Nodal Analysis of Electric Circuits

In this method, we set up and solve a system of equations in which the unknowns are the voltages
at the principal nodes of the circuit. From these nodal voltages the currents in the various
branches of the circuit are easily determined.

The steps in the nodal analysis method are:

 Count the number of principal nodes or junctions in the circuit. Call this number n.
(A principal node or junction is a point where 3 or more branches join. We will indicate
them in a circuit diagram with a red dot. Note that if a branch contains no voltage sources
or loads then that entire branch can be considered to be one node.)

 Number the nodes N1, N2, . . . , Nn and draw them on the circuit diagram. Call the voltages
at these nodes V1, V2, . . . , Vn, respectively.

 Choose one of the nodes to be the reference node or ground and assign it a voltage of zero.

 For each node except the reference node write down Kirchoff's Current Law in the form
"the algebraic sum of the currents flowing out of a node equals zero". (By algebraic sum
we mean that a current flowing into a node is to be considered a negative current flowing
out of the node.)

For example, for the node to the right KCL yields the equation:
Ia + Ib + Ic = 0
Express the current in each branch in terms of the nodal voltages at each end of the branch using
Ohm's Law (I = V / R). Here are some examples:

The current downward out of node 1 depends on the voltage difference V1 - V3 and the resistance in
the branch.
 In this case the voltage difference across the resistance is V1 - V2 minus the voltage across the
voltage source. Thus, the downward current is as shown.

In this case the voltage difference across the resistance must be 100 volts greater than the difference
V1 - V2. Thus, the downward current is as shown.

The result, after simplification, is a system of m linear equations in the m unknown nodal voltages
(where m is one less than the number of nodes; m = n - 1). The equations are of this form:

where G11, G12, . . . , Gmm and I1, I2, . . . , Im are constants.

It is recommended using Matrix form to solve linear system of equations. For example:

𝑉 ∗𝐺 +𝑉 ∗𝐺 +𝑉 ∗𝐺 =𝐼
𝑉 ∗𝐺 +𝑉 ∗𝐺 +𝑉 ∗𝐺 =𝐼
𝑉 ∗𝐺 +𝑉 ∗𝐺 +𝑉 ∗𝐺 =𝐼
 𝐺 𝐺 𝐺 𝑉 𝐼
𝐺 𝐺 𝐺 ∗ 𝑉 = 𝐼
𝐺 𝐺 𝐺 𝑉 𝐼
𝐺 ∗ 𝑉 = 𝐼 or 𝑉 = 𝐺 ∗ 𝐼
Where:
V: 3x1 matrix of unknown voltages V1, V2, V3
G: 3x3 matrix of conductivity values G, which is inverse of resistance R
I: 3x1 matrix of current values I1, I2, I3
1
𝐺 = ∗ 𝐺
|𝐺|
|𝐺| − 𝐷𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥

𝐺 − 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥 𝐺

Example:

Take node 2 (N2) as a reference node and assume that it is grounded (voltage at N2 is 0). Node 1
and node 3 are marked as N1 and N3 respectively. Write down Kirchoff's Current Law for each
node. Call V1 the voltage at node 1, V3 the voltage at node 3, and remember that V2 = 0. The result
is the following system of equations:
𝑉1 𝑉1 − 100 𝑉1 − 𝑉3
𝐼 +𝐼 +𝐼 = + + =0
30 5 10
𝑉3 − 𝑉1 𝑉3 𝑉3
𝐼 +𝐼 +𝐼 = + + =0
10 10 20
The first equation results from KCL applied at node 1 and the second equation results from KCL
applied at node 3. Collecting terms this becomes:
1 1
𝑉1 − 𝑉3 = 20
3 10
1 5
− 𝑉1 + 𝑉3 = 0
10 20
In case we apply the Matrix method:
0.33 −0.1 𝑉1 20
∗ =
−0.1 0.25 𝑉2 0
*Other methods of solving linear system of equations may be used as well!
𝑋 ∗ 𝐴 = 𝐵 or 𝑋 = 𝐴 ∗ 𝐵
1
𝐴 = ∗ 𝐴
|𝐴|
𝐷𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑡: |𝐴| = 0.33 ∗ 0.25 − 0.1 ∗ 0.1 = 0.082 − 0.01 = 0.072

(−1) ∗ 0.25 (−1) ∗ 0.1 0.25 −0.1 0.25 −0.1

𝐴 = = =
(−1) ∗ 0.1 (−1) ∗ 0.33 −0.1 0.33 −0.1 0.33
1 0.25 −0.1 3.47 −1.39
𝐴 = =
0.072 −0.1 0.33 −1.39 4.58
𝑉1 3.47 −1.39 20 69.4
= =
𝑉3 −1.39 4.58 0 27.8
V1=69.4 V, V3=27.8 V

69.4 − 100
𝐼 = = 6.12𝐴
5
69.4
𝐼 = = 2.31𝐴
30
69.4 − 27.8
𝐼 = = 4.16𝐴
10
27.8
𝐼 = = 2.78𝐴
10
27.8
𝐼 = = 1.39𝐴
20