3: point A is one junction/node and point B is another.
 The total current IT from the source is into the junction at point A. at this point the
current splits up among the three branches as indicated.
 Each of the three branch currents (I1, I2 and I3 ) is out of the junction A.
 A KCL says that the total current into junction A is equal to the total current out
of junction A that is :
I T  I1  I 2  I 3
 As from the figure 3, through the three branches, the current will come back
together at point B, currents I1, I2 and I3 are into junction B, and IT is out of
junction B. KCL at junction B :
I T  I1  I 2  I 3
 KCL can also be stated :
The algebraic sum of all the current entering and leaving a junction is
equal to zero.

Figure 3:

TOTAL PARALLEL RESISTANCE

When resistors are connected in parallel, the total resistance of the circuit
decreases. The total resistance of a parallel is always less than the value of the

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smaller resistor. For example, if a 10 resistor and a 100 resistor are connected
in parallel, the total resistance is less than 10.

The Number of Currents Paths Affects Total Resistance

When resistors are connected in parallel, the current has more than one path. The
number of current paths is equal to the number of parallel branches.
For example figure 4a: there is only one current path because it is a series circuit.
There is a certain amount of current I1 through R1. If resistor R2 is connected in
parallel with R1, as shown in figure 4b, there is an additional amount of current I2
through R2.
The total current from the source has increased with the addition of the parallel
resistor. Assuming the source voltage is constant, an increase in the total current
from the source means that the total resistance has decreased, in accordance with
ohm’s law.
Figure 4a and 4b:

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circuits with n resistors in parallel

Formula for total resistor in parallel :


1
RT 
 1   1   1   1 
         ....   
 R1   R2   R3   Rn 
Two resistors in parallel:
R1 R2
RT 
R1  R2
Case of equal value resistors in parallel:
R
RT 
n

CURRENT SOURCES IN PARALLEL.

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 A current source is a type of energy source that provides a constant current to


a load even if the resistances of that load changes.
 In general, the total current produced by current sources in parallel is equal to
the algebraic sum of the individual current sources.
 The algebraic sum means that the directions of current have to be considered
when the parallel sources are combined.
 For example in figure 5a : the three sources in parallel provide current in the
same direction (into point A), so the total current into point A is :
I T  1A  2 A  2 A  5 A
 In figure 5b: the 1A source provides current in a direction opposite to the
other two. The current into point A in this case is
I T  2 A  2 A  1A  3 A
 Figure 5a and 5b:

CURRENTS DIVIDER

 A Parallel circuits acts as a current divider because the current entering the
junction of parallel branches “divides” up into several individual branch currents.
 This current divider principle is illustrated in figure 6 for a two-branch parallel
circuit in which part of the total current IT goes though R1 and part through R2.
 Since the same voltage is across each of the resistors in parallel, the branch
currents are inversely proportional to the values of the resistors. For example, if
the value of R2 is twice that of R1 , then the value of I2 is one-half that I1..
 In other words: the total current divides among parallel resistors into currents
with values inversely proportional to the resistance values.
 The branches with higher resistance have less current, and the branches with
lower resistance have more current, in accordance with Ohm’s law.
 If all the branches have the same resistance, the branch currents are all equal.
 Figure 6:

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Current-Divider Formulas for Two-branches

Figure 7:

 The formula for the total resistance of two parallel branches;


RR
RT  1 2
R1  R2
 The formulas for I1 and I2 can be written as follows:
R  R 
I 1   T  I T I 2   T  I T
 R1   R2 

General Current Divider Formula for Any Number of Parallel Branches.

Figure 8:

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generalized parallel circuit with n branches.

VS
 By ohm’s law: I X 
RX
 The Source voltage VS is appears across each of the parallel resistors, and RX
represents any one of the parallel resistors. The total source voltage, VS is equal to
the total current times the total parallel resistance; VS  I T RT
 Substituting the equation above I the expression for I results in:
I R
IX  T T
RX
 RT 
 Rearranging terms yields : I X    I T
 RX 
 Where x = 1, 2, 3 etc. the above equation is the general current-divider formula
and applies to a parallel circuit with any number of branches.
The current (Ix) through any branch equals the total parallel resistance
(RT ) divided by the resistance ( Rx) of that branch, and then multiplied by
the total current (IT ) into the junction of parallel branches.

POWER IN PARALLEL CIRCUITS

 The formula for finding total power in a concise way for any number of
resistors in parallel;
 PT  P1  P2  P3  ....  Pn
 the following formulas are used to calculate the total power Ptot

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PT  VI T
PT  I T2 RT

V2
PT 
RT

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